A still enjoyable series, but this story felt overly long, not helped by a few awkward sentences with questionable meanings. I’ve come across the odd sentence like that throughout the works, but always overlooked them because of enjoying the series so much, but this time the effort to make a clever mystery slowed down the book too much. Still, a good read, for all that, only not as much fun as the first three. Here there’s a surprising outcome. And despite my reservations, it’s a well thought out plot which I not only recommend reading but is an essential part of the series. ( )

The plot centers on the murder of a family nearly 20 years earlier and the current murder of the sole survivor of the previous tragedy. The murders and their solutions are a bit convoluted with minimal action. The true fun in this series and especially this book is the interactions with Grice whether he is insulting March, disconcerting a client, or showing up the police.

Thanks to my friends (Katie, I'm talking to you!) over at Pegasus Books, I was able to get my hands on the latest installment to The Gower Street Detective series before publication (April 11th aka my birthday). Sidney Grice and his plucky assistant, March Middleton, are at it again in The Secrets of Gaslight Lane where they are tasked with solving not one but two locked room murders perpetrated in the same house several years apart. I have to caution yet again that this is not a series for anyone with a weak stomach or an aversion to overuse of adjectives and adverbs. (I think M.R.C. Kasasian possesses the most extensive vocabulary of any author I have ever read.) For those hoping for further resolution to the dramas surrounding Grice's past with March's mother and/or March's relationshiop with Inspector Pound then you're going to be fairly disappointed with this book. This is a case-heavy narrative with complicated facets and multiple characters. It's also chock full of hilarity and acerbic wit. Grice and March are definitely getting in the groove of their partnership and their back-and-forth banter (especially with clients) is delicious. This is a series I could see being re-tooled on Masterpiece Mystery and if cast correctly it would be fantastic. And as with his previous books in this series, Kasasian manages to drop a bombshell at the end which will leave readers salivating for more. 10/10 and I can't wait for Dark Dawn Over Steep House which will hopefully be out at the end of the year. ( )

I found the first few chapters of this book confusing and was still confused at the end. This is partly because it is fourth in the ‘The Gower Street’ detective series by MRC Kasasian and I haven’t read the previous three, but partly because the author seems to confuse the reader on purpose.
Two murders are to be solved, one new, one ten years earlier, involving the same family, in the same house. I got both events totally confused. March Middleton is the god-daughter of ‘personal detective’ Sidney Grice. It is London, 1883 and this series is billed as an alternative ‘Holmes and Watson’ detecting duo. Grice is a pedantic character, a bit like Sherlock Holmes but without the charm. I found his arrogance and language intensely irritating. March’s way of dealing with his rudeness is to plough her own furrow, defending herself and occasionally going her own way. I liked March, I kept reading because of her. We see the story from her point of view.
The duo is employed by Charity Goodsmile to investigate the murder of her father. Grice and Middleton visit the scene of the crime and what follows is told in minute detail, unlike any other detective novel I have read. Grice’s arrogant questioning of suspects is based on his super-human ability to analyse detail, but I wasn’t convinced. For example, when a suspect answers Grice’s question Grice says this answer is only one of the fourteen possible answers. He does not explain the other thirteen answers and I wonder if the author chose a number at random.
A little too pleased with its own cleverness and a little too long.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-reviews-a-z/ ( )

Another wonderful story by M R C Kasasian.
Again set in Victorian London, this mystery story involves Sidney Grice and his ward March Middleton.
They are tasked with solving a murder, possibly linked to one some years previously.
Just as great as The Mangle Street Murders and I can't wait to read more!
Iwas given a digital copy of this book by the publisher Head of Zeus via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review. ( )