Murder at the Fitzwilliam

by Jim Eldridge

Genres: Crime, Historical Fiction, Mystery
Pages: 320
Series: Museum Mysteries #1
Rating:

Synopsis:

After rising to prominence for his role investigating the case of Jack the Ripper, former Detective Inspector Daniel Wilson is now retired. Known for his intelligence, investigative skills, and most of all his discretion, he's often consulted when a case must be solved quickly and quietly. So when a body is found in the Egyptian Collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, Wilson is called in.

As he tries to uncover the identity of the dead man and the circumstances surrounding his demise, Wilson must contend with an unhelpful police Inspector, and more alarmingly, Abigail McKenzie, the archaeologist who discovered the body and is determined to protect the Egyptian collection. Can they find a way to work together to solve the mystery?

I picked up Jim Eldridge’s Murder at the Fitzwilliam mostly because I love the idea of mysteries set in museums, and this is the first of the series. It’s been rare that a mystery used the full coolness of the museum setting… and alas, this was the case again here. It was an easy read, it’s not that I didn’t have fun, but it felt more like the setting was “Cambridge in general” rather than specifically a museum.

The detectives are Daniel Wilson (a former copper turned private inquiry agent) and Abigail McKenzie, an archaeologist and blatantly obvious love interest. Daniel’s a bit nondescript, just a fairly standard male detective, while Abigail’s a bit highly strung in some ways — a bit prone to the dramatic, as the final scene where she bursts into tears at him after yelling at him because he’s supposed to have magically understood from her cold behaviour that she wants to date him. One minute she’s touting how practical she is (and boasting about having seen XYZ in Egypt), and the next there’s a mood swing and she’s angry at Daniel for even suggesting something. There are some reasons for her behaviour, but overall it just felt weird.

The concept is still tempting enough to me that I’m going to try the second book, and I don’t regret giving the first one a shot, but I hope for a bit more use of the museum setting, and a bit more consistency in the portrayal of Abigail.

Rating: 2/5