A Body in Berkeley Square
Ashley Gardner
Berkley, Dec 2005, $7.99
ISBN: 0425207285

In 1817, former military Sergeant turned Bow St. runner Milton Pomeroy, shows Captain Gabriel Lacey the corpse of Henry Turner stabbed to death with the knife in his chest. Milton explains that the body was removed from the crime scene in order to not interfere with the cr me de cr me ball hosted by Lord Gillis. Upon seeing the murder weapon, Lacey knows it belongs to Colonel Aloysius Brandon, who won it from him in a Peninsular card game.

Lacey detests his former friend and superior officer Brandon, who previously told Pomeroy he has no idea how his knife ended up in Turner's chest. The sleuth is tempted to let the Colonel take the fall, as he knows he could make a case since Brandon had the opportunity and the means, and a motive shortly surfaces too. Will Lacey "settle" on Brandon, who everyone from the Earl hosting the ball to Pomeroy assumes committed the homicide? By doing so Lacey would avenge several affronts Brandon did to him, or will he seek justice by continuing his investigations? His traitorous gut tells him the Colonel is being framed, with too much easily available proof for someone as diabolical as Brandon has become.

The latest Captain Lacy Regency police procedural, A BODY IN BERKELEY SQUARE, is a fabulous who-done-it, starring an ethical hero who faces a moral dilemma as he finally has the opportunity, the means and the motive to get away with vengeance. The who-done-it is so cleverly devised that crime scene investigators would cherish working such a case. However, the key to this strong entry in one of the best historical mystery series in recent years remains how hard Lacey is trying to uncover the identity of the killer.

Harriet Klausner