Starred review from December 18, 2023
Pook (Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter) delivers a brilliant historical about a woman’s search for the truth behind her sister’s death during an Arctic expedition. After a tantalizing prologue, Constance Horton, 20, disguises herself as a cabin boy to join the Makepeace on its 1849 journey to the Arctic in search of missing explorer Sir John Franklin, who sought the fabled Northwest Passage linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Two years later, Constance’s sister, Maude, receives a letter stating only that Constance died by “misadventure.” Maude refuses to accept such a vague explanation, even though the British Admiralty is reluctant to provide her with further details about the accident. Eventually, a clerk surreptitiously hands over the diary that Constance kept while aboard the Makepeace. In it, Maude finds entries that cast suspicion on expedition scientist Edison Stowe. She cozies up to Stowe, accompanying him on a new—and rather grisly—business venture in order to extract whatever details she can about Constance’s death. Pook’s masterful pacing and meticulous attention to historical detail make this sing. Fans of Stuart Tarton’s high seas whodunits will be rapt. Agent: Madeleine Milburn, Madeleine Milburn Agency.
Starred review from June 1, 2024
In the late 1840s, Constance Horton went to sea. She'd always been the adventurous sister but met her end while garbed as a cabin boy on a vessel sent to the Arctic Passage in search of missing explorer Sir John Franklin's crew. Her sister Maude, previously content to stay home in their grandfather's drugstore, is inflamed with a desire for answers about Constance's death--and, more important, for vengeance. Using her chemical knowledge, her sister's journal, and Victorian society's predisposition to underestimate women, Maude uncovers the facts of the murder and pursues a cold-blooded killer. Pook's (Moonlight and the Pearler's Daughter) sophomore novel is rich in period details about a 19th-century murder obsession. Sections told through the eyes of Maude's target add intensity as listeners learn more of his character. Narrator Genevieve Gaunt skillfully distinguishes the narrative voices of Maude and Constance (through her diary) as well as the alleged researcher and businessman for whom murder is an easy path to riches. Gaunt also applies regional and class-based accents for a multitude of characters both aboard the arctic ship Makepeace and back in London, where Maude investigates many levels of society. VERDICT Highly recommended historical suspense featuring an irresistible heroine.--Lauren Kage
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