Historical fiction is one of my all time favourite genres, especially when the story is based in London. I was born and raised in London. As much as i enjoyed 'A Murderous Malady', a few words had me stumped and had to look them up. I totally agree with the views of another reviewer in that a couple of words were for the American audience and were not in keeping with the language of Victorian Britain. It is the first time that i have read any books by Christine Trent and would happily read more.

My thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for my copy. This is my honest review, freely given.

The voice of "Flo" Nightingale is strong and sure, leading her readers at a quick pace through the odorous, diseased streets of London in search of both a human killer and King Cholera. As a fan of light, murder-mystery fiction which is rooted in historical fact, I was entertained and informed by this novel. It was obvious that Christine Trent did her homework and took her mission to weave the story into fact seriously. She added in off-hand "soft" observation by the characters to personalize them and humanize the story. However, her sidekick Mary/Goose spent far too much time nattering on about her dead husband, causing me to feel impatient with the pace if the story at times, since I felt that the author had already established these characters. Much time was also spent describing the dresses of the women; time I felt would have been better spent describing more of the setting or giving additional historic details. Trent did an excellent job of looking back at history already made in the areas of medicine (nursing) and women's rights (marriage, financial and child custody laws) through the novel's exploratory lens through the every day conversation of the characters. This novel is entertaining as well as satisfying an intellectual bent of the history buff!

I’ve never read the author’s books before, but once I saw the sleuth in this one is Florence Nightingale, it got my curiosity piqued. So glad I tried it! It’s sort of a combination mystery/historical fiction as there is a lot more than just the mystery she is trying to solve going on. The story takes place around the time of a cholera outbreak and around the same time as a war is brewing, and both have big parts in what is going on around Florence. You get a really good look at not only how people in this period lived, but also other historical happenings around the same time and real historical figures. At the end, the author has a chapter devoted to telling you about each character (turns out most of them were real people in history, not just Florence) and also about the wars and cholera outbreaks going on at the time. The mystery itself didn’t have an obvious culprit until the end of the book, so you’re pulled along with that also through the entire story. All in all, a very enjoyable read, and I’ll be following the author and seeing what else she has to offer.

I did receive an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved everything about this book. I’ve always enjoyed historical mysteries and this was one of the better ones. The period details were precise and accurate and added so much to the story itself. The characters were well drawn and felt perfectly at home in the era with their mannerisms and speech. The storyline held my interest all the way through and lead me to look up additional information about Florence Nightengale. This author portrayed her to a tee. I wasn’t aware that this was the second in a series so I am anxious to read the first one and seriously hoping for a third! An excellent book for anyone who is a fan of historical mysteries involving real life characters.
Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy to review.

London, murder, amateur-sleuth, women-sleuths, disease, historical-fiction, historical-figures, historical-research

Sorry to say, but I found this one disappointing. The characters are very well done and interesting, but the plot seems a bit forced and I found that it was work to finish it. Perhaps because I viewed it as detail oriented with the emphasis on less relevant details.
It's a real shame because I was really looking forward to reading it!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley.

I really loved this murder mystery! I'm a huge fan of all things historical so when I heard about this book, I knew I wanted it! I loved how this book used real living characters from that time period. You can really see the author did their research to try to portray them as accurately as possible within a fictional setting. The plot itself was very engaging and I could not stop reading.. (hence the dark circles under my eyes the next day from staying up till 3am lol) Overall i highly recommend this read!

(Didnt realize this was the second book in a series but the book was read fine as a standalone)

I love a good historical murder mystery, so I couldn't wait to start reading A Murderous Malady. I discovered later that it's actually the second book in the series, but I don't think that I missed out by having not read the first. It works fine as a stand-alone novel.
Choosing to use real people as the characters in your book is always a challenge. Are you just borrowing the names of these people, or are you trying to faithfully recreate them as they were. In this book, not only is the main character a real person but so are many many of the other characters. On the whole, I think this worked and worked well. I will admit that this isn't really my period, so I don't know much about any of these people and can't comment on how true to life they are. From a murder mystery novel point of view, they all work really well. I don't know if I can picture Florence Nightingale being an amateur detective, as well as all of the nursing reforms that she undertook, but in terms of the book, it worked well.
There were a few Americanisms that crept into the story, which for me at least, did detract from the overall read. I know that this book is probably mostly for an American audience, but it is set in Victorian Britain and personally, I prefer it to be more faithful to the language that would have been used. The word 'stoop' was used quite a bit, I tried to look it up and I think that it's something to do with the front of the house, but I'm still not entirely sure. Apparently, it comes from the Dutch language originally. Either way, it's not something that we have ever used in Britain and it really got on my nerves.
Little niggles like this aside, I really enjoyed the story and the mystery setting. I'd be more than happy to read more in this series.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

A murderous melody is the second installment of the Florence Nightingale Mystery's series. I must confess that I've not read first, though after reading this one, I surely will. The author blends fact and fiction marvelously, as she depicts a tale in which Florence Nightingale( Flo) is not only a nursing and medical research icon, but also an astute an excellent detective. It is such a clever idea to construct Nightingale as an investigator. As a nurse myself, I found the idea very intriguing.

I love this book! The writing and articulation made me feel as if I had somehow fallen back in time. Trent certainly knows her history or has done lots of research. If you love Downton Abbey and mystery this is the book for you.
Told from Florence's perspective, this seems in accurate depiction of what her thoughts and demeanor might have been for the time period. The vernacular, customs, and manners at that era are realistically portray throughout the book. Though Trent does implement some historical license with actual timelines, I found it unerring otherwise. One can certainly appreciate the author’s eloquent writing talent. Her proficiency bring an authentic voice to the narrative.
Overall the plot is engaging in the characters a well-developed. I was engrossed in this book from the beginning to the end. The story wraps up nicely, leaving the reader both satisfied, and eager to see what Trent may have in store for Flo. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #netgalley #amurderousmalady

A Murderous Malady will hook you from start to finish. Who doesn't love a book with a disease, a killer, and a mystery? Christine Trent has developed her characters wonderfully and her story will pull you in so much you can almost feel like you are part of the story. I can not wait for another book from this author.

Much like book one of the Florence Nightingale Mystery series, I feel A Murderous Malady best suited to the mystery crowd. Trent is a creative storyteller, but this is not biographic fiction and shouldn’t be recommended as such.

As far as content goes, A Murderous Malady has a lot going for it. The Broad Street cholera outbreak of 1854 affords more insight to Nightingale’s nursing than was seen in No Cure for the Dead, but as much as I liked the material, I couldn’t help feeling it removed from the whodunnit at the heart of the narrative.

As far as the whodunnit is concerned, I was impressed by the angle. The end-all reminded me a bit of The Rock (1996), but I thought the material paired nicely with both the politics of the day and Nightingale’s career path. Purists might be a little perturbed at the liberties taken, but I found the fiction entertaining in its own way.

I felt the resolution had a lot of working parts and I’d have liked more cohesion between the mystery and Nightingale’s primary profession, but all in all, I enjoyed the time I spent with this book and would have no problem recommending it to fans of historical mysteries.