Dr. Julia Lewis and Scotland Yard Inspector Richard Tennant are on the case again in the riveting A Slash of Emerald by Patrice McDonough. For the second volume in the series, the Victorian duo are investigating deaths related to the art world, but then are driven into a bigger, and even more sinister, mystery as well.

I had really thoroughly enjoyed the first installment to this series, and this one captivated me even more! McDonough not only has written an intriguing case and mystery - which is fast paced and keeps you on the edge of your seat - but also is fantastic at characterization. One thing I think a lot of mystery series writers shy away from is bringing up past events that happened in the prior novels because they want the books to be able to be read more or less in any order, but McDonough does a great job touching upon them that for me as a reader of the first book makes perfect sense, but also summarizes it in a way that make it understandable to a new reader to not put them off. That said, I think they will be likely to seek out the first volume anyway, because this book is that good.

The way that both Julia and Richard are written is with care, and as someone who reads this genre a lot, I like how while many of these tropes have of course been done so any times, McDonough presents them in way that feels fresh even though familiar. I love that we are still building upon their pasts, and fleshing them out even more as we go on, and I look forward to their future developments. The side characters are interesting as well, and add to the series. I also love the descriptions of the settings that really make you feel like you are in 1860s London, and not just vaguely Victorian.

This ending of the book is definitely set up for a third installment, and I have to admit it was a little infuriating to have the cliffhanger, but it's a testament to the writing and the characters that I am left craving more!

(I will note that I did catch a few grammar/spelling/formatting errors that I assume will be fixed before finalized draft, but it did not take away from reading this ARC).

I recommend this series to fans of historical mysteries with a romantic undertone, and I do believe it's one of the best ones currently being published.

5 out of 5 stars.

Thanks to Kensington Publishing and NetGalley for providing this copy, which was given in exchange for a fair and honest review.