Customer Reviews

Let There be Blood (A Lord Ambrose historical mystery)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Lord Ambrose Malfine, still much emotionally affected by his wartime experiences in Greece, as well as physically scarred by them, comes out of his self-imposed isolation in order to investigate the murders of a local farmer and his son. This book is set in a period and place, early 1800's England, about which I love to read. I thought the presentation of the effects of Lord Ambrose's wartime experiences and memories was very well done and added depth to the story. I would have rated this book as a four-star story except for two reasons: One, I thought the resolution of the mystery relied too much on a comment given to the protagonist, but not known to the reader for most of the rest of the book, which was frustrating for the reader who was trying to figure out whodunnit; and two, the author just never succeeded in making me really care about the female character (who, from the ending of book one, presumably is a part of books two and three). She (and I can't be more specific without including a spoiler) seemed like someone who could be developed in future books, but in this first book, I never made an emotional connection with the character. Overall, though, I liked this book. I liked it well enough that I'm going to pay the somewhat higher-than-average price and accept the longer delivery time in order to see where the author takes the characters in the next two books <g>.

I was entertained by the book, and liked it well enough to read it in one afternoon, but it has more potential as a good series for Lord Ambrose than it does as a stand-alone book.

There were interesting elements - like his disfigurement, and his position in the neighborhood that makes everyone's instincts to kowtow supercede even their blood lust - despite the fact that he has been away for so many years and is barely known to them.

Lord Ambrose has seen a lot of blood and vile behavior in his war career, yet he's slow to figure out a few basic things about the murders - but perhaps it is because he has not had the chance to read as much crime fiction as we have.

My only real problems with the book was that the characters could seem a bit mannered, and the plot had a flimsy quality to it that was not balanced by deep character development or interesting conversations. I am planning to read at least one more of the Lord Ambrose books to see if they improve upon the promise of this one.

He fought in Greece against the Turks but returned to his English mansion Malfine to heal from the wounds he received in Crete. His face is scarred and he is a recluse unable to deal with his tenants, the landed gentry or women for fear of frightening them to death. Unfortunately Lord Ambrose is not allowed to stay apart from the affairs in his corner of the world. A gypsy is accused of killing the male Crawshays and the tenants want to personally to punish him.

Lord Ambrose refuses to allow vigilante justice to prevail and he takes the gypsy into his own custody, putting him in the dungeons beneath his mansion. When the local men try to rape the gypsy's wife, Ambrose takes them to a place where they will be safe; in return she tells them a secret about one of the women living in the Crawshay house. At first, Lord Ambrose thinks Mrs. Crawshay and the governess Elisabeth Anstruther played a part in the men's murders but when a strong sturdy farmer set to guard the woman is killed, Lord Ambrose thinks he misread the evidence.

England in 1830, months after the death of King George, is a gloomy place with Edward on the throne and the workers rioting because they are losing their jobs to machines. The hero is scarred both physically and mentally but the mystery of the deaths of the Crawshays brings him back to life. He once again becomes a commanding figure who through force of will becomes a leader. Jane Jakeman has written an exciting historical mystery with so many viable suspects readers won't be able to figure out who the killer is.

Harriet Klausner

I'm giving this first novel in the Lord Ambrose historical mystery series three stars because, while it was a good read, it certainly wasn't the best period mystery I've ever read. This book sets up all of the background for our main character, Lord Ambrose Malfine, who is a very scarred individual, both physically and mentally. It is 1830's England and Lord Ambrose has been living like a hermit since returning from Greece where he participated in that national fight for independence from the Turks. Wounds he received have left his face with terrible scars that make people uncomfortable. When a double murder is discovered at a nearby farm Lord Ambrose is forced out of his self-imposed hibernation to try to find the solution to the murders.

As is true with every "first" novel in a series, this one takes up quite a bit of time explaining what happened in the character's past. In this case, why our hero is so dark and brooding. I have hopes that now these reasons are out of the way the second book will concentrate very much on an actual mystery. This one was almost transparent and I never strayed from my very first knowledge of who was guilty. There was a plot twist inserted at the end but even that did not change the outcome of the mystery. I have a feeling that Elisabeth Anstruther, former governess at Crawshay's Farm, will make a return appearance in the second novel of this series. I suppose that's alright, but she was not a favorite character with me and I also did not feel that the immediate lust she and Lord Ambrose felt for each other and acted upon was very believable.

So, for me, "Let There Be Blood" was not quite as enjoyable as I had hoped. I will go on to read the second book (The Egyptian Coffin (Lord Ambrose Mysteries)) with the hope that the mystery will be more complex and more difficult to solve. According to a blurb on the back cover, Lord Ambrose can be viewed as "a fanciable mixture of Byron and Mr. Rochester...". What I really need is more of a solver of mysterious puzzles than either of those two.

If you like period mysteries, this is a good one. I found the characters and the plot interesting. I look forward to more in this series.