A Wonderful Mystery – The Perfect Companion for Those Cozy Winter Afternoons | ARC Review: Laetitia Rodd and the Case of the Wandering Scholar (A Laetitia Rodd Mystery #2) by Kate Saunders

It is 1851 and Mrs Rodd has received an unusual commission: wealthy businessman Jacob Welland is dying of consumption and implores our redoubtable detective to find his beloved brother, whom he has not seen for fifteen years.

Joshua Welland was an Oxford scholar; brilliant, eccentric and desperately poor. Nobody can say exactly when he disappeared from his college, but he took to wandering the countryside and one day simply failed to return. Since then, there have been several sightings of his lonely, ragged figure. Ten years ago a friend spotted him in a gypsy camp, where he was rumoured to be learning great secrets that would one day astound the world.

Mrs Rodd uses her search as an opportunity to reconnect with a couple from her past, but then a violent murder is committed and Scotland Yard are called to investigate. Mrs Rodd’s old friend Inspector Blackbeard doesn’t want to hear any nonsense about gypsies or secrets, but Mrs Rodd is convinced that something very sinister is lurking in this peaceful landscape.

The Case of The Wandering Scholar is my introduction to Letitia Rodd, a resourceful widow in her 50s; who has established quite the reputation as a detective.

In this newest case bought to her by her barrister brother; is all about finding a long lost brother of an influential man on his death bed. Little does she know, that this case will soon be connected to a murder of a family friend and will have actually to do a whole lot of introspection before she closes this intriguing case.

Set in the 1850s, this historical mystery fiction is sedately paced and based mostly on gossips and rumours to sift through the multitude of clues found through tid-bits and hearsay! This meant that the reader, aka yours truly, had the opportunity to actually try and solve the case alongside our protagonist; not from evidence per say; but through revelations and so many instances of he said; she said issues.

Letitia Rodd is a wonderful character – intuitative and quick-witted; she had to be survive and actually have a living for herself in a time where women didn’t really have access to opportunities! She also had this uncanny ability to ferret out the truth; determined and a little judgemental and rigid at times; she still opened her eyes to the possibility that maybe her own sense of righteousness could have shades of gray in them.