Midnight Fires: A Mystery with Mary Wollstonecraft [Paperback]

I don't read a lot of mysteries but as a historical fiction lover I'm trying to add a few historical mysteries to my diet. I enjoyed this book, although I don't think there's anything remarkable about the mystery aspect of it, and it doesn't have that suck-you-in, heartpounding factor of a thriller. What drew me to it were its historical setting in eighteenth-century Ireland and its real-life heroine, Mary Wollstonecraft.

Hands down the best part of this book is Mary. Mary's a gem of a character. Normally a heroine in a historical fiction novel who is ahead of her time in thought and action would be unrealistic, but Mary really was that kind of woman! In fact, her first book, Thoughts on the Education of Daughters, makes an appearance in this story.

Smarting from a failed love affair, indebted and responsible for her sisters' welfare, Mary leaves London behind and takes a one-year assignment as a governess to a noble Irish family, though she has serious reservations:

"Governesses, she had heard, constituted one of the largest classes of insane women in asylums. The thought was not at all comforting."

But desperate times call for desperate measures, and this gig as a governess is temporary. Mary has plans, she's going to be being an authoress, and the Kingsboroughs provide plenty of inspiration:

"I haven't penned a novel," she said. "But I do have one in mind."

And she had, yes. She had begun a novel in her head. One of the characters would be a lady who loved her dogs more than her daughters. A lord who hunted, womanized, pitchcapped unhappy peasants, and drank his way through life...

She found it promising. She imagined the faces of her dumbfounded employers as they read her first novel. Mary, a Fiction, she would call it."

Yet even as she disdains her aristocratic employers, she can't help but be drawn into their drama. And with a sympathetic heart and a passion for justice, she gets drawn into the poor tenants' lives, too. When a member of the Kingsborough family is murdered and the handsome, rebellious tenant Liam is accused and forced to flee, thus threatening the livelihood of his family, Mary takes action. And there's never a dull moment with Mary, for Mary's not entirely grounded in reality. A daydreamer with a vivid imagination, Mary gets a little carried away. She creates a romantic fantasy in her mind and becomes determined to reveal the identity of the true killer and earn Liam's undying love and gratitude in the process.

There are suspects galore: the Master, the Mistress, the land agent and his wife, a poet, a former governess, jilted lovers, angry peasants, etc. And as in all good whodunits, none of them are guilt-free, all of them having had a part to play in the events leading up to the murder, if not the actual murder itself.

This was a sharp and sassy little romp and I look forward to reading more of Mary's adventures, the next of which is already in the works. The author provides some good background information on this fascinating woman and I can't wait to read about some of the more pivotal events in her life. Until then, I leave you with one of my favorite Mary quotes from Midnight Fires:

"Mary vowed once again to remain a spinster. Babies and books were not a good mix."

In 1786 Mary Wollstonecraft assumes life for her could not get any lower as she accepts humiliating work in County Cork, Ireland as a governess to the daughters of Lord and Lady Kingsboroug. Still, one must eat aand single women have few options. Thus Mary plans to make the best of her stay at Mitchelstown Castle.

Mary has given herself two rules to abide by. First she plans to write a novel. Second and foremost she is determined to stay out of the castle political squabbles. However, her resolve vanishes with the deaths of a sailor, the former governess, and an aristocrat. She believes a serial killer is on the loose and investigates seeking the link only to find several people with motives, but none with reasoning to kill the trio.

This is a terrific Georgian mystery with Mary Wollstonecraft starring as an amateur sleuth. Her investigation is clever as it enhances the overall theme of class and gender differences. Mary is the perfect guide for readers to look at the great divides in the late eighteenth century Ireland as she will one day soon write her famous manifesto. Nancy Means Wright provides an excellent historical mystery starring a superb heroine.

Harriet Klausner

Nancy Means Wright lives in Middlebury, Vermont. She is a teacher of many years, and has authored eight mysteries; seven non-mysteries; short stories; and poems. Her work has appeared in magazines and anthologies. She has written a collection of poems in the person of Mary Wollstonecraft. Her awards include a Bread Loaf Scholarship and an Agatha Award and nominee for two children's mysteries.

Mary Wollstonecraft needs to earn her living, so she accepts a post as a governess in Mitchelstown Castle with the infamous Kingsborough family. On the crossing from Holyhead to Dublin she witnesses the apparent murder of an Irish man named Sean Toomey, who was a sailor on her ship, but not until he thrust a packet in her hand to deliver to a man named Liam:

"The ship lurched and threw her against him; he gripped her shoulders and helped her to grasp the ladder. She squinted down at the letter. FOR LIAM. 'Liam who? Where does he live?' Mary called to the fellow, who had already turned away.

'I'm only going to Mitchelstown, I said. Mitchelstown,' she shouted over the screech of sails, the howl of wind, the hallooing seamen. In tiny letters at the bottom of the letter she saw it was to be delivered to a Liam in Mitchelstown-the reason, perhaps, for his pursuing the conversation. 'Wait! You must find someone else to deliver it,'

Holding on to her hat with one hand, the rigging with the other, she reeled about to find him. He was nowhere in sight. She was sorry now that she had told him her destination. If she could not find a Liam, so be it. She thrust the letter into the pocket of her greatcoat."

MIDNIGHT FIRES just reels with mystery and intrigue, from the first page. It is a historical mystery, and Mary Wollstonecraft is the same Eighteenth century woman who was far ahead of her time with her views of marriage; childrearing; and women's rights. She is also the mother of Mary Shelley, who wrote FRANKENSTEIN. This is a masterful and entertaining historical whodunit.

Shelley Glodowski
Senior Reviewer