I had the opportunity to read and review this book for Netgalley. In short, I’d love to read all the previous installments in the series. The main characters are new additions to my favourite characters circle. Welcome.

If you thought that museums are wonderful but quiet, dusty and boring places where nothing exciting happens, think again. You can’t even imagine to what length people would go and what they would be willing to do to secure a place on trustee committee or position of curator or… contract to deliver bones and fossils.

A very unorthodox (for Victorian times) pair of detectives: male and female for that matter (and living together ‘in sin’, my oh, my) – Abigail Stoker and Daniel Wilson come on the scene to investigate seemingly harmpless incident, destruction of the exhibit… But the case takes unexpected twist becoming a murder investigation which, in turn, drags many more secrets, misdeeds and outright crimes that surround Natural History Museum.

I loved the pair. I want to be their friend. And I definitely want to be invited to the wedding. Abigail and Daniel are surrounded by many colourful characters. Amazingly, police detectives and constables are not thick, short-sighted and purely stupid here as in most Victorian-times cozy mysteries (or not all of them).

Villains are big, pompous, titled and overbearing. Women are scheming, intelligent and fearless. Reader gets a very unexpected, unorthodox picture of Victorian London and its elite, a very unexpected.

Real-life personalities and celebrities are… just that.. real people. Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, Bernard Shaw and many more… Reading this book felt like watching Midnight in Paris but set in 19th century London.

Mystery and suspense a plenty. Readers is entertained along the way with many sub-plots, back stories and descriptions. But they all are in the right place and at the right time.

Given that this is fifth installment, reader is getting only glimpses of the previous adventures. However, this book reads well on its own.

Overall, I enjoyed the read for characters and sprinkling of real-life personalities and celebrities. This book made me search far and wide for Oscar Wilde works and biographies.

My had is off for the author and his creation. 5 stars.

Murder at the Natural History Museum is the 5th Museum Mystery by Jim Eldridge. Due out 22nd Oct 2020 from Alison & Busby, it's 352 pages (print version) and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats (ebook available now). It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a well plotted and interesting murder mystery. The characters are well developed and have a solid background and chemistry together. The pacing was variable, at points it dragged a bit for me, but overall it moved along at a good pace. The clues were presented well and the denouement and resolution were satisfying. I admit the dialogue threw me. I wasn't aware that the book was set in the 19th century and was surprised when I found out because the vernacular is completely modern (I thought it was a modern cozy and only discovered my mistake when the author threw Bram Stoker in there). My other small quibble is that it seemed the author included almost every famous contemporary person, actor, current event, landmark, and news headline in the narrative. It interfered with my suspension of disbelief in several places. The book does work well enough as a standalone (as long as the reader remembers it's not set in the current day).

All in all it's a readable and engaging cozy mystery with lots of skullduggery and shenanigans, a soupcon of danger, and a good plot.

Three and a half stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Murder at the Natural History Museum is the fifth book in Jim Eldridge's Museum Mysteries series. I haven't read books one through four and there was absolutely no confusion in the storyline; it completely stands alone. It's a fun and breezy mystery that makes me interested in going back and finding out how our hero and heroine became known as the Museum Detectives.

Daniel Wilson - a former Scotland Yard Inspector who was involved in the Jack the Ripper case - and Abigail Fenton - a renowned archaeologist - are both professional as well as personal partners. They are asked to investigate the deliberate damage to a fossil at the Natural History Museum. It is believed the "Bone Wars" for fossils in the United States may have made its way to Britain. However, after a museum attendant is found murdered in an anteroom, they begin to think a lot more is going on. Aided by Inspector Feather of Scotland Yard, they begin their investigation into murder and blackmail.

This was an exciting mystery set in Victorian London. Daniel and Abigail actually live together without the benefit of marriage, which was rare in that period. I really liked their relationship; they appear settled and ready to marry, but are still discovering new things about each other. The murder discovered in the museum was only one of the mysteries being investigated in this installment of the series. There are some red herrings thrown in to make matters more complex. My favorite thing about this story, however, is the inclusion of two characters who actually existed: Bram Stoker and Oscar Wilde! They were more complex than I ever knew and cinched my enjoyment of this book. Bring on the next museum mystery!

I received an ARC of this book courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley. I received no compensation for my review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Although this is fifth in a series there is no need to have read the earlier entries to enjoy this fun caper! Lots of famous people play cameo roles, including Bram Stoker and Oscar Wilde; the history of the “Bone Wars” plays an important role in the plot. Overall, this was an entertaining read, and an enticement to read earlier books in the series.

In this fifth installment of Jim Eldridge's "Museum Mysteries" series, we find archaeologist Abigail Fenton and P.I. Daniel Wilson--partners in detection and in life--investigating not a death, but the vandalism of a dinosaur skeleton in London's Natural History Museum. True to form, however, a murder is soon discovered at the museum, launching Abigail and Daniel into a twisty mystery involving London's elite, blackmail, and one of the most dangerous situations the pair have found themselves in up to this point.

I think this is my favorite installment in the series. One of the aspects of these books I have really enjoyed is the historical and factual information given throughout the story--in this case, around dinosaurs, fossils, and archaeological digs. It makes for an interesting read and it is clear that Eldridge has spent time researching, which I love. In this story in particular, I loved the introduction of real-life historical figures as characters. Bram Stoker and Oscar Wilde figure prominently in this one, as well as some others. As a reader, these details made the read more fun and if this series continues, I would love to see this happen more. As far as the mystery went, this one kept me guessing primarily because of the sheer number of angles and suspects, but it wasn't overwhelming at all. I had an inkling of who the culprit might be as the story went on, but because of the various red herrings, I was never completely sure. There were moments throughout the story where the dialogue felt a little flat, or were assumptions were made that felt out of nowhere, but this didn't happen enough to really bother me.

I rated this 4/5 because while I was not blown away by the story and it fell into a predictable pattern like its predecessors, I really liked many aspects of this story and I feel the characters of Abigail and Daniel have grown since this first book. If you love mysteries, mystery series, stories in Victorian England...I definitely recommend! Plus, the concept is cool: an archaeologist and a private investigator solving museum mysteries in Victorian England--what's not to like?

1895 Partners Daniel Wilson, ex-Scotland Yard detective, and Abigail Fenton, archaeologist are called in by Miss Evelyn Scott, Curator of the Natural History Museum when shattered bones of an iguanodon exhibit are discovered. But the next day the body of one of the museum attendants is discovered.
What could be the motive, who is the guilty party. The partners investigate with the help of Inspector
John Feathers.
An enjoyable well-written Victorian Mystery, with its likeable main characters. Another good addition to the series.
ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

London 1895 - Daniel Wilson and Abigail Fenton are asked to investigate vandalism in the new dinosaur exhibit at the Natural History Museum. And then, one of the employees is found dead.

I really like the premise of this series - murders at various museums. I love the setting and the interesting history and characters the settings invokes. Daniel and Abigail are an engaging pair of investigators. Their different backgrounds and skills complement the other.

There are plenty of suspects, clues, red herrings, and side investigations. The author does have the tendency to include too much information at times. Writing historical mysteries does take a lot of research, but it doesn't all need to appear in the book. This was a solid historical mystery.

Thanks to NetGalley and Allison & Busby for sending a copy for review.

London in August 1895 and Daniel Wilson and Abigail Fenton return in their fifth adventure in the murder mystery series, all of which are set in the nation’s museums. After their excitement in Manchester, Daniel and Abigail are back in London, and are asked to investigate the destruction of one of the dinosaur exhibits, an iguanodon, at the Natural History Museum but the female curator Miss Scott. Their success in solving previous crimes has seen our detective duo achieving a degree of national recognition, and are now known in the press as the ‘Museum Detectives’. And when the body of one of the attendants is discovered in a small exhibition room in the museum, our detectives are once again on familiar ground, investigating the wilful murder. Suspects emerge, as well as motivations and lots of fairly obnoxious behaviour including murder and blackmail. They work closely with Scotland Yard, as in previous novels set in London, positively with Inspector Feather, while Superintendent Armstrong continues to be aggressive and difficult.
Occasionally the characters use language which seems a little too contemporary and there is some rather clunky explanatory historical dialogue to provide background for the reader, which doesn’t ring true as authentic conversation. The plot breezes along pleasantly, with all the mysteries neatly solved and tied up at the end of the story, even if the conclusion was just a little too melodramatic! An enjoyable, undemanding read, nonetheless.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is the fifth in a series of Museum Mystery books by this author, but I read this one as a stand-alone, having not read the first and that didn’t matter at all.

The story follows the two main characters Abigail Fenton and Daniel Wilson who are both a romantic and work-life partnership intent on solving crimes by way of commission. The two have a constant game of cat and mouse with the real police and Scotland Yard, who detest being shown up by amateur civilian detectives, but who also seem to relish the assistance they so gladly provide. These crimes would apparently seem to keep being committed in museums, and the pair are becoming notorious for being ‘Museum detectives’.

Sure enough this story is set around the heinous crime of a dinosaur skeleton being smashed to smithereens within the British Natural History Museum. The duo are hired to find out who lays behind the attack, and set to work accordingly. The fact that a murder is then committed right under their watch is purely coincidental, and the pair have a good excuse to get sluething.

I must admit, elements of this story just felt a little too ‘cozy’ for me, and the plot tie ups at the end just a little too ‘convienient’. Also, the story is supposed to be set in the 1800s and yet it felt a little modern at times. The duo are cohabiting in a flat together unmarried and no one bats an eyelid, a woman is working as a private detective (shock horror!) and there are a few powerful and rich women on the Board of trustees, and in positions of employment at the museum (the director for example!). These are just a few examples of something that just didn’t quite sit right in the time frame for me. At times the language used felt to over worked, and didn’t read quite right. However, I know that Jim Eldridge is far from novice so perhaps this is just me, it the book felt amateur in places.

Overall the mystery was ok and the ending entertaining. The character development was good and the partnerships between both Abi and Daniel and also Daniel and Scotland Yard were interesting. I just wasn’t blown away by the story and felt bored in places.

3 Dino smashing stars.

Murder at the Natural History Museum is the 5th in a series but can be read as a stand alone. It is the first in the series that I have read and I will definitely be going back and reading the others!

The book begins with "Museum Detectives" Daniel Wilson and Abigail Fenton called to the Natural History Museum to investigate the vandalism of the iguanodon exhibit. Daniel is ex-Scotland Yard and Abigail is an archaeologist. The story takes place at the end of the 19th century, when dinosaur bones have become "the rage" and numerous companies from the US have begun "marketing" the bones to European museums. Unfortunately, not long after Daniel and Abigail are called into the case a body turns up in the museum and they begin to wonder if the murder is related to the act of vandalism.

Well-known characters of the era appear in the story - Bram Stoker, Oscar Wilde, HG Wells and George Bernard Shaw to name a few - all adding to the realism of time and place. All of the characters are well-developed and bring the story to life.

As Daniel and Abigail investigate the murder, they soon discover connections between the dead man, several trustees of the museum, the trial of Oscar Wilde, and yes, the dinosaur bones.

This story has many twists and turns, and many threads excellently woven together. The story keeps you on the edge of your seat until the end, making you want to read the book in one setting -- highly recommended!

I’ve read a previous book in the series and overall liked it so I was looking forward to reading this. Our Museum Detectives, Wilson and Fenton, are back in another engaging mystery which starts as a vandalism that turns into murder.

I like Abigail and Daniel’s characters and I enjoyed the incorporation of real historical figures but the at times complete lack of historical accuracy were actually distracting to the story. Still enjoyable, but definitely not for people who look for an accurate sense of time and place. I’ll probably still look for the next book because I did like the characters and the mystery.

Who vandalized the iguanodon exhibit at the Natural History Museum and why? Those are the questions ex-Scotland Yard detective Daniel Wilson and his partner archeologist Abagail Fenton are called in to answer. It's 1895 and there's a lot going on in the museum world, in part because dinosaur bones have become, shall we say, collectable. Little did they expect that a body would turn up. What did the attendant know? What does Bram Stoker have to do with all of this? No spoilers from me but this has a nice sense of time and place. I've only read one of the books in this series, making it more or less a standalone for me, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The characters are good, the setting fun, and the mystery just twisty and compact enough to make for a good day's read. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. For fans of historical mysteries.

Daniel Wilson and Abigail Fenton are our protagonists, inquiry agents extraordinaire and a couple, although they don’t advertise that fact. He’s ex-Scotland Yard, she’s a famous archeologist. That comes in handy when they’re called in to look at troubles that happen at the museums of London. There’s worse to come, in “Murder at the Natural History Museum.” The title isn’t there for show.

For this case, a large pile of dinosaur bones isn’t the way it should be at the museum. The pile used to be a fully formed dinosaur skeleton. Normally, criminal damage is not something the duo concerns themselves with, but the curator of the museum thinks that this is just the start of something, so Wilson and Fenton are soon looking into the circumstances. They also learn that there’s been a war of sorts fought over the finding of dinosaur bones to fill collections. How does this fit into the damage? It’s explained as you keep reading, and you will.

And then Bram Stoker – yes, “that” Bram Stoker – finds a dead man in one of the exhibit halls. And we’re off. The dead man may have a connection to Mr. Stoker and through him to Oscar Wilde, who’s in prison. You may recall that court case. Indeed, we even have appearances by those leading lights of the East End stage, Ellen Terry and Sir Henry Fielding. This (interesting) plot thickens. It soon transpires the dead man had a secret, one that got him killed. And Oscar Wilde, poor soul, has a scene that contributes to the narrative. The author thus highlights a shameful period in history, one that was mitigated somewhat when Mr. Wilde was included in a sweeping posthumous pardoning act in 2017. There are many threads here, as Daniel mentions in the text. Abigail even gets accosted by H.G. Wells. This book is full of historical references, which help to establish our time and place.

The museum’s trustees have secrets of their own – who knew what a bunch of cutthroats they all would turn out to be? Enough for murder? We’ll found out, soon enough. Our author, Jim Ellis knows how to let readers see the petty intrigues that can build up a story and point fingers at suspects. And blackmail’s thrown in, because, why not. And love. That happy combo.

Miss Fenton gets a chance to shine on her own, as she has in previous entries in the series (this is book #5). Abigail is a modern woman, but she doesn’t shout it from the rooftops, and although Superintendent Armstrong doesn’t like her much (he doesn’t like anybody) she is able to move through the plot without seeming too far out of place for our Victorian era.

There’s no drawing room, but there’s a drawing room scene of sorts where most of the suspects are present whereby one can be pointed out as a murderer. That’s not the only case that’s resolved here – Abigail and Daniel find themselves personally threatened. That’s resolved satisfactorily, of course, or readers wouldn’t be looking forward to another book, and they should.

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for a copy of this book, in exchange for this review.

This is the fifth book in the museum detective series, but the first I have read, However, it can be read as a stand-alone, and arriving late to this series did not spoil my enjoyment of this particular instalment.

The book is set in Victorian London, and focuses on a series of crimes linked to the Natural History Museum in South Kensington. The detectives, a former policeman who worked on the Jack the Ripper case and a female, Oxbridge educated Egyptologist, who are partners both personally and professionally, are a joy to meet and get to know. In fact all of the characters are well drawn, well characterised and are truly brought to life by the author. The descriptions of Victorian London are also excellent and the book has a firm sense of place throughout.

I found it genuinely difficult to put this book down. It is fast paced and pushed me, as a reader, to finish the book as quickly as possible, because I wanted to know who had committed the various crimes, and the conclusion was genuinely satisfying.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough, I am a lover of historical crime books, was born and bred in London and know the Natural History Museum very well, so I may be biased. However, I think this Book would appeal to a variety of readers.

Having read and enjoyed this book, I will now read the other books in the series and hope there will be further books to follow.

Thank you to NetGalley and Allison & Busby for a copy of this book in return for a honest review.

I must start my review with a disclaimer, I enjoy cozy mysteries more than a "traditional" mystery story. This is in my opinion is a traditional mystery. This is the fifth instalment in the Museum Mysteries series. It is a stand alone story and may be enjoyed even if you have not read the others. Daniel and Abigail are called to the Natural history museum to investigate when a prized dinosaur skeleton is smashed. They find that the act was competed after the new curator, who happens to be female. receives a threatening letter for procuring the bones from outside sources.

The case soon involves murder when a museum guide is found murdered. It is quickly uncovered that he was blackmailing several wealthy/ famous persons. One murder leads to the next. Daniel partners with Scotland Yard to bring the murderer to justice. It is their belief that the crimes are all intertwined.

Along the investigation they uncover two more murders which have previously been overlooked. The story has many subplots. The early suffragette movement is viewed by the female curator and archeologist turned detective. The problem of social class and how it impacts ones life forever.

The story is laced with many celebrities of the times. It added to the story. The plot was well thought out. I found the pace slow. However as I said I am more of a cozy mystery reader which wraps up quickly. If you are a mystery lover this book is worth a look.

Set in Victorian London, Egyptologist Abigail Fenton and her partner, former Scotland Yard detective Daniel Wilson have unusual skills. While paying an early morning visit to the Natural History Museum they encounter the vandalism of one of the dinosaur exhibits. During the investigation a man is murdered and Abigail and Daniel work to uncover the murderer. They are drawn into the world of high society, suspects include museum patrons and members of the museum board as well as aristocrats.

Abigail is a strong-willed woman and very unconventional. She not only is a woman in a masculine field of Egyptology, but she lives with Daniel outside of marriage. As the pair investigate and use their expertise and connections in various aspects of London society they discover a web of deceit and murders that have gone undetected, until now, and they all relate back to the Natural History Museum. After a thrilling carriage ride, a gun being brandished and shocking revelations the murders are caught and Abigail and Daniel can return to a quiet, normal life, until the next case.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Murder at the Natural History Museum is the fifth book in Jim Eldridge’s Museum Mysteries series. I read the first one in the series, Mystery at the Fitzwilliam, but then jumped straight to this latest one without reading the others in the series. As I suspected, it adds to the enjoyment of this novel to have read the first book in the series but it isn’t essential. Similarly, there are minor references to events that, presumably, happened in Murder at the British Museum but they didn’t affect my enjoyment of the story.

I won’t repeat the publisher’s synopsis of the story but I shall add that the plot involves several of the Museum’s trustees and I wish I’d paid more attention to them at the outset. There are a lot of characters in the cast list – museum staff; their families, neighbours and shopkeepers; assorted villains – and I did lose track of who was who once or twice. That’s not a complaint, just a reflection of my casual approach. I expected the book to be a quick read that didn’t require much effort. It could be read like that but I would have enjoyed it more if I had slowed down and concentrated – definitely my loss.

A feature of the Museum Mysteries is the period detail. Eldridge inserts real-life people such as Bram Stoker and Ellen Terry into the narrative; and mentioning detail such as their age or references to real-life events add to the feeling that we are there. Oscar Wilde makes an appearance and I thought Eldridge handled this brilliantly. This is not a fleeting glimpse of a famous person at a public event where there is no real interaction with the characters in our novel and we feel the author is just name-dropping. In this book, we see Oscar Wilde in prison, gaunt and ill. He’s worried about Constance and the children. He has a meaningful dialogue with “our” characters that is about “our” murder. I’ll say it again: that episode is brilliant.

#MurderattheNaturalHistoryMuseum #NetGalley

extortion, murder, private-investigators, law-enforcement, Victorian London

I am new to this series but I never felt lost because of it. All the characters have an air of reality about them that makes the story more enjoyable. The involvement of dinosaur fossils and Bram Stoker as well as Oscar Wilde and the laws of the time help make this more grounded. The mysteries pile up along with the red herrings. A very good read!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Allison & Busby via NetGalley. Thank you!

I love historical mysteries and this one is fun.
Dinosaurs, fossils and wicked trustees
Lovely characters, quirky plot
Ace

This is the latest in a series of books set in museums featuring protagonists - Daniel Wilson and Abigail Fenton. I found it hard-going with an over-written style and with the dialogue between the two partners wooden and unrealistic.