1896 Daniel Wilson and Abigail Fenton become involved when a newly employed nightwatchman, Eric Dudgeon, is found dead at Madame Tussauds. As the second man, Walter Bagshot, has disappeared the police believe he is the guilty person. But Detective Inspector John Feather does not agree, but he has been assigned to the series of bank robbery cases.
An enjoyable and well-written historical mystery, with a likeable style of writing and good plotting. Also with its amiable characters. A good addition to the series, which can easily be read as a standalone story.
An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Victorian-London, private-investigators, law-enforcement, murder, murder-investigation, museum, friendship, theft, archaeologist, ex-cop, 1896, egoist****

Abigail Fenton is an archaeologist who even explored the tombs in Egypt with Flinders-Petrie but is now working as a private enquiry agent with her partner, Daniel Wilson who is a former Scotland Yard detective. Together they are known as the Museum Detectives because of the past cases they have solved. This one is quite different. One part is the circumstances surrounding two new guards at Mme Tussauds, and the other is the burglary and theft of both money and the contents of safe boxes. Very involved and twisty! Good characters who are well done (especially the politicos) and lots of red herrings. A very good read!
I requested and received a temporary digital ARC of this book from Allison & Busby via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ( )

I love historical mysteries. They're my favorite kind of relaxation reading. I admit the genre has its limitations. Too often such novels have one interesting element—the inclusion of a particular historical figure or event—but are much less engaging in other areas. Murder at Madame Tussauds is NOT one of those titles. The characters are interesting, their relationships with one another are rich, and the plot is reasonably complex.

The detectives in this series, set in 1896, are a current Scotland Yard Inspector; a former Scotland Yard detective turned private investigator; and a female Egyptologist. (I don't know the backstory for these characters, as this is the first book in the series I've read, and there are five previous volumes.) Arthur Conan Doyle makes an appearance, and there are numerous references to the Nightingale Fund, which supported training for nurses globally. As the title suggests, there's also Madame Tussauds, where the mystery originates: one of the two nighttime guards at the museum is decapitated and left in the French revolution scene; the other has disappeared.

I have a few caveats here. The plotting owes something to Conan Doyle's The Red-Headed League. We're told our female detective holds a first-class Classics degree from Cambridge, but Cambridge didn't begin granting degrees to women until 1948, long after the novel's 1896 setting. But this is fiction, so old ideas can be revisited and historical fact can be altered for the sake of the narrative.

If you enjoy historical mysteries and are willing to allow for a little artistic license on the part of the author, you'll enjoy this book. It's one of those series that leave one feeling compelled to go back and read every previous volume.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own. ( )