RIVER OF FALLEN ANGELS (Victorian Mystery Series #7) by Laura Joh Rowland will be published on January 10th 2023 by Crooked Lane Books.
Sarah Bain Barrett is photographing an incident at the London Bridge when she discovers a woman's torso floating in the Thames River. Other severed body parts are soon discovered nearby. This is not the first time that women's body parts have been found in the Thames, but Sarah is determined that these will be the last. As news of the Torso Murderer spread throughout London, many people believe that Jack the Ripper has returned. Sarah's nemesis, Inspector Reid, is determined to prove that the Ripper and Torso Murderer are the same person. Reid is also determined to find out what Sarah knows about the Ripper—and he has no problem attempting to destroy her life or the lives of the people she loves in his pursuit for the truth. Knowing that Reid is looking in the wrong direction, Sarah, her husband, her sister, and their friends place themselves continue their unofficial investigation and locate the killer before anyone else is killed.
Sarah and her crime-solving comrades are pulled in different directions as they search for the Torso Murderer, and their disagreements lead to discord. Sarah and her husband fight over the direction they think their unofficial case should take. Barrett wants to focus on some shady characters that he's known since his days as a policeman on the beat while Sarah wants to investigate leader of a religious cult that is into polygamy.
Overall, RIVER OF FALLEN ANGELS was a very compelling novel. The mystery was very interesting, and kept me intrigued. There are a number of suspects as well as clues and red herrings to keep the reader guessing. The middle section of the novel dragged a bit, but the plot picked up the farther they got into the investigation. My only real issue with the novel is the marital conflict between Sarah and her husband. In every novel, they are fighting about something involving the mystery they are investigating. After awhile, the disagreement gets old.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.