Symptoms of Death (Dr. Alexandra Gladstone Mysteries) [Mass Market Paperback]

Dr. Gladstone however still refuses to jump to conclusions; and her preliminary examination of the earl's body bolsters her belief that Elsie is not the murderess everyone believes her to be. For it looks as if the earl was first strangled to death and then stabbed. Not everyone however (esp the village constable, Mr. Snow) shares Dr. Gladstone's view. Dr. Gladstone, however, does have one ally: Nicky Forsythe, the earl's distant relative and a barrister. Together, Gladstone and Forsythe start looking more closely at the other members of the house party to discover who, other than Elsie, had a reason to wish the earl dead, and who actually carried out the deed.

While the mystery is interesting enough, I had problems with Paula Paul's prose style -- it was a little too stagy for my taste. Also the characters left a lot to be desired: Dr. Gladstone was a little too cold and remote, while Nicky Forsythe was at times a little too vapid! It made the attraction between the two, while probable and believable, incredibly boring. Most of the other characters in this mystery novel were more or less familiar stock types -- the seemingly upright nobles who were really reeking of corruption and debauchery; the gossiping and malicious countess; the wife of easy virtue, etc. Only two characters broke the mold: Dr. Gladstone's housekeeper-friend, Nancy, who in spite of her belligerent and pushing ways, happened to be the only intelligent and interesting character in this mystery novel; and the Constable Snow, who because of Paul's reticent depiction, comes across as being a rather enigmatical, shadowy character, who may or may not be corrupt. With all my nitpicking, you'd think I'd advise against reading this book all together. To the contrary: the mystery is really quite intriguing and engrossing. And Paul does a rather good job of maintaining that air of suspense, so that you have no choice but to carry on reading in order to discover who murdered the earl and why. I just wish that the primary characters (Gladstone and Forsythe) had been worthy of this clever little murder mystery.

The next morning, Alexandra is called to the estate to assist the coroner in figuring out how Dunsford was murdered. Everyone thinks it was the maid who threatened him the night before but the doctor says somebody strangled him. The knife wound happened after he was dead. Circumstantial evidence forces the local magistrate to arrest the maid but he doesn't know that every guest at the earl's house wanted him dead for one solid reason or another. Alexandra intends to see that justice is done even if it means putting her own life in danger.

The villain of the piece is actually the deceased who had so many enemies, including a cuckolded husband, an adulterous wife, a sodomist and a man who was fleeced by the victim, that the audience won't be able to decide who had the best motive. The heroine of SYMPTOMS OF DEATH is not the typical Victorian society woman but a woman who could have thrived in today's enlightened atmosphere. Readers will look forward to seeing her in future tales.

Harriet Klausner