Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: The Companion by Ann Granger

I was a huge fan of British author Ann Granger’s Mitchell and Markby contemporary mystery series in the 1990s. When I couldn’t find a new title, I moved on to other authors, not realizing Granger created multiple series characters. One of them is Elizabeth Martin, daughter of a village doctor who died unexpectedly, leaving her destitute in mid-19^th century Victorian England. In the series debut The Companion (Minotaur, 2007) a family connection in London offered Lizzie a position as her companion and Lizzie had no alternative but to accept it. Julia Parry, widow of Elizabeth’s godfather, is still distraught about the loss of her previous companion, who walked away without notice two months earlier. The police report to the family a couple of days after Lizzie’s arrival that the corpse of a young woman they believe to be the missing companion was found in a construction site. The cause of death is plainly homicide.

Inspector Ben Ross of Scotland Yard is assigned to the case. He is from the same county as Lizzie and he reminds her that they met when they were children. He realizes that Lizzie is better able to elicit information from some potential witnesses and the two compare notes. Lizzie tries to hide her investigation from her new employer, as she sees that her benefactor is more concerned about her reputation than her unfortunate former employee. She also recognizes that the position that looked like a haven may not be a good place to stay for any length of time.

Granger was an old hand at plotting by the time she wrote this mystery, with more than 20 books to her credit; her experience shows in the even pacing and convincing dialogue. The clues are well placed and as in the best of mysteries the culprit is hiding in plain sight. The 1860s London setting is gratifyingly realized with period detail worked seamlessly into the narrative. Granger did her research and fortunately didn’t feel the need to tell us all about it. The character of Lizzie as protagonist is someone I could unequivocally support. For fans of historical mysteries. Readers of Tasha Alexander, David Dickinson, Charles Finch, Robin Paige, and Deanna Raybourn especially should consider these books.

Published as A Rare Interest in Corpses by Headline Books in 2006. The ninth in the series was published in audiobook and ebook forms in July 2023.

 

·         Publisher: ‎Minotaur Books, June 12, 2007

·         Language: ‎English

·         Hardcover: ‎320 pages

·         ISBN-10: ‎0312363370

·         ISBN-13: ‎978-0312363376

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2023

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.