Title : Instruments of Darkness

I started on Imogen Robertson’s “Instruments of Darkness” having had no prior introduction to her writing or work. The jacket flap promised a dark, intriguing mystery and I’m glad to report that this is indeed the case. The novel starts off with a murder in the little village of Hartswood, West Sussex. A stranger is found dead in the lands of Caveley Park. The mistress of Caveley Park, a stout of heart woman named Harriet Westerman asks the local learned man Gabriel Crowther for help. Harriet suspects foul play of her eccentric neighbors, the residents of Thornleigh Hall.

Almost at the same time in London there is another murder – that of a musician Alexander Adams. Adams who leaves behind his two children, also leaves clues that he may have had connections with the great Thornleigh Hall. The two murders are connected surmise the sleuthing pair, but at the outset the connection is unclear. As the bodies keep piling up, Mrs. Westerman and Crowther meet with stiff resistance in their investigations. But with lives at stake, they dare not give up . . .

This is a novel full of atmosphere (the very nicely done book cover itself portends to that). Robertson succeeds in building up a sinister mood, and I could almost see the village of Hartswood shrouded in an evil mist. This being a historical novel situated in the 1780s, she also succeeds in getting her descriptive details right. The main characters Harriet Westerman and Gabriel Crowther are well-sketched and she makes them likeable – not in a warm, fuzzy sort of way, but by building them with strong spines and sound judgment. Mrs. Westerman particularly is a firm woman, uncaring of the societal rules for women of that age. She does what she thinks is right, and speaks up when she sees wrong done, even when people around her would bide her silent as a woman.

This is an intricate and engrossing mystery – there are undertones and nuances to everything, and the author hints at untold motives. Secrets abound and mysterious past events come back to haunt the protagonists. Robertson tells three stories in parallel – the first of the murder of Caveley Park, the second of the murder of Alexander Adams and the third the story of Hugh Thornleigh as a young soldier in the war. As the three stories start to fit into each other, quite impressively really, the identity of the murderer becomes clearer. The way the novel is built up and told, and from all the clues the reader gets, the end, when it comes, is not a surprise. Yet, the novel holds it’s own, due to the excellent writing and the just-right pace.

Mysteries are one of my favorite genres, and to have an excellent period piece and a mystery all rolled into one was a great bonus. This is a great read; I will be sure to look out for Robertson’s next novel.