‘Dread Murder’ by Gwendoline Butler
Published by Allison & Busby. 2006. ISBN 0-7490-8283-6

Old soldiers Major Mearns and Sergeant Denny are the guardians – or ‘watchers’ as they like to style themselves - of Windsor Castle in the 1820’s when George IV was on the throne. They lead quiet lives, unnoticed yet observant. Then, one day, Mearns receives a parcel with gruesome contents: a pair of human legs. Not just any old legs but the limbs of another old soldier known to Mearns and Denny. Then the head turns up. And then a local prostitute is strangled. Mearns and Denny investigate with the assistance of Charlie, a young boy runaway, and Mindy, a maidservant at the castle for whom Mearns has more than paternal feelings. A travelling theatre troupe becomes involved. There are more deaths, and plenty of obstruction from Felix Ferguson, head of the Crown Keepers of the Peace in Windsor, before Mearns and Denny triumphantly solve the mystery.

Gwendoline Butler has written over 50 crime novels, notably the Coffin series under her own name and the Charmian Daniels series under the pseudonym of Jennie Melville. The Mearns series – this is the second – is a new venture, and there is a great deal in Dread Murder which is of interest, particularly the details of life in Windsor Castle and of the theatre in the 1820’s. References to the broader historical context are skilfully brought in, both the recent past, i.e. the Napoleonic wars, and the present with the changes that are occurring in English society. I did feel that the narrative was a little confused and I wasn’t sure that all the plotting held together. And I wasn’t convinced by most of the characters apart from young Charlie. But for those who like plenty of history with their mystery this book can be recommended.

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Radmila May

Other Major Mearns titles by Gwendoline Butler: The King Cried Murder.