Looking For a Good Book

It is 1876 in London and Minnie Ward – a scriptwriter at the Variety Palace Music Hall – discovers her best friend, Rose, dead.  Knowing Rose as she did, Minnie refuses to believe that her friend took her own life and decides she needs to look into the circumstances around her death. To that end, Minnie gets help from former police officer-turned private detective, Albert Easterbrook.

Easterbrook is pretty busy – he’s trying to catch the notorious Hairpin Killer – someone who continues to  eluded the police – but for Minnie, Albert takes on the assignment. Together, the two of them discover some of the worst places and people of London, and bodies begin to pile up around them.The next could be their own if they aren’t careful.

I am a sucker for historical fiction of this period and I’ll pick up any book that takes place theaters or music halls, and features people in the entertainment industry. The Tumbling Girl would seem to be just the sort of book that I’d enjoy. And there are a number of things that I really liked here.

I liked Minnie. A lot. She had a lot of strength but wasn’t over-confident.  Of course women in the Victorian era had to be strong if they were on their own, and she really fit her position and the time frame.

I liked the romance … because it was barely there. There are hints of it, Minnie isn’t mooning over Albert and relying on him and his detective skills to save her.

People in entertainment straddled that class line between the posh and the poor and this book shows us that, even if only subtly.

And I appreciate that the publisher reissued this book (or at least made it available to reviewers) as the next book in the series was about to be published. Rather than starting a series with book two, as I too often seem to do, I was able to pick up this book AND the next.

There are, though, some things that I didn’t care for in this book. First among them is Albert. For someone who features so prominently, this is too bad. He didn’t seem particularly accomplished at his job and he definitely doesn’t appear worthy of Minnie’s attention (perhaps that’s why there’s so welcomingly little romance in the book?).

I was disappointed with the lack of use of theatrical talents. The title … the setting … you’d think this would come into play much more than it does. At least I did.

And these two things, together, really had this book moving at a slow pace. I struggled to stay involved and interested. It was really only Minnie’s strength that kept me in the book.

I do have the second volume and I’ll give it a read fairly soon, but if I didn’t already have it, I’d probably not be interested in seeking it out based on this.

Looking for a good book? The Tumbling Girl by Bridget Walsh is a historical mystery set in Victorian London. A wonderful, strong, female leading character with a less interesting and capable male character, the book struggles to find a pace that keeps it interesting.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.

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The Tumbling Girl

author: Bridget Walsh

series: Variety Palace Mysteries #1

publisher:  Pushkin Vertigo

ISBN:  9781805335795

paperback, 352 pages