Review: The Dead Hand by Judith Cutler

The Dead Hand (The Harriet & Matthew Rowsley Victorian Mysteries, Book #5)

by Judith Cutler

Release Date: November 26, 2024

2024 Severn House

Paperback ARC; 240 Pages

ISBN: 978-1448314607

ASIN: B0C5JW99HC

Genre: Fiction / Mystery / Historical

Source: Review copy from publisher

3 / 5 Stars

Summary

June 1861, Victorian England. A house full of academics should imply calm and quiet, but much to housekeeper Harriet Rowsley's dismay some of the guests seem to have problems with the estate's unconventional practices and aren't afraid of voicing their concerns. Having Harriet and her husband and interim estate manager Matthew as the hosts of Thorncroft House, while his lordship is ill and the trustees are seeking for his heir, is obviously not to everyone's taste!

But Harriet won't let their patronising opinions get in the way of running the household as it was entrusted to her. She and her husband seem to have things under control until a series of unusual accidents occur around them. To make matters worse and more pressing, one of these accidents proves fatal . . .

 

My Thoughts

The Dead Hand is the next entry in the Harriet & Matthew Rowsley Victorian Murder mysteries and I thought it was a solid entry in the series.  Archaeologists have arrived in force to work the Roman ruins found on the grounds of the manor and Harriet & Matthew have their hands full managing all of them as well doing their normal day-to-day jobs. To make matters more interesting, Harriet has lost her full-time housekeeper and must now interview a new one by giving the person a one-month trial to see if she will fit into the household. 

First of all, while I enjoyed the mystery, I do find this author's writing hard to follow. It's not that her writing style is difficult once you are immersed in the chapter, but POV changes from chapter to chapter, all written in first person, and you have no idea from whose perspective you are reading which is quite confusing. You have to really work to understand the characters and the plot at times, and while this type of writing style is meant to confuse the reader so you are not sure what is happening, it actually just made me frustrated. And for the record, it didn't work as I figured out who the culprit was almost from the beginning; I just found it really obvious.  Oh, and using dialogue and inner monologue for rhetorical questions that aren't answered just seems like lazy writing to me.  There are other ways to add twists and turns to a plot without the reader knowing who is actually speaking or in whose head we are in at the moment.  

The plot itself was fairly predictable, despite the use of rhetorical questions and switching POVs to try and confuse the reader. I did enjoy the addition of the archaeological 'experts' in this book and how they actually worked during this time period, some being more exploitive in nature rather than the historical value. The historical details were nicely woven into the story, and I appreciated the research that went into the story. However, some of the actions from some of the characters did not necessarily make sense or ring true to the time period, so I just had to go along with it.  

Verdict

The Dead Hand had many things going for it, and I did enjoy the descriptions of the time period as well as the goings-on of a great house during harvest season. I did think the mystery was fairly predictable, and some actions were not questioned or just ignored which didn't make sense to me as this was a fairly clue-driven story.  As I've mentioned in previous reviews and which continues in this book, I am not crazy about the writing style. However, I will read the next book in this series only to find out what happens due to the ending of this book.