Blurb:

London, 1782. Desperate for her politician husband to return home from France, Caroline ‘Caro’ Corsham is already in a state of anxiety when she finds a well-dressed woman mortally wounded in the bowers of the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens.

The Bow Street constables are swift to act, until they discover that the deceased woman was a highly paid prostitute, at which point they cease to care entirely. But Caro has motives of her own for wanting to see justice done.

Enlisting the help of thieftaker Peregrine Child, Caro sets out to solve the crime herself. Their inquiry delves into the hidden corners of Georgian society, a world of artifice, deception and secret lives.

But with many gentlemen refusing to speak about their dealings with the dead woman, and Caro’s own reputation under threat, finding the killer will be harder, and more treacherous, than she can know . . .

Review:

I really enjoyed Blood & Sugar by this author and I’ve waited a long time to continue reading Laura Shepherd-Robinson’s work. I can’t justify this at all, as I enjoyed Daughters Of Night just as much. Laura Shepherd Robinson is an absolutely brilliant writer whose vocabulary is second to none, and combined with immaculate research, this means that I was transported to 18th century England straight away and fully immersed in the ways of life at that time.

In Daughters Of Night, we are reintroduced to Caro Corsham, and it was great to see her take centre stage and learn more about her. From the outset, I knew I was going to love her – she’s outspoken and compassionate and she rails against what would be expected of a woman of that time. I was intrigued by her story and I really wanted to know what would happen to her. She has an interesting partnership with Peregrine Child and I loved reading as they worked together.

There are also chapters narrated by Pamela, and whilst her and Caro are very different, I also warmed to her character easily and hoped everything would work out well for her. 

There is a character list at the beginning of Daughters Of Night and I must admit that I felt slightly intimidated by this! However, each character’s role in the novel is very clear and Laura Shepherd-Robinson has created each one, even the minor ones, in such detail that they all burst into life on the page.

The plot of Daughters Of Night is particularly complex and detailed. However, this does not mean that it is a slow paced story and I loved trying to put together all the different elements of the plot. There are a few twists and red herrings that definitely kept me on my toes the whole way through and I enjoyed following them all. As the novel reaches the end, the tension definitely increases and I was keen to see how everything would be resolved.

I will try not to leave it so long before I read this author again!

Daughters Of Night is available from Amazon.