AuthorIrina Shapiro
NarratorImogen Church
SeriesA Tate and Bell Mystery, Book 1
Duration12h 42m
CategoriesAdult Fiction, Crime, Thriller and Mysteries, Historical Novels
PublisherStorm Publishing
VersionUnabridged
His heart pounding, the man scribbles the words in his notebook as fast as he can: "Woman dead in Highgate. Man in caped coat. Milky way and red streaks. I'm being followed."
Hours later, the man's cold body lies in the city mortuary, alongside the woman he couldn't save. And his sister, unconventional nurse Gemma Tate, tracks down troubled police inspector Sebastian Bell to unravel the truth.
Sebastian has enough pressure to solve the murder of an aristocratic heiress without Gemma meddling in his case. But the cryptic sentences she brings him from her brother's notebook could be a crucial lead. If only they knew what "milky way" meant. But as the trail of clues takes them away from the gilded drawing rooms of the nobility and into the dangerous slums of London, how far will their partnership be tested on the quest for justice, and will they both emerge unscathed?
Fans of Andrea Penrose, Deanna Raybourn and Carole Lawrence will be hooked on this intricate, compelling mystery set in Victorian London.
Karen Pirie Book 5: Broken Ground
Author: Val Mcdermid
Author Val Mcdermid
Narrator Cathleen Mccarron
SeriesKaren Pirie, Book 5
Duration 12h 57m
When a body is discovered in the remote depths of the Highlands, DCI Karen Pirie finds herself in the right place at the right time. Unearthed with someone's long-buried inheritance, the victim seems to belong to the distant past - until new evidence suggests otherwise, and Karen is called in to unravel a case where nothing is as it seems. It's not...
View Book
Author: Dorothy L Sayers
Author Dorothy L Sayers
Narrator Ian Carmichael
SeriesLord Peter Wimsey, Book 10
Duration 2h 30m
When Harriet Vane attends her Oxford reunion, known as the 'Gaudy', the prim academic setting is haunted by a rash of bizarre pranks: scrawled obscenities, burnt effigies and poison-pen letters - including one that says, 'Ask your boyfriend with the title if he likes arsenic in his soup.' Some of the notes threaten murder and one of them involves a...
View Book
Dr Alex Gregory Book 2: Hysteria
Author: Lj Ross
Author Lj Ross
Narrator Hugh Dancy
SeriesAlex Gregory, Book 2
Duration 6h 52m
From the International Number 1 Bestselling Author of the DCI Ryan Mysteries. Hysteria is the second instalment in Ross' brand new Dr Alex Gregory series, narrated by actor Hugh Dancy. Recently returned from his last case in Ireland, elite forensic psychologist and criminal profiler Dr Alexander Gregory receives a call from the French police that h...
View Book
Maggie Hope Series Book 7: The King's Justice
Author: Susan Elia MacNeal
Author Susan Elia MacNeal
Narrator Susan Duerden
SeriesMaggie Hope, Book 9
Duration 10h 51m
Maggie Hope started out as Winston Churchill's secretary, but now she's a secret agent-and the only one who can figure out how the missing violin ties into a series of horrifying murders. London, December 1943. As the Russian army repels German forces from Stalingrad, Maggie Hope takes a much-needed break from spying to defuse bombs in London. But...
View Book
Alexis Tyler Series Book 2: The Nursery
Author: Asia Mackay
Author Asia Mackay
Narrator Georgia Maguire
SeriesAlexis Tyler, Book 2
Duration 10h 42m
Lex Tyler is trying to have it all. But being a working mother is so much more difficult when you're a secret agent for an underground branch of the security services. Platform Eight have been tasked with tracking down and eliminating the traitor in MI6 who has been selling information to the highest bidder through a headhunting website for the cri...
View Book
Author: Irina Shapiro
Author Irina Shapiro
Narrator Imogen Church
SeriesA Tate and Bell Mystery, Book 4
Duration 10h 34m
She looks hardly more than a child, sleeping, her lashes long and thick as they rest against her rounded cheeks. But in the flickering gaslight, she is unnaturally still... For Inspector Sebastian Bell and nurse Gemma Tate, a night at the theater becomes a deadly spectacle when the two lead actors are found dead on the stage, murdered before a stu...
View Book
Dr Alex Gregory Book 1: Imposter
Author: Lj Ross
Author Lj Ross
Narrator Hugh Dancy
SeriesAlex Gregory, Book 1
Duration 7h 6m
From the International Number 1 Bestselling Author of the DCI Ryan Mysteries. Impostor is the first instalment in Ross' brand new Dr Alex Gregory series, narrated by actor Hugh Dancy. After an elite criminal profiling unit is shut down amid a storm of scandal and mismanagement, only one person emerges unscathed. Forensic psychiatrist Doctor Alexand...
View Book
Author: Irina Shapiro
Author Irina Shapiro
Narrator Imogen Church
SeriesA Tate and Bell Mystery, Book 2
Duration 10h 47m
The chill of winter has descended on London. But for Sebastian Bell and Gemma Tate, there will be little cheer this season...Gemma Tate has a new job and a new address. She is putting her past – her memories of nursing in the Crimean war – behind her. But when Jacob Harrow, a journalist with ties to Crimea, is found brutally killed, Gem...
View Book
Tony Hill and Carol Jordan Book 9: Splinter the Silence
Author: Val Mcdermid
Author Val Mcdermid
Narrator Saul Reichlin
SeriesTony Hill and Carol Jordan, Book 9
Duration 12h 47m
When psychological profiler Tony Hill comes across a series of suicides among women tormented by vicious online predators, he begins to wonder if there is more to these tragedies than meets the eye. Could it be murder? But what kind of serial killer wants his crimes to stay hidden? Tony and DCI Carol Jordan begin the hunt for the most dangerous and...
View Book
The Last Kingdom Book 12: Sword of Kings
Author: Bernard Cornwell
Author Bernard Cornwell
Narrator Matt Bates
SeriesThe Last Kingdom, Book 12
Duration 13h 27m
England is in turmoil as Vikings and Saxons battle for territory. Rumours build about the fatal sickness of the King, and the country awaits an heir. A violent clash at sea forces the warrior lord Uhtred to lead his men from his Northumbrian fortress to London and plunge into the eye of the storm. For two kings claim the empty throne and a new king...
View Book
Jennifer 22 Jul 2025
Murky Victorian England
I came across The Highgate Cemetery Murders while browsing. I had not heard of the author, Irina Shapiro, but was drawn to the 19th century era and the central character, Gemma Tate.
Gemma is an unusual Victorian woman, as she is independent, curious and is not consumed by the hunt for a respectable, rich suitor. With her parents already passed, the sudden death of her brother is devastating, especially when suspicions arise that his death was not a tragic accident. It becomes apparent that his demise is linked to a horrifying case. DI Sebastien Bell, of Scotland Yard, is tasked with solving the disturbing, and very public discovery of a young woman.
The setting of the book in this era, a time of the resurrectionists, widespread social issues and addiction to opium, makes for an interesting and eye opening read. It did surprise me, how much contempt the police were held in, viewed with great suspicion and disrespect, especially by the ruling classes. The author draws away the polite veil of respectability, and shows the true colours of the murky, deeply immoral Victorian England.
It goes without saying how much I enjoyed Gemma’s character and spirit, also that of Sebastien, and Colin Ramsey, a surgeon who doubles up as a pathologist. Both men are far more progressive in their thinking and behaviour, than most men of their time.
The narrator, Imogen Church gave a fabulous performance. Her voicing of the different emotions, genders, accents and classes was impressive, and I will definitely look forward to books narrated by her in the future.
I thoroughly enjoyed this atmospheric and dark book, and am looking forward to reading the second in the series, Murder at Traitor’s Gate. There is so much more to the backstories of Gemma, Sebastian and Colin, and I am already invested in their characters. There are currently 5 books in the series, and hope to see more being published soon.