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    A Mortal Likeness: A Victorian Mystery
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    A Mortal Likeness: A Victorian Mystery
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    A Mortal Likeness: A Victorian Mystery
    Audiobook10 hours

    A Mortal Likeness: A Victorian Mystery

    Written by Laura Joh Rowland

    Narrated by Alex Tregear

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    When wealthy banker Sir Gerald Mariner posts a handsome reward for finding his missing infant, all of London joins in, hoping to win that money for themselves. Usually discouraged by a saturated market, photographer and private detective Sarah Bain is instead curiously allured as she realizes the case hits much closer to home than she first thought.

    As she dives in, she discovers a photograph of baby Robin Mariner and his mother that eerily resembles the post-mortem photographs Sarah, herself, takes of deceased children posed to look as if they were alive. Now it's unclear whether the kidnapping is a cover-up to hide the reality of his disappearance or if it's truly a cry for help.

    The clock is ticking, and Sarah must uncover the truth before her past catches up to her in this gripping follow-up to The Ripper's Shadow.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDreamscape Media Audio
    Release dateJan 9, 2018
    ISBN9781520091518
    Unavailable
    A Mortal Likeness: A Victorian Mystery
    Author

    Laura Joh Rowland

    LAURA JOH ROWLAND is the author of the Sano Ichiro mysteries (Shinju, Bundori, and The Way of the Traitor), which have twice been named Best Mysteries of the Year by Publishers Weekly. She lived through a natural disaster when Hurricane Katrina nearly destroyed her house in New Orleans, and now lives in New York City.

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    Reviews for A Mortal Likeness

    4/5

    32 ratings9 reviews

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    • 4/5
      A Mortal Likeness is second in Laura Joh Rowland's Victorian Mysteries series. In the aftermath of the Ripper case, Miss Sarah Bain and Lord Hugh Staunton set up a detective agency. Cases are sparse, and funds sparser. While tracking an adulterous husband, the pair stumble upon evidence that may be of help regarding a prominent kidnapping case. When they take the information to Sir Gerald, father of the missing Robin Mariner, he hires them to investigate the possibility of the kidnapping being an inside job. There are stipulations to employment though- they must sign a confidentiality agreement and must move into Mariner House for the duration of the case. From the start, these conditions cause problems. Sarah ends up having to lie to her new fiance. Both have to lie to Mick, their young charge. He's too smart though, and tracks them down. Life at Mariner House is fraught with danger for the trio. The family and servants are hostile to questioning. Deadly accidents plague the investigators, and personal agendas begin to cloud their objectivity and drive a wedge between Sarah and Hugh, and between Sarah and her fiance. Can they solve Robin's kidnapping, and keep their relationships intact?Ok, so this was my first foray into Rowland's Victorian Mysteries series. I didn't realise it at first. Mentions are made of the events in Ripper, enough that I got the gist of what happened. I do plan to read it soon! I want the full story. I love stories set in Victorian times, and this read didn't disappoint. The mystery itself was interesting, and called to mind the true kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby. Sarah is a photographer, a profession fostered by her father before his disappearance, and she brings that talent to the investigation business. It was neat to learn about earlier photography. Rowland has a certain gift for bringing place to life. It's easy to immerse myself in her stories and feel as if I'm there. I adore her Sano Ichiro series set in feudal Japan. I feel Sarah and Hugh both have a lot of growing up to do. There were times when Mick, the teen, seemed the adult of the group. This was probably due to him being a street kid and needing to grow up very fast. Hugh, on the other hand, lived a life of privilege until being disowned. Sarah seems in the middle of the two, personality-wise. There were still times I wanted to thwack her for her behaviour. The insistence that Hugh be objective regarding Tristan was ludicrous given her thoughts regarding Sir Gerald, or the times it felt like she was twisting evidence to fit certain people. Especially Tristan, which I feel was due to her fear that he would lure Hugh from their partnership. I'm looking forward to reading the first, and the next, in the series. Recommended for those who love mysteries and historical fiction!***Many thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing a copy in exchange for a fair and honest review. Reviewed for the Tulsa Book Review.
    • 5/5
      A Mortal Likeness (Victorian Mystery #2) by Laura Joh Rowland is a book set back in the late 1870's and is book two in the series. I didn't read book one, although now I want to read it, I had no problems reading this book without reading book one first. I requested this book and the review is voluntary. I really like the main characters. They are well developed and certainly not your normal characters. The woman is a woman that has a mind of her own, which is not really liked at that time, and she is not married. She also works as a PI and a photographer. This makes her different for sure. Her partner is a handsome gay man which is certainly not the norm then. He is certainly shunned but they are living together because they are both low on funds. They work together and get along. The characters themselves drew me in. The mystery turned into two mysteries then more. It was a great read and lots of clues, people, and I kept guessing wrong. I would rethink, and guess wrong again! I am not a good PI. This is an excellent story with a good bunch of characters, many added characters that really make it unique, and the great baffling clues. Loved the many interweaving mysteries and what develops. Great story. Thanks for letting me read this!
    • 3/5
      Sarah Bain and Lord Hugh Staunton are unlikely sleuths. After surviving a violent confrontation with Jack the Ripper in the first book of this series, the two are hired by Sir Gerald Mariner, an imperious, wealthy, and well-connected man whose young son, Robin, has been kidnapped. In 1889, Sarah and Hugh move into Mariner's mansion at Sir Gerald's request in order to spy on his relatives, acquaintances, and servants. The abduction, Mariner believes, was an inside job. Adding to Sarah's anxiety is the possibility that her father, Benjamin, whom she has not seen for twenty-four years, may still be alive. She never understood why he abruptly abandoned his wife and ten-year-old daughter.

      Laura Joh Rowland's "A Mortal Likeness" has some of the same strengths and weaknesses of its predecessor. The author colorfully depicts Victorian London's scenic beauty and depressing squalor. In addition, she emphasizes, as so many have done before, the enormous chasm between the affluent upper classes and those who can barely put food on the table. Sarah is an appealing heroine--sassy, courageous, curious, and passionately devoted to righting wrongs. Unfortunately, she, Hugh, and Mick O'Reilly, a thirteen-year-old former street urchin, conduct their chaotic inquiries with the finesse of bulls in a china shop. The police are equally inept in their efforts to solve the mystery of Robin's disappearance.

      Rowland's thinly drawn secondary characters and a muddled mystery are the book's chief flaws. Although Sarah is a photographer who has an eye for detail and is more observant than most, her professional talents are underused. She spends much of her time eavesdropping, pumping witnesses for information, and trying to avoid Inspector Reid, who is eager to lock her up for interfering in police business. The most satisfying aspect of "A Mortal Likeness" is Sarah's fighting spirit. Although she is poor, plain, and single, thirty-three year Sarah refuses to be cowed by her detractors and is fiercely determined to make her mark in a man's world.
    • 5/5
      Gripping!Unlikely compatriots and fellow private detectives Sarah Bain and Lord Hugh Staunton, are thrown into, well are lured into really, the case of a kidnapped young child, Robin Mariner. The beloved son of wealthy banker and hard nosed businessman Sir Gerald Mariner, a friend to those in high places, has gone missing. Sir Gerald hires them with a retainer they cannot resist. He insists on a confidentiality clause which puts Sarah immediately at odds with her beau, Police Constable Thomas Barrett and Inspector Reid. After the Ripper debacle, Reid is harbouring a deep grudge against both Sarah and Hugh. He figuratively froths at the mouth whenever he lays eyes on them. And that's a lot of frothing with this latest case!The thing is Sarah and Hugh are also seen in an area where they should not have been, so suspicion for a double murder falls on them.Tied up in all this is Sarah's painstaking search for the father she'd grown up believing was dead. As she slowly inches forward with that so personal and painful endeavour, more information comes to light that strikes a blow to her heart and her faith in the type of man she believed her father to be.There's coil within coil that unwinds like a striking snake. In the case of the missing Robin. Who is to be believed, who is to be trusted? What of the family members and associates, the servants and trusted companions? How many cards are in the deck and where do Sir Gerald's loyalties lie?In turns, the story is both complex and harrowing as the search for Robin continues and close friendships are stretched to breaking point.The underlining perceptions of Victorian England, attitudes and fears are highlighted through the main characters who just don't fit in--Sarah, Hugh and Mick, and through the machinations of Sir Gerald, the government and their representatives.Rowland's portrayals of the places and people of these times are magnificent.A NetGalley ARC
    • 5/5
      Photographer Sarah Bain and disgraced Lord Hugh Staunton have formed an investigations agency. They have experience because they solved the Jack the Ripper case in THE RIPPER'S SHADOW. Unfortunately their methods require them to keep their success a secret. They are struggling to find clients and build their reputation because Hugh's family has only given him a year's worth of allowance and then they are on their own. While they are trying to get evidence on an adulterer, the big case in town is the kidnapping of baby Robin Mariner, the son of the very wealthy and influential Sir Gerald Mariner. An introduction from Hugh's father leads to Sir Gerald hiring them to investigate the kidnapping. Sir Gerald makes them sign a non-disclosure agreement and then brings them to his home to investigate the residents. Sir Gerald believes the kidnapping was an inside job. They find a wide variety of suspects when they arrive. Evidence in the last photo of the mother and child lead Sarah to believe that there was something wrong with Robin. She even suspects that the photo might show an already dead child since taking that sort of photo was a thing in Victorian times. They wonder if Sir Gerald's wife Lady Alexandra might have done away with the defective infant. Or perhaps Sir Gerald's older son Tristan did away with him since his father had made Robin his heir rather than himself. Then there is Sir Gerald's teenage daughter Olivia who seems to have been jealous of the baby who she feels stole her father's affections. Thrown into the mix of suspects is Lady Alexandra's sister and the psychic she would like to run away with. Then there is John Pierce who is Sir Gerald's chief aide but who resents him for stealing Lady Alexandra from him. Or maybe Sir Gerald himself had something to do with his child's kidnapping.All the tangled relationships Sarah, Hugh and their young assistant Mick discover bring up issues for each of the detectives. Sarah has a mystery in her own past having to do with her father who disappeared when she was nine. Police reports she was recently given by her new love interest Barrett seem to lead to the fact that he was a rapist and murderer and fled to avoid the law. One of the photos she took while trailing the suspected adulterer may be a photo of her father. She has very mixed feeling about looking for the father she still loves. Meanwhile Hugh has been disowned, disgraced, and lost his position in society since he has been outed as a homosexual but he is attracted to Sir Gerald's son Tristan who may or may not return his affection. This was a nicely twisty mystery will all sorts of secrets revealed. It had a nicely developed historical setting. Fans of historical mysteries will enjoy this new adventure for Sarah and Sir Hugh.
    • 5/5
      A very good book, filled with mystery to the very end, a very good narrator, I could understand perfectly, even English not being my first language. I truly recommend it!
    • 4/5
      The book was enjoyable, but I was surprised at the language used by Victorian English people. Did they really use words like “Nope?” Despite that I enjoyed this mystery in which a single female photographer and a gay member of the aristocracy team up to solve the mysterious death of a child. I wish I’d read the first book in the series that dealt with Jack the Ripper, but not having read that didn’t impact my understanding of this book.
    • 3/5
      The young son of Sir Gerald Mariner has been kidnapped and with weeks having past with no child found by the police he hires Sarah Bain and Hugh Staunton, private investigators.
      The book is written in the present tense, and I didn't really take to the style of writing or to the two main characters, so I doubt I will seek out the first in the series. Their method seems to be to accuse everyone until someone confesses.
      It is probably more a 2.5 star rating
      A NetGalley Book
    • 4/5
      A Mortal Likeness by Laura Joh Rowland is a twisty turny historical mystery. This second installment in the Victorian Mystery series easily stands on its own, but I highly recommend book one, The Ripper's Shadow, as well.

      Photographer Sarah Bain and her close friend Lord Hugh Staunton are attempting to get their private inquiry business up and running. Their current case involves suspected adultery and while attempting to obtain photographic proof, Sarah and Hugh inadvertently stumble into the middle of a double homicide and a kidnapping case involving a baby. Sir Gerald Mariner, whose son Robin is missing, suspects the kidnapper is someone close to the family so he hires them to investigate. Will Sarah and Hugh uncover the kidnapper's identity? Will they find Robin before harm befalls the missing boy? And what will the personal fallout be once Sarah's Police Constable boyfriend, Thomas Barrett, discovers she has not been completely honest with him about her involvement in the case?

      Upon their arrival at Sir Gerald's estate, Hugh and Sarah must investigate a rather large pool of suspects. Robin's mother, Lady Alexandra is keeping to herself with only her sister Tabitha Jenkins by her side. They also discover Gerald has a bit of a strained relationship with his children from his previous marriages. Oldest son Tristan is a member of the clergy and he is no longer in line to inherit his father's vast wealth. Seventeen year old daughter Olivia is rather volatile, impetuous and angry with her father for shipping her off to boarding school. Non family members include bodyguard John Pierce who resents Hugh and Sarah's presence and their investigation. Sarah is deeply suspicious of medium Raphael DeQuincey but just because she believes he is a charlatan does not necessarily mean he is involved in Robin's disappearance.

      Then there is the matter of baby Robin's last photograph which was taken about six months before his disappearance. Sarah picks up on a bit of an irregularity in the picture that deeply troubles her.  She and Hugh learn some rather disquieting information from the servants that might support Sarah's suspicions. However, this theory is just one of many they consider throughout their investigation.

      A Mortal Likeness is an intriguing mystery with a very perplexing crime to solve. Sarah and Hugh are extremely close but they find themselves at odds throughout their investigation and their friendship becomes precarious as they search for the truth. Sarah is dismayed when her romance with Thomas is threatened when he discovers her involvement in Robin's case.  Laura Joh Rowland brilliantly keeps readers on the edge of their seats with a dazzling array of stunning twists and turns.  While the current case is completely wrapped up by the novel's end, Sarah's discoveries about her long missing father will leave fans breathlessly awaiting the next installment in the Victorian Mystery series.