The final novel of the Thomas DeQuincey trilogy does not disappoint! I have absolutely loved every single book in this trilogy and I highly recommend them for anyone who enjoys mysteries and the Victorian era. I am so upset that this is only a trilogy! I could read more from these characters forever...legit.
In the final installment, we find the opium-eater, Thomas DeQuincey, receiving a letter than his precious books are to be auctioned off! This speaks to my spirit and I understand his need to rush to his books...I get it Thomas...I get it. So he and his faithful daughter, Emily, board a train...and so do two other men. One man carrying a briefcase, and another arriving just as the train is about to leave. The two men in one compartment, Emily and her father in the other. During the train ride, Emily and DeQuincey hear some commotion from the other compartment, and Thomas, having opened the window for some fresh air, is soon splattered in the face by blood. Not being able to do anything until the train stops, Emily and her father spring into action, once at their destination, demanding their train compartment be opened at once. However, when the other compartment is opened, there's no one in it; but there is blood...the briefcase is also absent. The train though must keep its schedule and it has to leave before the constables can be summoned. DeQuincey has the railway security man send a telegram to London asking for Scotland Yard detectives Ryan (swoon for the Irish) and Becker to come at once. He and Emily set off down the tracks and find the body of the man who carried the briefcase. Ooooooo train murder!
Ryan and Becker arrive and the investigation begins. They eventually find the killer gave his coat away to some homeless man but it is covered in blood. Ryan trades his own coat for the killer's coat so it can be used as evidence. The coat leads them into the town where a fire has been set at a hay barn...all of which is a distraction so the killer can break into the local clothing store and steal a coat...the best coat. OOOO a clue! The killer then makes his way back to London in the same coach Ryan and Becker used to arrive at the crime scene...'ello irony. Eventually Ryan and Becker have done all they can and the crew heads back to London. After some investigative work, they learn the identity of the dead guy is that of a notable attorney...an attorney who knows the secrets of parliamentarians, nobility, and even the Prime Minister. So whose secret was in the briefcase that warranted killing? And what was the secret?
While the investigation is ongoing and more shit pops off, Thomas meets a friend from his past. Carolyn was a young girl when Thomas knew her but she gave him shelter when he was homeless in London in his early teens. When she was a child, he showed her how to make a rat poison cake because the home she was sheltering in with her 'guardian' was infested with them and she could always hear the rats scratching at the walls. She learns from the Prime Minister that it is DeQuincey who is helping with the case and she seeks him out under the pretense that they are old friends. Well...she's actually kind of up his ass...wanting to take him and Emily out to dinner, have tea with them, go to a water clinic in Sedwick Hill where the doctor is said to work wonders. I must say the water clinic is in the same town that the attorney was headed to.........just store that in mind for later.
Thomas and Emily go with Carolyn to Sedwick Hill to see her daughter and this awesomesauce clinic. At the same time, Ryan and Becker are headed to the same clinic due to some leads. It is worth noting that Carolyn's daughter married an old ass man and he had a horse riding accident that has left him paralyzed and incapable of speech. However, prior to his accident, Stella, Carolyn's daughter and the old man's wife, became pregnant and she gave birth to a son. Meanwhile, the old man already had a grown son. While Thomas and Emily are visiting, Stella's husband dies and she immediately blames the adult son. Stella says she saw him coming out the room and when she entered, her husband was dead...he also had particles of snuff on his chest and of course the adult son uses snuff. Well he loses his shift, rightfully so, and kicks them all out into the cold. After all, he is now Lord of the manor and can do as he sees fit. The crew then heads to the clinic to seek shelter. When they arrive, who answers the door? Why Detectives Ryan and Becker of course!
Through a side plot that doesn't matter to the overall purpose of this synopsis, the clinic is set on fire. Our major players manage to get out but it did add some excitement to the plot for a while. It is worth noting however that Carolyn owned the clinic...
Everyone heads back to London and after a murder on a train, a bomb in a train station, and other shenanigans, the price of railroad shares has plummeted. However, someone keeps buying stock so that when all of this blows over, the price will rise and someone will be richer.
Eventually Ryan, Becker, Emily, and Thomas all put the pieces together. Carolyn's husband has been buying the stock, and he's also the murderer and the one who set the bomb off in the train station. Why did he murder the attorney though? Well...a private investigator, hired by Stella's stepson, found out he didn't have the same father as the new baby. Stella had been fucking another man, at the insistence of her mother, so she could become pregnant and have a male heir. Then, they would murder Stella's husband, pin it on the adult son, and inherit the estate and money. Always with the money! Stella, though, was fucked up mentally and emotionally because she saw her mother get pawed every night while she was working as a prostitute back in the day. So Stella killed the first child she had, a daughter, but everyone thought it was just bad luck since the child died so young. In actuality, Stella didn't want her daughter to have to endure a life of men. Stella also doesn't like being touched by men so she kills the man who impregnated her. She eventually ends up in Bedlam. Carolyn's husband ends up in jail for murder. And Carolyn commits suicide because she's crazy. Her crazy kicks in again after her world falls apart and she hears the rats clawing at the walls and floors again. She also writes Thomas a letter in which she admits to killing Ann. THAT JEALOUS BITCH! Learning she did that just made me dislike her even more. If you read the first two, you'll learn well who Ann is. She is the long lost love of Thomas. He had to take a trip, back in his younger days, and upon his return he would meet Ann at a specific location and time but she never showed. It is something that has haunted him for damn near 40 years. I was so glad he was able to get closure, but I was also so pissed at Carolyn. My heart hurt for him.
So in the end Thomas gets his closure, he got a little pay day for solving so many murders, but Emily is still left to care for her father, potentially without her own little happy ending. But wait...that's not so! Detective Ryan...with his astute intellect, veteran police self, and Irish red hair loves Emily. He's spent a lot of time thinking the age difference would mean she would be better off with someone else her own age, but he's finally ready to throw that logic in the trash. When Emily boards the train and it begins moving, he hands the commissioner his badge and takes off running to the train. YEEEEESSSSSS!! My romantic self was hoping she'd end up with him! Age difference be damned! You go Emily and Ryan! Now, I just need Morrell to write me up another book about them...please and thanks!
I loved this trilogy, I loved the characters, I loved the plots and subplots, the twists and turns...I just loved them all. I'm so sad to see it done but I'm so happy with the way this finale turned out. Thank you for the closure and happy ending!
