D.J. Taylor, Kept

Kept

D.J. Taylor

HarperCollins, May 2007, $24.95

ISBN 0061146080

In 1863, Sergeant Morgan of the Suffolk Constabulary inform the Woodbridge Chronicle and Intelligencer newspaper that thirty-two-year-old respected gentleman Henry Ireland died when he fell from his horse. Henry's widow Isabel struggles with her loss because her spouse made all the decisions involving the estate and their marriage.

Her neighbor, naturalist James Dixey of isolated Easton Hall, offers Isabel some solace and brings her into his home. However, though Isabel initially welcomed having a strong man tell her what to do, she becomes distraught when she begins to believe she is being kept as a trophy just like his stuffed bear and caged, raging wolf. Only Isabel's cousin John Carstairs seems to worry about her as he seeks to offer his protection, but cannot find the vanished widow. As Dixey's maid Esther Spalding keeps Isabel somewhat safe, Scotland Yard Police Captain McTurk begins to tie seemingly unconnected dots which include Henry's so-called accidental death, the vanished widow, a questionable debt collection service that apparently collects by robbing, and the great train robbery, but who is the mastermind remains murky.

This is a superb, multifaceted, Victorian mystery that cleverly comes together as the various subplots converge on the missing widow. The cast is solid as they bring a Dickensian feel to the complex storyline. Creepy Dixey is a fascinating series of contradictions; for instance he claims to be a naturalist but welcomes poachers and takes pleasure in destroying animal eggs so that his collecting the widow is natural for him. Readers will immensely enjoy this one sitting intelligently dark Victorian mystery.

Harriet Klausner