The Durham Deception

Tom Ansell #2

by Philip Gooden

'Gooden may be the best history-mystery writer going.' Booklist London 1874. Newlyweds Tom and Helen Ansell attend a London seance at which Ernest Smight, a fraudulent medium, is unmasked. It’s good preparation for a visit to the city of Durham, where Helen is tasked with rescuing her aunt Julia from the clutches of a much more dangerous psychic, Eustace Flask. Meanwhile Tom, a lawyer, is despatched to learn the facts about the Lucknow Dagger, an ill-omened trophy in the possession of Major Sebastian Mormont, a military man turned magician who is staging shows in the cathedral city. The realms of stage magic and spiritualism overlap when Flask is stabbed to death with the Dagger and Helen is accused of the crime. But which of Flask’s many enemies is the real murderer? And who is systematically eliminating the witnesses to the earlier unmasking of medium Ernest Smight? In their quest for the truth, Tom and Helen put themselves in danger. Before the end, Helen will come face to face with a ruthless and ingenious killer. The Durham Deception plunges the reader into the strange world of Victorian mediums and con artists, magicians and showmen. A gripping follow-up to The Salisbury Manuscript. Philip Gooden is a historical novelist and contributor to various short story anthologies. He is the author of the Geoffrey Chaucer Mysteries. Praise for Philip 'Full of the sights and sounds of fourteenth-century England--and pleasingly free of tedious exposition and clumps of research--this lively novel is a fine example of how to get it right in a historical mystery. Chaucer himself is a well-realized and charming protagonist, and the series seems to be settling in for a long run.' Booklist 'An absorbing mix of history, suspense and romance, this tale brings one of Britain's most renowned literary figures to credible life.' Publishers Weekly

Genres: Mystery, British Literature, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Crime, Historical, Historical Mystery

296 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2009

About the author

Philip Gooden lives in Bath. In addition to his Nick Revill series, Sleep of Death, he is the author of The Guinness Guide to Better English and the editor of The Mammoth Book of Literary Anecdotes. Each of his Nick Revill mysteries revolves around a Shakespearean play mirroring life - in Sleep of Death the play was Hamlet, in this offering it is Troilus and Cressida.
AKA Philippa Morgan.

Series:
* Shakespearean Murder
* Tom Ansell

Reviews

[MS PAMELA A GOLDING]

An interesting subject of magicians and mediums, skills, tricks, beliefs and fraud. Gooden invites the reader to be in the drawing rooms and theatres, to witness the magic shows and seances and speculate upon methods, before some are explained by the masters. The central couple, Tom (lawyer) and Helen (fledgling novelist) Ansell carry on their lives and relationship from the' Salisbury Manuscript', now in their first year of marriage, travelling to Durham for work and family. The investigation of a charlatan inveigling money out of her aunt turns into a complicated murder trail connecting a variety of the characters, although Gooden's tendency to have characters recap or explain events keeps the reader remembering and speculating. Personally I thought this technique less successful, and enjoyed this book less than his first in the series which I thought was more convincing on character, compelling of plot and atmospheric.

[Caroline]

A good story set in a beautiful city.
Thomas Ansell and his wife Helen travel from London to Durham. Helen's mother wants her daughter to speak with Aunt Julia about a sensitive subject. Thomas, however, is tasked with taking the affa davit from a 'magician' and former soldier in India. The two tasks soon become linked.
Thomas and Helen are asked to take part in seances, watch some rather sinister illusions and take part in a murder investigation.
Their tasks are not exactly completed, but Thomas and Helen return to London with the Durham situation finished.
There's even a slight twist in the tale at the end.

[DOT LARARD]

Avery deceptive tale.

This story starts off describing the illusions of the Victorian Medium or Spiritualist. So many more illusions are revealed as the story unravels even when the conclusion is reached it itself is an illusion. A cracking good tale. Hard to put down.

[Susan]

1874. The Ansells travel to Durham, Tom on company business concerning the dagger of Locknow, and Helen to discover the extent of her aunt's financial involvement in a medium Eustace Flask.
An enjoyable historical mystery

[Linda]

The Victorian fascination with spiritualism and sensationalism provides the fodder for The Durham Deception, the second in Philip Gooden's cathedral mystery series. Tom and Helen Ansell, introduced in book 1, have been married for only a few months when Helen's mother asks them to pay a cautionary visit to Aunt Julia, who lives in Durham. Julia, it seems, is involved with a shady medium, Eustace Flask, who has been relying on her for financial assistance, and the hope is that Helen can show her the light, so to speak. To prepare for their journey, Tom and Helen attend a seance, during which one of the participants, a policeman, tries to reveal the medium as a fraud. The next day, the medium commits suicide and the officer and his wife are found dead in their home, apparently from a gas leak. Saddened but not suspicious, the Ansells depart for Durham, never expecting history to repeat itself.

This is a novel full of colorful characters. While the Ansells are rather conventional, most of the others in this tale are anything but. Eustace Flask is suitably tricky and smarmy. Major Sebastian Marmount, a legal client of Tom's who resides in Durham, has left the army to become a magician. He is suitably pompous. What begins as professional competition between the two excalates to murder, in which a mysterious dagger from India plays a large part. The prime suspect, it seems, has ties to the murder in London. Gooden has gotten period ambience just right in his choices of names, themes, and depiction of class differences, social expectations, and excitement over new "scientific" discoveries and cultures. Comic relief is provided via ancillary characters, including Aunt Julia's boarder, Flask's "niece", and Marmount's assistants. Though enjoyable, comic relief is not strictly necessary as there is very little suspense, even when Helen falls into the clutches of the villain. Still, this is a well composed, intellectual mystery that saves a twist for the very end.

[Susan]

Newly-wed Helen and Tom plan a trip from their London home to Durham, she to convince her elderly aunt that she's being exploited by a phony medium, he on an errand from his law firm. They first visit a seance in London, to learn a bit more of the procedure, but an unfortunate event leaves them exposed to a stalker with revenge on his mind. When Helen discovers a body in Durham, there are many suspects, including--the reader knows--at least someone who should be above suspicion. Some suspense enlivens the end, but on the whole this is not a fast-moving book.

[Kb]

I couldn't finish this book in the time allotted (I borrowed it from the library) because it was just too boring. I failed to see the point of the "story" at all. There were few sympathetic characters to latch onto, far too many points of view, and just too much going on in general, none of which I was able to care about for long enough to keep me reading.

[Diane]

I though this might be a Nick & Nora kind of series. I was disappointed in the writing style. Not enough dialog/interaction for my taste. Good murder mystery though, Helen and Tom just seemed to flat.

[Andrea]

This is only the second book in the series, but I'll definitely be looking forward to the next installment.

[Sally]

I didn't finish this book as I got board with it.