When a house in Penny’s neighborhood is gutted by fire, she learns of a connection to an unsolved murder. Penny will always be a news reporter at heart, and the mystery is impossible to ignore.
How did a young, middle-class lady fall from grace? And who killed her? Penny’s search for the truth takes her to London’s East End and a notorious street once known as the Ratcliffe Highway.
Her investigations stir long-buried secrets, and she soon makes some unpleasant enemies. But will her new husband approve of her exploits and lend his support?
Goodreads Ratings: 4.36 stars with just over 500 ratings
Genre Listing: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Victorian, British Literature
Previous Reviews on the Series: Limelight, The Rookery, The Maid's Secret, The Inventor, The Curse of the Poppy, The Bermondsey Poisoner, An Unwelcome Guest, Death at a Workhouse, The Gang of St. Bride's
Goodreads Challenge: 31/50
2021 Reading Challenge: #14 Read a Murder Mystery (Find the entire challenge here)
Book Review:
Hello, readers! Now that I finished The Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan, we return to our regularly scheduled one to two books a week. Although, that may change here for the next few weeks because big things are happening! My husband and I bought a townhouse, and we're getting ready to close and move in. I am so excited and can not wait to get away from noisy upstairs neighbors and having to share a laundry room. I fully plan to set up a library even though I mostly just gravitate to Kindle.
Anyways, after I finished the tome that is a Wheel of Time book, I decided I needed something light and quick that I knew I'd enjoy. Queue a Penny Green mystery by Emily Organ. I love this series so much if you can't tell by the number of books in the series I've read. I try to read them when they first come out, but this one escaped my notice. For those of you unfamiliar with the series, it follows Penny Green in Victorian London. Penny's a female journalist who has a knack for getting herself into trouble as she investigates stories. I wouldn't quite call this a cozy mystery. It's reasonably clean, but the explanations of the deaths can get a little descriptive. The books are all around 300-350 pages and go pretty quickly. They're action-packed and get to the point. I absolutely adore this series. It's one of my favorite that I've found on Kindle Unlimited. If you read it, I highly recommend reading it in order (my list above is in order.)
Murder in Ratcliffe was no exception to the above. I wasn't sure how I would like it with Penny and James being married now, but it still kept up with the same pace of them solving some of the crimes together. It was interesting to somewhat see them fall into the comfort of married life and adjusting. I'm curious to see how Penny's life evolves now that she's not working for the Morning Express. I have a couple of theories on where she'll use her crime-solving experiences, but I'll have to wait and see how they play out. I don't think she'll sit quietly at home while James works as an inspector.
One of the sub-plots in the previous books got some finality in this book. Previously the books paid a lot of attention to the mystery behind Penny's father and what happened to him when he was exploring South America. With Mr. Green's disappearance solved, this aspect of the story felt a little flat. I'm hoping there's a little more that hasn't been divulged yet, as the current ending of the story was a little unsatisfactory.
One of the sub-plots in the previous books got some finality in this book. Previously the books paid a lot of attention to the mystery behind Penny's father and what happened to him when he was exploring South America. With Mr. Green's disappearance solved, this aspect of the story felt a little flat. I'm hoping there's a little more that hasn't been divulged yet, as the current ending of the story was a little unsatisfactory.
As far as the mystery goes, I always appreciate that Emily Organ provides a handful of potential suspects in each book. They all have the merit to be the culprit, and it's always fun to see how the evidence unfolds. I'm always entertained by trying to figure out if I'm right on who was guilty. I was not this time. I just glanced through my reviews on the series. I never know who the murder is. I would have thought after ten books I might get one right, but I guess not.
Anyway, if you like the murder mystery genre and/or historical fiction, this may be a good choice for you. It's easy to get into. There are many books in the series, with a new one dropping around Halloween this year. It's an excellent series to binge without having to dedicate a considerable time commitment to it.
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