MH Thaung reviewed A House Of Mirrors by Liz Hedgecock
Entertaining historical mystery
I quite enjoy Holmes-inspired variations, so I was curious about this one (first of a trilogy) by a new-to-me author.
A House of Mirrors comes across as an introduction to a rather different version of “Mrs Hudson” than most. Nell is in fact young. Presenting herself as a widow serves to cover up at least one mystery from her past. Unsurprisingly, given that her husband was a policeman, her investigations intertwine with Holmes’ work. In parallel, their relationship develops.
I found the plot quite interesting, though perhaps implausibly convoluted. There’s a dual timeline between the present and a few years previously, so we learn about Nell’s previous life.
Although I’m not a big Holmes purist, the personalities/behaviour of named characters differed from canon to such an extent that I felt the book might have worked better without the Holmes connection, and simply as a “Victorian mystery”.
Perhaps because the characters …
I quite enjoy Holmes-inspired variations, so I was curious about this one (first of a trilogy) by a new-to-me author.
A House of Mirrors comes across as an introduction to a rather different version of “Mrs Hudson” than most. Nell is in fact young. Presenting herself as a widow serves to cover up at least one mystery from her past. Unsurprisingly, given that her husband was a policeman, her investigations intertwine with Holmes’ work. In parallel, their relationship develops.
I found the plot quite interesting, though perhaps implausibly convoluted. There’s a dual timeline between the present and a few years previously, so we learn about Nell’s previous life.
Although I’m not a big Holmes purist, the personalities/behaviour of named characters differed from canon to such an extent that I felt the book might have worked better without the Holmes connection, and simply as a “Victorian mystery”.
Perhaps because the characters were so different, I didn’t find myself especially invested in them, other than shaking my head at just how much Nell was gaslit or didn’t notice oddities - especially as she was working as a sort of police analyst. The story ends on a hopeful note, and clearly there is more to come.
Overall, an entertaining historical mystery to start off a series.