Customer Reviews

Death at the Devil's Tavern

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First Sentence: It being a blustery March day, the wind booming down the Thames with a jolly laugh, teasing the great ships at anchor into fine humor as they bobbed a merry dance upon its surface, John Rawlings, having cautiously emerged into the street from the confines of Apothecaries' Hall, clutched at his hat as it rose swiftly from his head and blew away in the direction of the river.

Celebrating his officially no longer being an Apothecary apprentice, John Rawlings ventures to Wapping, a rather squalid part of London, to celebrate with this friend Samuel. Arriving early, John slips into the back of a church and realizes a wedding is about to begin. However, the bridegroom doesn't appear, much to the delight of his friends of family.

Worse for wear, John and Samuel spend the night at a local tavern. Awakened in the night, John investigates a sound and finds the body of a murdered man he suspects to be the missing bridegroom. When he returns in the morning with his friend, the body is gone. Having helped Sir John Fielding, Magistrate and head of Bow Street, in the past, John is asked to lend his aid once again.

Lake's level of research is apparent. She creates such a strong sense of place and a feeling of authenticity to her writing including the use of idioms the remedies used by John. It is also interesting to see how she weaves actual historical figures such as Thomas Jefferson and John Wilkes Booth, into cameo roles or mentions within the story.

This is a classic traditional mystery with lots of suspects, each having their own motive, and plenty of red herrings. John is a wonderful character with both the exuberance of youth, being 24 in this book, a touch of naiveté, the love between him and his `father,' his admiration and regard for Fielding and the seriousness of finding the killer. Lakes characters embody all types from the titled to the mudlark, each character fully developed.

There are weaknesses in the story and it's clear the story is more character- than plot-driven with a memorable final quote at the end. But for those who love historical mysteries, this was a pleasure to read.

Deryn Lake is a pseudonym of a well know historical novelist. Among the books she has written are the popular John Rawlings Mysteries, Death on the Romney Marsh, Death in the Peerless Pool, Death at the Apothecaries' hall, Death at the Devil's Tavern and others. As all her titles are preceded by the word death, this is a pretty good indication regarding the contents of the books and very good historical murder mysteries they are. `Deryn Lake' live near Hastings, in East Sussex

The character of John Rawlings is starting to feel like an old and trusted friend and the author's clean writing style makes the pages fly by. The books are good, well researched historical murder mysteries, they are what they are and do not profess to be anything else. Good escapism for the reader, away from the bumps and grinds of everyday life.

Yet again, John Rawlings is called upon to leave his "day job" as a recently qualified apothecary to look into a case of sudden death. Sir William Hartfield has been pulled from the Thames, close by The Devil's Tavern on the eve of his wedding. After questioning Sir William's family, Rawlings is more than a little concerned to note that not only does each of them stand to gain by the death, but they also have a good motive for murder . . .