Death on the Rocks

February 10, 2014
Horatio Huxtable, a London merchant, turns for help to apothecary John Rawlings, known for his ability to solve problems for John Fielding and the Bow Street Runners, in Lake’s workmanlike 15th mystery set in 18th-century England (after 2011’s Death at the Wedding Feast). Huxtable’s stepson, Augustus Bagot, left home at 14, returning only years later after word of his mother’s death and his resulting inheritance reached him. But the merchant believes that the morbidly obese man presenting himself as Bagot is an imposter, and hopes the druggist will prove him right. Rawlings, accompanied by his father, travels to Bristol for answers. Before his inquiries get too far along, someone greases the top steps of a dangerous staircase, leading to a fatal slip. While the plotting isn’t up to the standards of other series set in this period, such as Bruce Alexander’s books with Fielding himself as the lead, even first-timers will find themselves invested in the developments that change Rawlings’s future.

March 1, 2014
How could you prove someone an impostor before fingerprints and DNA tests? When Augustus Bagot, the stepson who ran away at 14, reappears to claim an inheritance after his mother's death, wealthy Bristol resident Horatio Huxtable asks apothecary and amateur sleuth John Rawlings to determine whether he is who he claims to be. Rawlings' adoptive father, Sir Gabriel Kent, accompanies Rawlings so he can partake of the waters of Hotwell, a nearby spa popular with the upper classes. When they arrive, Huxtable explains that he sees no resemblance between the unpleasant, grossly overweight claimant and the freckle-faced boy he last saw many years ago. The real Bagot has a mole on his posterior, his only identifying mark. Rawlings and his coachman, Irish Tom, explore low pubs and whorehouses, both male and female, looking for clues. When Bagot falls to his death on some dangerous steps near Hotwell, an examination proves him a fraud. But did the person who murdered him by greasing the steps think he was the real Bagot, or was it someone in his recent life with a grudge? Rawlings' search is interrupted by a note sent by his former lover, the mother of his twin sons, begging him to visit her. He arrives in Devon to find the spirited and beautiful Marchesa Elizabeth di Lorenzi dying of cancer and agrees to take the boys after she passes. Heartbroken, he returns to Hotwell, where he finds any number of likely suspects. Newcomers and devoted fans of Lake's hero (Death at the Wedding Feast, 2011, etc.), based on a real 18th-century apothecary, will delight in the period detail, excellent mystery and well-drawn characters.

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April 1, 2014

John Rawlings, a London apothecary, has a reputation for problem solving, and he cannot resist following up on odd requests. So, when a gentleman in Bristol asks him to look into a case of false identity, Rawlings is intrigued. Turns out Horatio Huxtable has a stepson he hasn't seen for years; Huxtable wants to pass on valuables from his late wife, and this man claims to be her son. Curious, Rawlings and his adopted father, Sir Gabriel Kent, set off to Bristol. Soon after, the impostor is murdered, and Rawlings is drawn into the homicide investigation, meeting an astonishing range of local personalities from black slaves and Irish dockworkers to bawdy actors along the way. This 18th-century tale of derring-do reveals a society full of secrets and bad behavior. VERDICT Lake's Georgian-era historical series gives no signs of running out of juicy stories and imaginative plots after a 20-year run; this is number 15 (after Death at the Wedding Feast). While a bit of a potboiler, her latest leaves readers with the promise of a surprising, exciting future for the daring druggist.

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