Death at Dartmoor (A Victorian Mystery)

The plots of this series are frequently woven around an author or other central historic character. As with their work with Beatrix Potter and Peter Rabbit, the authors have here chosen Conan Doyle and his famous and popular novel Hound of the Baskervilles, which featured Sherlock Holmes, to weave a tale of mystery, murder and suspense. Set in the Moors of Dartmoor as Hound was, the story makes good use of those images that the reader may already have from the original Holmes story or from the various film versions of the book--my favorite being the Basil Rathbone version. In effect the Robin Paige plot is a reverse engineering of the Hound story of Doyle. The authors create a plausible tale of their own which might have provided a basis for Conon Doyle`s story. The characters are pleasant, as usual, but I can't help feeling that the central duo has become a little bland. The Patsy Marsden character is probably the most lively of the characters, but the reader, if he or she has read several of the books, may find her bolt for freedom seems more an escape from reality and responsibility. Or worse yet, an apology for the failure of the primary female character, Lady Kathryn, to remain independent and adventurous rather than circumscribed by marriage and convention. All in all an interesting visit to the Dartmoor neighborhood and Hound of the Baskervilles with its author and the Sheridans.

The husband and wife sleuthing team of Lord Charles and Lady Kathryn Sheridan have found their way to Dartmoor just in time for a fine adventure. Charles is going to the famous prison at Dartmoor to set up a fingerprinting operation and Kate is looking around the fog-shrouded moors in search of material for a new book. Also, Charles has a particular interest in one prisoner whom he believes has been falsely imprisoned and he thinks that he can prove this by the use of fingerprints. Shortly after Charles visits the prison and also this particular prisoner, there is a prison break and one of the three escapees is none other than the prisoner that Charles thinks is innocent. To cloudy the waters even more, a local Lord is found murdered shortly after the escape and the locals immediately conclude that the escapee did it. The other two escapees are caught in short order by the way, but the one who hold's Charles' interest is nowhere to be found. After some sniffing around, Charles is able to say conclusively that the prisoner in question was not guilty of the crime for which he had been sent to Dartmoor. After proving this man's innocence of the first crime, Charles and Kate set out to find out who really murdered the local Lord, which of course they do. As is normally the case with this series, actual historical characters are to be found in this book, the most notable of which is Dr. Arthur Conan Doyle, who is not yet a Sir. Doyle is in Dartmoor trying to get a feel for the moors as he prepares to write "The Hound of the Baskervilles." Doyle plays a rather large part in this story but I must say that I thought that the authors were a little bit hard on him. Could it be that the Albert's are a little jealous of the Grand Master of mystery novels? The plot in this book is a little weaker than in previous entries in this series and the mystery is a little too easy to solve. I prefer that the mystery be too easy to solve however, rather than have clues withheld so that the reader can't solve the mystery at all. As usual, the authors do a wonderful job of transporting the reader to turn of the century England and they provide such intricate details of the food the characters are eating that reading these books always makes me hungry. This is not a series to take up if you are on a diet. This may not be the best book in this series but it is still a very fun and entertaining read.

Having presented a review of the book, "The Hound of the Baskervilles," I was totally fasinated by the way the Alberts wove his life and beliefs into the Dartmoor mystery. A lot of fun to read and an entertaining way to learn more about the history and mores of the time.

I really enjoy this series because I like the two main characters. I find the characters to be intelligent but fun at the same time. I also like the way that Bill & Susan Albert (Robin Paige) weave real-life people into the plots. I realize that the people may not have acted the way that they are written, but it is fun to imagine that they would.I did find this mystery a little too easy to solve and that usually makes me rate a book only 3 stars rather than 4, but I found the locale descriptions and the mystery itself to be well-written enough to deserve the 4th star.In this episode, Charles & Kate are in Dartmoor - Charles to begin the process of fingerprinting prisoners at the local prison, Kate to get background information for a new book. While there, the local lord is killed and an escaped prisoner is initially blamed. Charles & Kate think that that is not the case and set out to find the real murderer(s). Their main help comes from another fictional character from a previous entry in this series, Patsy Marsden, and from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.An interesting read and I look forward to the next book in the series.

Lord Charles Sheridan, his wife Kate, and Arthur Conan Doyle are visiting the Dartmoor moors when and invited to a seance. A mystic foretells that the host's wife will be betrayed. When the host is found dead after leaving a letter claiming that he was leaving with another woman, the mystic's bone fides appear perfect, especially when confirmed by Doyle. A recently escaped prisoner seems the most likely suspect, but Charles and Kate believe that there is more to the case than the obvious. Author Robin Paige (the pen name for Susan Wittig Albert and Bill Albert) combines an exciting mystery with a possible explanation of Doyle's great Sherlock Holmes mystery THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES. Paige provides a convincing view of turn-of-the century England, a properly Dr. Watson version of Doyle, and expertly weaves the mystery events with hints at the HOUND. I especially enjoyed Paige's female characters. While Charles appeared too good to be true, Kate, Patsy, and Ellie are delightful. Mystery readers are unlikely to be fooled by the mystery but the combination of historical mystery, historical characters placed in a fictional setting, and Paige's fine style make DEATH AT DARTMOOR a fully enjoyable read.