Customer Reviews

Symptoms of Death (Dr. Alexandra Gladstone Mysteries)

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SYNPTOMS OF DEATH is a debut novel in the Dr. Alexandra Gladstone series. Set in Victorian England, it offers wonderful detail of how life was lived in that era. The details of medicine and medical treatment are especially intriguing, as is Paula Paul's understanding of English common law in Victorian England. Paul weaves these details with skill and finesse into an engrossing plot full of multi-dimensional characters. I especially liked Nancy, Dr. Gladstone's impertinent maid, and the enigmatic Constable Snow. Dr. Gladstone also hides a fascinating woman behind a facade of cool Victorian propriety. I couldn't put it down, and I can't wait for the next installment.

"Symptoms of Death" starts out promising enough: Edward Boswick, the fifth Earl of Dunsford, has invited a small party of intimate friends to his country estate of Montmarsh near the little village of Newton-Upon-Sea; when while at dinner, a distraught kitchen maid, bursts in upon the guests, threatening to kill the earl with a carving knife. It turns out that the maid (Elsie O' Riley)'s young man (George Stirling) has been murdered, and Elsie seems to believe that the earl had something to do with George's death. Fortunately for all, the village's lady doctor, Alexander Gladstone, is present at this select dinner. And she competently takes over by helping to disarm the hysterical Elsie and removing her from the scene. Dr. Gladstone doesn't believe that Elsie is really dangerous or that she is actually out to do the earl any harm. She believes that Elsie is just distraught, and that all she really needs is for someone to listen to her woes and to offer her a shoulder to cry on. So you can imagine the good doctor's surprise when she arrives at Montmarsh the next morning to find that the earl has been murdered, and that Elsie is the only suspect of the crime!

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.

In Victorian England, the latest London season ends and the nobility retires to their country estates. In Newton, the fifth Earl of Dunsford hosts a house party and the cream of society is there. One night at dinner, a hysterical kitchen maid threatens the earl with a knife until one of the guests Dr. Alexandra Gladstone calms her down.

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

Fifth Earl Lord Dunsford is brutally murdered during a leisurely weekend gathering at his country home. Although it turns out that almost all his aristocratic guests had motives to kill him, it is a young maid, Elsie, who is charged with the crime. She had publicly threatened the Earl's life and later was found burying a bloody knife. Dr. Alexandra Gladstone is the only voice of opposition to this conclusion. She sees at once that the true cause of death was strangulation, not the knife wound that occurred after his death, and is determined to save Elsie from hanging by uncovering the real murderer.

Alexandra Gladstone is a country surgeon, trained by her now deceased respected physician father. A recurring theme in the story is the approbation of her peers for her choice of a profession deemed suitable only for men. Nonetheless, Alexander has earned the respect of the working class folks she serves which often gives her access to helpful bits of village gossip.

The book is slight on historical information beyond fascinating details of Victorian medicine and medical practices, and the lamentable situation of the poor who often have to ignore the doctor's advice in order to get on with their lives. Antagonism between the classes is important to the plot as is the portrayal of the upper class who hide their deceptions and misdeeds behind their privileged position. Further stories in the series explore the place of women in Victorian society and how the family and mental illness was perceived under English law in this period.

Readers will like and admire Alexander Gladstone who deeply feels for her patients and whose restrained character seems true to how someone of her position would present herself. We also meet her maid Nancy, large dog Zack, and barrister friend and alley Nicholas Forsythe.This is the first of a series of three Dr. Gladstone stories. No historical background provided.