FIERCE POISON by Will Thomas: Book Review Marilyn's Mystery Reads Book reviews by Marilyn Brooks Home About Marilyn Book Review List Authors Past Masters and Mistresses Golden Oldies Contact Marilyn Subscribe! Get Blog Posts Via Email View RSS Feed Categories About Marilyn Book Reviews Golden Oldies Past Masters and Mistresses Uncategorized Archives Archives Select Month September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 Search Search for: Search FIERCE POISON by Will Thomas: Book Review April 29th, 2022 | Author: Marilyn Brooks | When a man enters the Barker and Llewelyn Agency early one morning, it’s the beginning of the most bizarre case that the private inquiry agents have handled. Also the most dangerous. The man stumbles as he entered the office, asking for some water in a rough voice and then trying unsuccessfully to continue speaking. “Help me…please” is all he is able to say before he falls to the floor and dies. The man’s calling card, which he had handed to the butler, gives his name and position as Roland Fitzhugh, Liberal Member of Parliament. Despite his being unknown to either Cyrus Barker or Thomas Llewelyn, Barker insists they are obligated to investigate the death because he asked for their assistance in his last moments. When Inspector Poole of Scotland Yard arrives at the Agency, he tells Barker and Llewelyn that Fitzhugh had come to the Yard earlier that morning, saying he believed he had been poisoned, and Poole told him he would look into it. Now both the police and the private investigators are searching for the culprit. An autopsy reveals that Fitzhugh had been poisoned by a raspberry tart he apparently had eaten just before entering Poole’s office. Llewelyn then remembers that a young boy had been offering free samples of tarts that morning in front of their building, and the police begin a search for him. Then, in the middle of the night, Thomas and Cyrus are awakened by a constable from the Yard and ordered to an East End address. When they arrive Poole is there, overseeing a tragic scene. An entire family, except for an infant, has been poisoned. Mother, father, and two sons are dead, and one of the boys is the young peddler who had been giving out the tarts in front of the Agency. As the private investigators delve more deeply into Fitzhugh’s past, they discover some disquieting things. He was a widower, so why did he keep a photo of his late wife hidden in another object on his mantle? He was engaged, but did he steal the affections of his fiancée away from his partner, Edward Lindsay? And why did he seemingly have no friends or close colleagues in Parliament? This novel, the thirteenth mystery in the Barker and Llewelyn series, takes readers back to Victorian England with its strict moral codes and their consequences. Women of all classes were dominated by their fathers until they married and by their husbands afterwards. In the eyes of the law (prior to 1882), once a woman married she basically ceased to exist. On her wedding day she became one person with her husband, and thereafter everything she did was under his control. Wives had no protection under the law; they lost ownership of their wages, their physical property (excluding land property), and their money. We can see the devastating results of these practices in Fierce Poison. Will Thomas has written another outstanding historical mystery. You can read more about him at various sites on the web. Check out the complete Marilyn’s Mystery Reads at her website. 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