historical crime – What Cathy Read Next…

About the Book

Book cover of The Madras Miasma (Le Fanu Mysteries #1) by Brian Stoddart

Madras in the 1920s. The British are slowly losing the grip on the subcontinent. The end of the colonial enterprise is in sight; the city on India’s east coast is teeming with intrigue. A grisly murder takes place against the backdrop of political tension. Superintendent Le Fanu, a man of impeccable investigative methods, is called in to find out who killed a respectable young British girl and dumped her in a canal, her veins clogged with morphine.

As Le Fanu, a man forced to keep his own personal relationship a secret for fear of scandal in the face British moral standards, begins to investigate, he quickly slips into a quagmire of Raj politics, rebellion and nefarious criminal activities that threaten not just to bury his case but the fearless detective himself.

Format: Paperback (296 pages) Publisher:
Publication date: 8th September 2014 Genre: Historical Fiction, Crime

Find The Madras Miasma on Goodreads

Purchase The Madras Miasma from Amazon UK [link provided for convenience not as part of an affiliate programme]

My Review

The Madras Miasma (previously published as A Madras Miasma and now reissued with a new cover design) is the first book in the author’s Superintendent Le Fanu historical crime series set in 1920s India.

As the book opens, Madras is a city of political unrest with a rising independence movement and a population divided along class, ethnic and religious lines. It’s also a magnet for the so-called ‘fishing fleet’, young women who have travelled from England in search of a husband. But behind the dancing, the cocktail drinking and the partying, there are darker things going on as the reader will discover.

The author gives Superintendent Christian Jolyon Brenton Le Fanu (known as Chris to his friends or LF for short) a comprehensive back story so he feels like a fully fleshed out character even though this is the first book in the series.

He’s separated from his wife and his traumatic experiences during the First World War, including the death of a close friend, have left him with a sense of despair and anger at any pointless waste of life. Being more tolerant and open-minded than many of the other British in Madras, he is suspected of pro-independence sympathies. Like many other fictional detectives, he has a boss with whom he doesn’t see eye to eye, and frankly who could blame him because the man is an idiot, and a dangerous idiot too. But fortunately Le Fanu has a highly competent sidekick in the form of Sergeant ‘Habi’ Habibullah. And while Colin Dexter’s Inspector Morse has his Jaguar, Le Fanu’s pride and joy is a1000cc Indian Powerplus motorcycle. Le Fanu’s blind spot is his inability to express his feelings or commit to a permanent relationship with the woman who often shares his bed. He also seems easily swayed by a lithe body in a silk dress.

Initially an investigation into the murder of one of the ‘fishing fleet’, the case rapidly becomes more complicated. ‘A dead white woman, political trouble, a belligerent Commissioner, an anxious and aggrieved British community, and a truculent police force made the worst possible combination.’ Le Fanu also unearths a deadly trade that reaches to the very heart of British colonial high society. The plot is satisfyingly complex so that it will keep you guessing until the final chapters. And with Le Fanu pondering his future, the end of the book sets things up nicely for the next book in the series, The Pallampur Predicament.

I received a digital review copy courtesy of (the now sadly defunct) Crime Wave Press.

In three words: Intriguing, atmospheric, assured
Try something similar: A Rising Man by Abir Mukherjee

About the Author

Brian Stoddart is a writer of fiction and non-fiction who is now based in Queenstown, New Zealand. Born and educated a Kiwi he has worked around the world as an academic, university executive, aid and development consultant, broadcaster,commentator and blogger. He has written extensively on sports history, politics and culture as well as on India and south Asia in which field he completed his PhD.

He is now also a crime novelist. A Madras Miasma was the first in a series of books set in 1920s Madras in India, and featuring Superintendent Chris Le Fanu. The Pallampur Predicament was the second and A Straits Settlement the third. A Straits Settlement was longlisted for the 2017 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best New Zealand Crime Novel. A Greater God is the fourth in the Le Fanu series and appeared in 2018.

He has published extensively in non-fiction, too. A House in Damascus: Before the Fall recounts his experience of living in an old house in the Old City of Damascus immediately before the outbreak of the war in Syria. That memoir became an Amazon #1 in Middle East Travel, and won gold and silver medals at the 2012 e-Book Awards for Creative Non-Fiction and Travel respectively.

Brian Stoddart also works as an international higher education consultant on programs in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Syria and Jordan as well as in the UK and USA. This work follows a successful career as university researcher, teacher and senior executive which culminated in a term as Vice-Chancellor and President of La Trobe University in Australia where he is now an Emeritus Professor. That academic career took him all over the world including long periods in India, Malaysia, Canada, the Caribbean, China and Southeast Asia. He also writes extensively for mainstream and new media as well as expert commentary for press, radio and television. Brian is also a cruise ship lecturer, specialising in international affairs and history.

In his spare time, he enjoys photography, reading (especially crime fiction),travel to new places, and listening to music, especially gypsy jazz. (Photo: Goodreads author page/Bio: Author website)

Connect with Brian
X | Facebook

About the Book

Book cover of Notes of Change by Susan Grossey

In the autumn of 1829, the body of a wealthy young man is found dumped in a dust-pit behind one of London’s most exciting new venues. Constable Sam Plank’s enquiries lead him from horse auctions to houses of correction, and from the rarefied atmosphere of the Bank of England to the German-speaking streets of Whitechapel. And when he comes face to face with an old foe, he finds himself considering shocking compromises…

The new and highly organised Metropolitan Police are taking to the streets, calling into question the future of the magistrates’ constables. Sam’s junior constable, William Wilson, is keen, but what is an old campaigner like Sam to do when faced with the new force and its little black book of instructions?

Format: ebook (290 pages) Publisher:
Publication date: 20th April 2022 Genre: Historical Fiction, Crime, Mystery

Find Notes of Change on Goodreads

Purchase Notes of Change from Amazon UK [Link provided for convenience, not as part of an affiliate programme]

My Review

I’m ashamed to say it’s almost two years since Susan contacted me about her book, Notes of Change, the seventh and final book in her Sam Plank historical crime series. You can read a brief summary of the preceding books in the whole series here. Sam’s final outing has been waiting in my review pile for all that time (sorry, Susan) but I’m so glad to have finally made his acquaintance.

The book’s clever title references the plot – the uttering [putting into circulation] of counterfeit notes, a capital offence at the time – but also the changes coming to Sam Plank’s life and career as the role of magistrate’s constable is supplanted by the new Metropolitan Police. For Sam’s junior, William, there’s also the prospect of change; a promising career in the new police force and an addition to his young family. Another interesting aspect of the book is the notion of whether a person can ever change, for example leaving behind a life of crime, and what might motivate that change.

As well as a clear interest in financial instruments, it’s evident the author has fully researched the period in which the story is set. (The glossary at the end of the book provides useful explanations of some of the more unfamiliar terms.) The streets and taverns which Sam and William frequent in the course of their enquiries – along with more unusual places such as a Horse Bazaar – are vividly brought to life.

Thanks to his decades of experience, Sam has amassed a number of useful contacts whose help and information he is able to call upon in solving the case. I imagine many of these are characters who have appeared in previous books. His reputation for probity gets him access to places to which many others wouldn’t, notably Newgate Prison. It also provides a stark contrast to the disreputable behaviour of others, demonstrating that misconduct in public institutions and cover-ups are nothing new.

I loved the tender relationship between Sam and his wife, Martha. And Martha’s unerring ability to detect when someone is telling the truth comes in handy. But no-one is more surprised than Martha when Sam proves to be something of a matchmaker. He’s a lovely character and I’ll leave you with one of Martha’s wise observations. ‘Do you know how wonderful it is, Sam, that after three decades in your uniform you can still see the good in people who have done bad things? I pray that you never change.’

If you’re a fan of historical police procedurals, I’m confident you’ll enjoy Notes of Change. Better still, don’t be like me; start the series from the beginning.

I received a digital review copy courtesy of the author.

In three words: Engaging, intriguing, authentic
Try something similar: Down a Dark River by Karen Odden

About the Author

Susan writes: ‘I graduated from Cambridge University in 1987 with a degree in English, and then taught secondary English for two years before realising that the National Curriculum was designed primarily to extinguish every spark of creativity in its teachers. I then became a technical author, and reached the pinnacle of this profession when I was asked to document the workings of a choc-ice wrapping machine in Cardiff, while wearing a fetching blue hairnet (which I forgot to remove until it was pointed out by a cashier in a petrol station on the M4).

From this unbeatable high point I moved into technical training, and one day was asked to help with a staff manual on fraud prevention. As I wrote the chapter on money laundering, I realised that here was a topic that could keep my interest for years – and so it has proved. Since 1998, I have been self-employed as an anti-money laundering consultant, providing training and strategic advice and writing policies and procedures for clients in many countries. As part of my job, I have written several non-fiction books with exciting titles like Money Laundering: A Training Strategy, The Money Laundering Officer’s Practical Handbook and Anti-Money Laundering: A Guide for the Non-Executive Director.

However, even this is not enough financial crime for me, and in my spare evenings and weekends I write fiction – but always with financial crime at the heart of it.’ (Photo/bio: Goodreads author page)

Connect with Susan
Website | Facebook | Instagram