‘’There was nothing more likely to convince me that being married was not for me than this business of women calling themselves by their husband’s name. Mrs Green’s name was Charlotte but here she was, signing herself ‘T.H.’ because those were her husband’s initials. As if she was just a female reflection of him.’’

Oxford 1880s. Jesus College has recently (and rather reluctantly…) decided to accept ‘female’ students due to the untiring efforts of pioneers. Rhiannon, a young woman who is every bit the feisty, no-nonsense Welsh, is a brilliant example of the true scholar. Her mind is as sharp as her tongue and the academic circus (because that’s what it is, actually…) isn’t ready to accept that such a creature exists. When a mysterious death takes place, she joins forces with Basil, a professor who is a bright example of a kind educator. So, what do we get when two bright examples meet? A fascinating mystery.

‘’Social conventions aren’t there to keep society civilised, they’re there to keep society as men want it. And I refuse to abide by them in my own home.’’

Yes, we have a plethora of murder mysteries set in the Victorian Era with a woman and a man trying to figure out the solution to the puzzle and Dark Academia has been all the rage lately. However, Alis Hawkins’s novel isn’t just another book falling into the genre. First and foremost, Rhiannon is one hell of a character. You’ll adore her to pieces (unless you are a brainless being in which case you are NOT allowed to have an opinion). Her intelligence, her courage, her affinity for learning, her stubbornness, her refusal to conform or act against her principles. She is bold as brass and to Hell with it. Sure, some actions of hers may seem irrational and spontaneous but every strong personality rushes to action. The rest of the characters are well drawn and although Basil cannot be compared to the force of Nature that is Rhiannon, his struggles, doubts and insecurities are depicted with clarity and sensitivity.

‘’-Is that not what all women aspire to? Their own household, husband, children?’’
‘’- No. Some women - far more of us than you might imagine - would prefer to see a world where women can also live full and fulfilling lives while remaining unmarried.’’

The atmosphere is impeccable. Dark Academia is particularly fascinating and the scope is focused on the academic community with an emphasis on the manipulation of Medicine to lure the weak-minded. Also, Rhiannon’s love and longing for her homeland is tangible and touching.

And it’s about time to realise that some of us do NOT want to become mothers and we do NOT want to get married. Period. DEAL WITH IT!

Many thanks to Canelo Crime and The Pigeonhole for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordpress.com/

‘’They couldn’t see for miles and miles the hills in the far distance, so they weren’t encouraged to wonder what lay beyond. There was just land, then trees.
But with the horizon invisible, there wasn’t much of that. Just dead grass and mud under my feet and mist greying out any bits of colour. In the sun, the haws and rosehips would’ve been bright as jewels in the hedges, but now you couldn’t see them unless you went right up close.’’

Many thanks to Canelo Crime and The Pigeonhole for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordpress.com/ ( )

This is the first book in the Oxford Mysteries set during the Victorian era. An undergraduate is found dead in his own bed and upon being examined, there are some unusual discoveries. Basil Rice, a Jesus college fellow, and ‘Non’ Vaughan, a Welsh female student newly permitted to attend lectures, team up to investigate.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It’s beautifully written and well researched. I loved the setting, it was very visual. I particularly loved the addition of a tandem tricycle - it made me smile every time it was mentioned and I could easily imagine Non pedalling around the streets of Oxford, sometimes at rather high speeds giving chase to nefarious individuals! Non was a fantastic character, she was a brilliant model for women’s rights at that particular time. Feisty and non-conformist. It’s written via way of two narrators, Non and Basil, another fascinating character who had his own secret. Each had their own unique, easily identifiable voice. I read this via the Pigeonhole app, one stave a day over ten days. I was gripped from beginning to end and couldn’t wait to ‘tune’ in to read each episode. I can highly recommend it to both historical fiction and mystery fans. I’m now looking forward to reading the second book, The Skeleton Army. ( )

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

This features Non, who is studying in Oxford, but as a woman in 1881 is not allowed to say she is studying at Oxford, or take the same exams as the men, or get a degree, or go anywhere without a chaperone. This is (naturally) frustrating for her, but the book does harp on about it repeatedly and at greater length than I would have liked. It also features Basil, a don, who is charged with keeping the lid on any scandal surrounding the death of one of his students, Sidney Parker. The mystery surrounding Sidney's death is quite interesting, although again the book does harp on (repeatedly and at length) about a fictitious medical condition I won't attempt to spell, which young men are being sold spurious remedies for. Non and Basil solve the murder although Non (of course) gets no credit for all the things she finds out because she is a woman (see above).

I thought the writing was good, except that Non's chapters and Basil's chapters sounded exactly the same - if I hadn't checked the chapter headings, I would only have been able to tell who was narrating from the context.

Enjoyable in a cozy sort of way. ( )

When I run across a truly interesting historical mystery, I stop paying attention to almost everything else, and A Bitter Remedy, by Alis Hawkins, is most definitely interesting.

Set during the 1880s, when Oxford University allowed women to attend lectures with permission of the instructor—but not to enroll in classes or earn degrees—A Bitter Remedy allows us to view those times through the perspectives of multiple individuals, many of whom were vulnerable within the patriarchal structure of the University because of their gender and/or sexual orientation. A Bitter Remedy features two narrators (who alternate chapters).

First, Non (short for Rhiannon), who has had quite an unusual upbringing and is aware of her own exceptional intelligence, attends lectures as allowed. Non is regularly incensed by by both the ignorance and the privilege of the men who are the "real" students at Oxford.

Second, Basil, a Don in his thirties who's facing the loss of a longtime lover (at least that's how Basil has been seeing things) and an ongoing effort to hide his homosexuality.

Other characters, many of them drawn from history, include
• The women and men of the AEW, the Association for Education of Women, which has been waging a long, piecemeal battle to allow women entrance into higher education and whose struggle for educational equity is frequently shaped by their desire to seem unthreatening to men.
• Annie Rogers, a historical figure, who in 1873 managed to sit both junior and senior exams at Oxford without revealing her gender. She earned the top score on both exams, which would have earned a scholarship for a man, but was shunted aside, with the academic support going to the men who had scored below her. She has since suppressed her iconoclasm in order to work in more conservative ways with the AEW.
• Basil's former lover, who never viewed their relationship as more than "fun," and has decided it is time to move to London for a more interesting teaching position and to find a wife, begin producing children, and generally conform to heteronormative standards.
• Lewis Carroll (yes, that one), who has long had a correspondence with Non about cryptography and has founded a puzzle club to mark her arrival at Oxford, but who still can't understand why Non would want anything other than a life of domesticity when she's done attending lectures.
• John Rhys, another historical figure, the first professor of Celtic at Oxford, whose books on the Welsh Language have inspired Non's move to Oxford.

Sidney Parker, an unhappy Oxford student and tutee of Basil, who has never fit in well at Oxford and has been allowed to live off-campus in an exception to university policy, is found dead, and most people are more than happy to call his death natural in order to avoid scandal. But neither Non nor Basil share this view and begin investigating.

I don't want to say more about the plot in order to avoid spoilers, but let me assure you that Hawkins has created a mystery that is worthy of her cast of characters. Fans of historical mysteries, those interested in the histories of women's education and gay identity, who have a soft spot for Carroll, or have followed the history of language use in Britain (with the imposition of English as the dominant language and the denigrating of other languages, including Welsh), are going to find A Bitter Remedy a delightful read. The publishers have made it clear that A Bitter Remedy is the first novel in what will be an ongoing series, which leaves me feeling celebratory and eager for more.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own. ( )