After hurling Mark Graham’s book The Black Maria across the room (in an attempt to find something interesting to do with it as reading it was lulling me into a catatonic state) I wanted some confirmation that all historical mysteries weren’t such unreadable garbage. Happily Linscott provided that confirmation.

The setting here is the general election called at the close of the first world war in 1918. This was the first British election in which women were eligible to vote and our protaganist Nell Bray, a suffragette who’s pleased to have won that battle, is standing for Parliament as an independent candidate in the rural constituency of Duxbury. And this being a mystery she’s doing a little detecting at the same time.

She’s been invited to Duxbury by the widow of the former Conservative candidate who was blown up by a firework at the Armistice celebrations. Convinced that her husband was murdered by his replacement Conservative candidate the widow is willing to support Nell as an independent providing that she investigates the death.

Perhaps because I’ve plunged in at the eighth book in the series I found the characters very realistic people and I wasn’t disappointed by the plot. Mainly though I was impressed that Linscott conjured up a picture of 1918 for me without drowning me in her research. I felt there was just enough detail to evoke the era.

I don’t think historical fiction will ever be a favourite of mine but I was pleased to find that it can be written well after all.