Due to a passing in the family a few years ago and my subsequent health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for years after the bereavement. Thank you for the opportunity.

This was an okay read for me. I liked it but I didn’t love it and ultimately, I believe this will be a rather forgettable read. This is the second book in the Alec Lonsdale series but I feel that it would read just fine as a stand-alone. I have to admit that I didn’t like it quite as much as I did the first book in the series. There was a lot going on in the story and once I started reading the book proved to be a rather quick read.

Alec and Hulda stumble upon a murder at the same time they learn that cannibals are on the loose in the city. Things get more complicated as the murders start to pile up. Throw in a little romantic drama for Alec and an upset potential father-in-law and there is no shortage of things to keep Alec busy. There are quite a few characters to keep straight and I have to admit that I was confused from time to time. I liked Alec and Hulda quite a bit and had no doubt that they would be able to get to the bottom of everything going on.

I listened to the audiobook and thought that David Thorpe did an acceptable job with the narration. I think that this was the first time that I have listened to his narration so there might have been a bit of an adjustment period for me. There were a few voices used for characters that were slightly difficult to understand. Overall, I think that he did a good job with the story.

I think that this book will appeal to readers who enjoy historical mysteries. This was an enjoyable mystery that I enjoyed for the most part. I wouldn’t hesitate to read more books written by this writing pair.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Severn House via NetGalley and purchased a copy of the audiobook.

Exciting and unexpected counter-programming to the usual Christmas fare. Loved the setting in the Natural History Museum.

Simon Beaufort in Watchers of the Dead has his journalist Lonsdale along with other newsies trace who is murdering the members of a secret society the Watchers of the Dead in Victorian London. Multiple murders, interference from the police, an insane asylum escapee all multiply the suspects. Throw in African"cannibals" and its a merry race to track down the perpetrator. To add to the mix Lonsdale is in hot water with his fiancee and her snobbish father. What else can go wrong?

Watchers of the Dead by Simon Beaufort is set in London, 1882, with the Natural History Museum only recently opened! There are cannibals and dinosaur bones. Yes, three people from Africa are going to be on show, except they've gone missing.

Alec Lonsdale, a reporter for Pall Mall Gazette stumbles on the body in the basement of the Natural History Museum when hunting for the cannibals! This leads him to discover there's been some other murders, and the cannibals are the police's chief suspects!

I found Watchers of the Dead to be full of people from the time, which is really interesting from a historical perspective, but I feel the story fell a bit flat, with quite a lot going on that got a little muddled, and then what felt like big character moments being dealt with in one line.

Crime books are one of my favourite genres, and I read them for different reasons. Cosy crime (which I'm afraid I would lump Golden Age crime in to) is my midnight read, historical for a bit of a history lesson, crime thriller are ones not to read at bedtime because you'll be sucked in to the action.

When I think of historical crime, I think of C.J Sansom (Matthew Shardlake), Lindsey Davis (Falco), and Ellis Peters (Cadfael), and I'm afraid Watchers of the Dead didn't quite measure up to these!

Watchers of the Dead was published on 1st July 2019, and is available to buy on Amazon and on Waterstones. I've found a link to where you can search for local bookshops, including independent!

Simon Beaufort is two people! Susanna Gregory and Beau Riffenburgh, who write together under the name Simon Beaufort.

You can follow Susanna Gregory on her website, and you can follow Beau Riffenburgh on this page.

If you're interested in historical crime book, then here's some others I've reviewed:

Season of Darkness by Cora Harrison 🌟🌟🌟

The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins 🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Wolf and the Watchman by Niklas Natt och Dag 🌟🌟🌟🌟

I was given this book for free in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Severn House (the publishers) for this book.

Check out my GoodReads profile to see more reviews!

Set in Victorian London, this historical mystery/thriller mixes fiction with actual events and real individuals of the late 19th Century. I felt that too much time was spent in introducing the reader to a plethora of characters and one third of the story passes before the reader first learns of The Watchers and their evil plan. though I wish the story did move faster I would like to read more from this author

J'ai aimé le livre, mais loin d'adorer. Les personnages et l'histoire étaient beaucoup trop stéréotypés pour mon goût. Je recommanderais à des adolescents, pour une petite lecture "policière" facile.

""All Londoners will see what the Watchers are capable of on Christmas Eve..." December 1882. Attending the opening of the new Natural History Museum, Pall Mall Gazette reporter Alec Lonsdale and his colleague Hulda Friederichs are shocked to discover a body in the basement, hacked to death. Suspicion immediately falls on a trio of cannibals, brought over from the Congo as museum exhibits, who have disappeared without trace. Alec however has his doubts - especially when he discovers that three other influential London men have been similarly murdered. When he and Hulda discover a letter in the victim’s home warning of a catastrophic event planned for Christmas Eve, the pair find themselves in a race against time to discover who exactly the Watchers are and what it is they want..."

Christmas is also another great time to commit a crime...

I was attracted by the blurb and had quite expectations. Unfortunately they were not met as I found the plot confusing and the book fell flat.
Many thanks to Severn House and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Quite a few reviewers have noted that this book moves a bit slowly. I noticed that as well, but honestly, this issues didn’t diminish my enjoyment of it. I don’t expect historical mysteries to move at a neck-breaking speed.

There’s at least one more Alec Lonsdale novel prior to Watchers of the Dead, but it is not necessary to read the books in order. This book works as a standalone.

What I enjoyed:

1. Alec and Hulda
Alec is an extremely sympathetic character. He’s a journalist with The Pall Mall Gazette, a respected London newspaper. Though his fiancee’s father disdains Alec’s investigations into the murder, and repeatedly orders him to cease and desist, Alec refuses. Multiple people are dead. The police have been ordered to declare the deaths natural when they were clearly murder. If an investigative journalist doesn’t snoop around, the dead will not receive justice. He has principles and he’s clearly bothered by this injustice and the exploitation of humans.

Hulda is quite a character. One of my notes reads, “I like her. I think.” It took me a while to warm up to her, but she won me over with her dogged determination, intelligence, and blunt–often abrasive–words. It’s fairly obvious that she and Alec are better suited than Alec and his intended. Oh, and baking allows her to think, she tells others in chapter three, as she presents a plate of lavender biscuits to the Gazette office staff. Questionable flavor aside, anyone who brings baked goods to work is a winner with me.

2. The historical details
Beaufort does a great job making the Victorian era come to life. Obviously, the author’s done a lot of research. We read about everything from the public opinion of evolutionary theory to London’s dismal December weather to the newly-opened Natural History Museum’s interior to the the infamous Broadmoor where poor Maclean lives.

Many of the characters are actual historical persons. It’s really interesting to see how Beaufort works with what is known about these people. This is especially true of Hulda, who was an actual London journalist at the Gazette.

3. The journalism
Years ago, I worked in the local newspaper’s newsroom as a “gofer.” (Person who made coffee, “ran copy” between typesetters and newswriters, did dinner runs for late night employees–usually the sports writers–and answered the phone: you get the idea.) When Beaufort describes the Gazette building, it reminded me so much of my old job site. And yes, the editors could be quite quirky and strongly opinionated, just like those at the Gazette.

The competition between the London papers feels familiar, too, as does the differing attitudes toward news gathering. Some, like Voules, write whatever sells, no matter how outrageous and divorced from the truth. Others, like Lonsdale and Hulda, feel a moral obligation to print the truth and only the truth. This isn’t easy to do, especially when powerful people distort facts, lie, or refuse to speak at all. It often puts the journalists at risk, too. The physical methods of journalism may have changed, but certain other things have not.

These are all strong aspects of the book.

Where the book falters, though, is the actual mystery. It’s good but not spectacular. The reasons for the killings feels weak. I would’ve liked a bit more insight into this aspect. Plus, the plot does move rather slowly, though it builds up steam in the last half of the book.

Overall, though, I truly enjoyed this novel and look forward to reading more about Alec Lonsdale and Hulda Friederichs.
4 1/2 stars

blog post will go live on June 24, 2019.

Simon Beaufort’s second Victorian mystery to feature Alec Lonsdale begins with the opening of the National History Museum. As a reporter for the Pall Mall Gazette, Lonsdale is covering the opening and has heard rumors of a live exhibit with cannibals. Their disappearance of these cannibals and the discovery of a brutally murdered employee of the museum leads the police to concentrate their investigation strictly on them, ignoring any evidence to the contrary. Lonsdale learns that there have been three previous murders carried out in the same way. Each victim was an influential figure and each case was closed as a death by natural causes. Each victim was also a member of the Garraway Club. As he searches the study of the current victim, he finds letters signed Grim Reaper that allude to an action at Christmas that would call attention to a group called the Watchers. As Lonsdale tries to discover who the Watchers are and what they have planned, the names of the previous victims are also associated with the group and each victim was also found with a piece of a plant known as the Watcher of the Dead.

Lonsdale is assisted by Hulda Friedrichs, another reporter from the Gazette., in his search for the cannibals as well as the Watchers. Although he is engaged to Anne, as his investigation progresses he often compares his very proper fiancé to Hulda, who is not afraid to take chances. The more he works with Hulda, the more he begins to doubt his decision to marry someone who disapproves of his chosen profession.

As the Christmas holiday approaches there is an urgency to discover just what the Watchers have planned. The streets of London, the gentlemen’s clubs and even an asylum for the insane gives the reader a clear picture of Victoria’s England. There are a number of twists and red herrings to keep the story moving and a surprising conclusion. Watchers of the Dead is an entertaining story that I would recommend to fans of historical mysteries.

The first in this series was quite promising and I had eagerly anticipated this follow-up.

However, the plot of this was somewhat confusing and I found it difficult to engage with the characters.

A major disappointment from an author of this quality.

Thank you to NetGalley and Severn House for the digital ARC.

December 1882 and at the opening of the Royal Court of Justice a body is discovered. Then on the opening day of a new exhibition at the Natural History Museum, another body is discovered. But this is not the last. But why the cover-up, as the Commissioner of Police is told to record them as natural deaths. So to the detriment to solving the cases Superintendent Hayes and Inspector Peters are taken off them. But they encourage newspaper reports Alec Londsdale and Hulda Frederichs to investigate, but they only have eight days, with a lot of ground to cover.
I enjoyed this mystery, the second in this well-written series, I especially liked the two main characters.

I was expecting a lot more from this mystery, which had a very intriguing premise: a murder is committed in a museum in 1880s London, where ‘cannibals’ are going to be exhibited. I was immediately hooked by the setting (a Victorian museum), even more so when I discovered a secret society was going to be involved. There were so many elements that I love.

But the mystery in itself turned out to be quite messy and random. There was never a clear-cut, logical take at it and the sleuths (reporters of the London magazines and newspapers rather than policemen) seemed to run from one place to another without any strong theory.
The insertions of Lonesdal’s personal life into the narrative and his clear uninterest for his soon-to-be-wife do nothing for the story, aside from distracting for the main plot.

Really, the story was all over the place, and it became more distracting, less likely and less engaging the closer I got to the conclusion so the in the end I really just wanted to be done with it.
Shame, but that’ show I felt.

The historical setting was quite lame and there were many places where I had my doubts about accuracy.
Such a pity. I wanted to love this story.

This si the kind of mystery novel wherein the protagonists do a lot of research, much of it not adding up, then are trapped/kidnapped/accosted by the perpetrator, who monologues about why they're doing what they're doing and then leaves the protagonists to die in an ineffectual and often silly way. The protagonists escape, of course. In this case the plot is accompanied by several red herrings, none of which seem terribly urgent, and the subplot dealing with one protagonist's love life, which is mostly just an annoyance and doesn't ever feel very important. The majority of the characters are pretty flat; the exceptions being one of the investigators, Hulda Friedricks, who is unfortunately still described in sexist terms--at one point being likened to a harpy--and a giddy great-aunt, who, it is implied, is loose with her morals and the bottle, another sexist stereotype.

The second in the Alec Lonsdale series, murder mysteries set in Victorian London and starring an intrepid newspaper reporter. <i>Watchers of the Dead</i> opens with the murder of Professor Dickerson, who was working with the brand-new British Natural History Museum to put on a human zoo: a supposedly educational but usually horrendously racist display of real people, in this case ~~savage cannibals from the darkest jungles of the Congo~~. Unfortunately the Africans disappear on the same day as the murder, making them prime suspects. Lonsdale and his fellow reporter Hulda Friederichs set out to find and protect the Africans and simultaneously catch Dickerson's real killer. They soon discover multiple similar murders, all of prominent men, which have been covered up. Are the deaths connected to Roderick Maclean, who years earlier attempted to assassinate Queen Victoria and who has recently escaped from his insane asylum? Or is the culprit the mysterious gentlemen's club known only as The Watchers, who have an "unspeakable Happening" planned for Christmas Eve? Or does snobby and pompous Sir Humbage, father of Lonsdale's fiancée, know more than it seems?

It's an intriguing premise, but unfortunately the writing in <i>Watchers of the Dead</i> dragged it down beyond recovery. There's an enormous and hard to remember cast who are given little characterization beyond the shallowest of caricatures. Even Lonsdale, who as main character should get more depth, is bizarrely unemotional about topics such as his fiancée, death threats, friends' secrets, and change of job. There's extremely little descriptive writing of setting, background, or characters' looks, and what few bits we do get is poor:
<i>Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum was imposing and rather frightening. A giant complex encompassing fifty-three acres within its secure area, its entrance was through giant metal gates housed between two massive rectangular towers.</i>
A giant complex with giant gates! Such a rich vocabulary on display here.

There are major plot mistakes, as when characters know things they shouldn't (and in a mystery, you really need to keep track of who has what information). Another mistake that bugged me is that early on, Lonsdale is given a deadline for the Dickerson investigation, as the newspaper's editor is heading to Ireland to investigate a different case and Lonsdale will have to take over editing duties. A short while later, we're told that the Ireland case has been solved, but the deadline remains Lonsdale's major motivation for the entire rest of the book, despite the regular editor presumably no longer needing to leave town. There's also no resolution to this at the end of the book – does Lonsdale ever become editor? How long does he remain so? Who knows! Certainly not the reader of <i>Watchers of the Dead</i>. There are also minor mistakes that I found equally annoying, such as this complaint from Lonsdale about his fiance: <i>Anne talked about independence of spirit but would rather admire it in others than express it herself. He thought she might, when they had first met, but since becoming engaged she had fallen happily into the role of the traditional Victorian lady and all that entailed.</i> Would anyone in the Victorian era actually think of themselves as, well, "in the Victorian era"? I certainly don't see myself in such broad historical terms. If no one in 2019 is priding themselves on being a proper Second Elizabethan lady, why would people in the past do so? I know it's a minor point, but it feels so weirdly anachronistic.

But my biggest problem with <i>Watchers of the Dead</i> is that the whole book feels rushed and summarized, like a plot outline that hasn't been fully fleshed out. The idea of a mystery centered around a human zoo is fantastic, but the Africans barely appear on screen and their situation and its ramifications is given little attention. Characters consistently enter and exit scenes without acknowledgement, chases and fights are recapped rather than allowed to be exciting action displays, and conversations break off suddenly. It's hard to describe exactly how frustrating such summarizing feels, but imagine an entire book that reads like this scene, where Hulda needs to write a secret message that the intended recipient will understand but that no one else will be able to parse:
<i>Lonsdale handed them over, and she went to lean on a wall to write. He read over her shoulder, marvelling at the cleverly cryptic nature of her words. She phrased the message in such a way that no one but Peters would know she was the sender, or that she wanted him to hasten to Cleveland Square at his earliest opportunity.</i>
Really excellent writing there. Tell the readers how awesome this note is, while not bothering to come up with anything to actually show us. And yet somehow there's enough time for not one, not two, but three twist endings.

In short, there are far, far too many other Victorian mystery series to bother with this one.

Also, because I really need to complain about this despite spoilers: the Africans' hiding place is eventually uncovered because Lonsdale smells them out. Yes, really. In a book published in goddam 2019. I mean, it's described as a nice smell, and it turns out to be the scent of their favored bush tea rather than the Africans themselves, but that just leads to another problem. Bush tea (better known as rooibos these days) is not particularly strong-smelling. It wouldn't linger after it's been drunk, nor would you be able to smell it from the next room over when it's still in the packet. What a bizarre plot point.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2814378383

As alert habitués of these pages will recall from my review of Mind of A Killer last year, the author of Watchers of The Dead is the Anglo-American writing partnership of Elizabeth Cruwys and Beau Riffenburgh. Now, as then, we are in Victorian London following the adventures of the fictional Alec Lonsdale and the real-life Hulda Friederichs, both reporters working for the Pall Mall Gazette under the stern gaze of its editor John Morley, and the rather more eccentric eye of his deputy WT Stead.

Note: Watchers of The Dead contains a liberal mix of fictional characters and historical figures. Where possible I have provided links to external information about the real people.

Lonsdale remains engaged to the delightful Anne Humbage but her objectionable sister Emilie (who is likewise bethrothed to Alec’s brother Jack) and her pompous father cause him a certain amount of grief, especially as he is becoming rather attracted to the ill mannered, abrupt, wilfully independent Hulda who, when she has a mind to pay attention to the fact, is something of a stunner.

The pair investigate a series of bizarre and intricate murders, including that of the abrasive and controversial Archibald Campbell Tait who, although Archbishop of Canterbury, never forgot that he was, first and foremost, a Scot. For the historically alert, Tait’s death on 3rd December 1882 is not on record as being the result of foul play. The first death to attract the attention of Lonsdale and Friederichs is that of a Professor Dickerson whose corpse is found in a cellar beneath the recently opened Natural History Museum in South Kensington. As part of a scheme to attract visitors, the management – driven by the ambitious Richard Owen - intended to display three living people from the depths of the Congo. Billed as cannibals, their only vice seems to have been a delight in singing along to choruses from the Savoy Operas, but they have disappeared overnight and, in doing so, have become the prime suspects for the killing of Dickerson.

Also on the run is a man convicted of attempting to assassinate Queen Victoria. Sentenced to life imprisonment on the grounds that he was mad, Rodrick Maclean was sent to Broadmoor but, finding its treatment regime and facilities less than convivial he has, to use the modern term, done a runner.

The authors have great fun with all the familiar tropes of Victorian London: the fogs rising from the Thames, the horse-shit strewn cobbled streets and the peculiar affection most of the people feel for the plump little black widow from Windsor. The story unfolds in the weeks leading up to Christmas, and it reminds us that what we take as staple seasonal fare – the trees, the tinsel, the cards and the baubles – was regarded by many traditionalists as being a vulgar and unwelcome Germanic import.

Watchers of The Dead is great entertainment. It is sometimes implausible, but always a helter-skelter ride full of fascinating detail and superb narrative drive. The authors deftly fill the stage with fictional characters and real people, and it was a joy to read a fictional account of the great English sportsman Albert Nielson (Monkey) Hornby, immortalised (if you love cricket, as I do) in the poem by Francis Thompson:

“For the field is full of shades as I near a shadowy coast,
And a ghostly batsman plays to the bowling of a ghost,
And I look through my tears on a soundless-clapping host
As the run stealers flicker to and fro,
To and fro:
O my Hornby and my Barlow long ago!”

Alec Lonsdale is a figment of the authors’ imaginations, but Hulda Friederichs lived and breathed. The internet has little to offer in the way of information about this remarkable woman but The British Library may be a richer seam and, when next I visit, Hulda will be at the top of my requests list. Watchers of The Dead is published by Severn House and is out now.

Watcher of the Dead was just not for me. Sometimes a book maybe not for a reviewer. I love Victorian mysteries, but this one I just struggled with.

I enjoyed the first book in this series more than this one. I didn't feel any better, maybe not even as well-acquainted with Lonsdale or Hulda in this installment.

This tale of murder and mystery set in London during the Victorian era and based on some actual events was enjoyable despite a very slow start.