Byways to Evil: A Lady Sara Varnley Victorian Mystery

by Lloyd Biggle Jr.

"The year was 1900, the place was London, and the night, an unusually warm one for September, began and ended with horrors. I was caught up in them almost without warning as I turned into a narrow, poorly lit, cobbled lane and instinctively slowed my pace. Ahead of me, where the passage took a sudden bend to the right, a small gas lamp glowed feebly, and its uncertain, wavering light produced oddly distorted shadows.""Byways to Evil" takes the reader through the rich atmosphere of turn-of-the-century London, from the drawing rooms of the wealthy and titled to the dim shadows of narrow lanes populated by London's poor, as detective extraordinaire Lady Sara and her "secretary" Colin Quick search for the solution to a series of horrendous murders and baffling robberies. Lady Sara's giant cribbage board, her “Byways to Evil” twists and turns as much as their distorted clues as the murderers and thieves elude discovery.

Plotted by a master storyteller, full of details of turn-of-the century life and crime, this is a satisfying period mystery.

276 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 14, 2013

About the author

Biggle was born in 1923 in Waterloo, Iowa. He served in World War II as a communications sergeant in a rifle company of the 102nd Infantry Division; during the war, he was wounded twice. His second wound, a shrapnel wound in his leg received near the Elbe River at the end of the war, left him disabled for life.

After the war, Biggle resumed his education. He received an A.B. Degree with High Distinction from Wayne State University and M.M. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Michigan. Biggle taught at the University of Michigan and at Eastern Michigan University in the 1950s. He began writing professionally in 1955 and became a full-time writer with the publication of his novel, All the Colors of Darkness in 1963; he continued in the writing profession until his death.

Reviews

[Mary Keroson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the strong characters. The plot twists kept my interests to the end.