Flowers Stained with Moonlight

Cambridge Mysteries #2

by Catherine Shaw

Vanessa Duncan’s was a country girl fascinated with academia but unable to attend university, so when she moved to Cambridge, she became a schoolmistress. All appeared to be going well . . . until a man she had befriended, Arthur Weatherburn, was accused of being a serial killer. Using her powers of observation and intuition, and defying the social conventions of the late 1880s, Vanessa turned detective and discovered the true identity of the murderer, saving young Weatherburn’s life. Vanessa’s act of courage did not go unnoticed., and her talent for proving the innocence of the wrongly-accused is again called upon. But as Vanessa’s investigations progress, she is carried on a perilous journey from the beautiful English countryside to the bright lights of Paris.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Historical Fiction, Historical

288 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2005

About the author

CATHERINE SHAW is a pseudonym used by Leila Schneps. She is a mathematician and academic and writer of murder mysteries. She lives in Paris, France.

After taking an undergraduate degree in pure mathematics at Harvard University, Leila Schneps moved to France definitively in 1983, where shortly after obtaining her Ph.D., she was hired by the French National Scienctific Research Centre as a researcher in mathematics. Over twenty years of doing maths, teaching, and mentoring graduate students, her interests have widened far beyond the horizons of pure algebra to aspects of mathematics - such as probability and statistics- that play a more visible role in the world around us, and to the way in which people absorb, reject or react to mathematics.

At the same time, a lifelong passion for mystery stories led Leila to try her hand at writing one herself, eventually leading to a series of "Cambridge Mysteries" published by Allison & Busby.

Reviews

[Shauna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really glad to finish this book. The epistolary device used soon wears thin and it seemed to take forever for the detective to catch on to whodunnit.

[Deanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read which doesn't require too much thinking to work out what is happening, did wonder what took Vanessa so long to work it out, but the girl has been engaged for four years.
Would like there to be some story without the use of letters to Dora, all the letters only go one way, so there is only one point of view.

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Granted, I figured out the climax pretty early on, while Vanessa is a little naïve. But it was still good. The mathematical stuff helps Vanessa figure out some of the mystery, but it becomes a little superfluous.

[Nyxie · Rating 4 out of 5]

While a book written as a series of letters is not my favourite format, this story is a wonderful tangle of parallels and misleads. Secrecy, social morays and mathematics, rather than lagging into boredom spin the eddies of the mystery into bright streamers I became desperate to chase down. Sad, sweet, and charming, this book made me thankful for my myriad of choices.

[Belinda Vlasbaard · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,75 stars - English Ebook

Review follows later.

[Laura Hannaway · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the second Vanessa Duncan mystery. I enjoyed it, but the ending wasn't as satisfactory as with the first. I guessed early on what the 'secret' was and had also guessed who did it by about the halfway mark (though there were plenty of suspects as the victim was a nasty piece of work! Although the crime was resolved I'm afraid I found the ending depressing but probably realistic (which I suppose was the point the author was making)

[Aiza Chaudry · Rating 4 out of 5]

SPOILERS
Well.. that was rather unexpected. I really did suspect Peter the funny guy at first thinking maybe he was Sylvia's illicit lover. And a lover gone mad killed George, the old man who had it coming. At first I only suspected Camilla of being Sylvia's partner-in-crime. That was of course, before Vanessa eavesdropped on the two girls. I mean it did occur to me that perhaps they're beyond best-friends, lovers! It was only when Vanessa got to learn about THE Marie Antoinette that a doubt began to kindle. I wasn't 100% sure.
It gets a little boring in the beginning but it wouldn't be a disappointment. Most of the mathematics stuff went flying over my head. If you're into maths it'll hook you. Albeit, that part about Sophie Germain had me intrigued.

[Kris · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't remember what I saw in the first one, but this one was "murder murder Paris Math murder Paris stuff murder murder". And just really slapped together. Also, if I can figure out within three pages of the concept being introduced that the main suspect and her friend are lesbians, then this so-called 'unconventional' protagonist who 'defies social conventions' should have been able to as well.
Anyway now I regret buying the third book in the series because I really didn't get into this one.

[Nicola Pennicott-Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF. This is no reflection on the book, although I did struggle with the concept of it only being told through letters - book three is far better. The previous person to borrow it from the library was a heavy smoker and I couldn’t read it without either feeling sick or worrying that the house was on fire. Neither of these are conducive to a reflective atmosphere.

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting style to tell entire story through a series of letters. The mystery was interesting, but I think I've had enough of late 19th century Cambridge.

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I like the series. Heroine is smart, but not absurdly so, middle-class (not annoyingly wealthy and therefore can get-away-with-everything). Her husband is a nice, but not necessarily her sleuthing partner, but not really a background character that says "Yes, have a nice detecting, dear" and does not really care because he's off somewhere else. The math riddles do not always fit that well, though...imo

[Kate North · Rating 2 out of 5]

The second in a series I read the first of a few months ago, set in Cambridge in the late 19th century. As with the first, some of the plot focuses around mathematics (though not so heavily as in the first one). I'm not finding this one quite as compelling as the first, but it's still a pretty good story.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like 2.5--this book was somewhat entertaining but also rather slow-moving and predictable. The epistolary form becomes too contrived in places, for example with Vanessa writing to her sister, summarizing the visit she just had with her sister. Or ending a letter, "Oh, I hear a sound next door!" It's an attempt at suspense, but rather clunky due to the letter format.

[Sam Blair · Rating 3 out of 5]

A different style from the first book I read of hers. Easy and enjoyable to read even if the villain can be fairly easily assumed somewhat earlier than is deduced.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read but an easy solve as well.

[kami · Rating 2 out of 5]

Predictable waffle.

[Sandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

far to many 'she cried' in my book. makes the main character a bit too much of a dippy girl. Therefore not very believable as a sleuth.

[Helen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for a book like this. Slow moving, wordy and while the "reveal" was interesting, I wasn't interested by that time.

[Daniella]

The plot twist was so obvious but so freaking delightful - I was dreading it not being the outcome, when it was hinted at so heavily, but I needn't have worried :P

[Ice Bear · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slight dip in performance, I solved the Who dunnit way before the end.
I am still struggling a little with the format of the letters as being the narrative - for me the book could be 10 pages shorter if the replication was omitted.