
DAUGHTERS OF NIGHT BY LAURA SHEPHERD-ROBINSON | BOOK REVIEW

TITLE : Daughters Of Night
AUTHOR : Laura Shepherd-Robinson
GENRE : Historical Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, European Literature, British Literature
FR RATING : ⭐⭐⭐⭐(4.5 Stars)
DATE OF PUBLISHING : 18th February 2021
FR REVIEW
DISCLAIMER : Thank you, Pan Macmillan for providing me with an ARC of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Daughters Of Night by Laura Shepherd-Robinson is a dark historical murder/mystery/thriller set in 1780’s England. I recently found out after reading the book, that this actually has characters from her previous book Blood & Sugar. We are following Caroline Corsham, a wealthy woman who is determined to find the identity of the murderer of Lady Lucy Loveless. Initially, upon discovering the brutally attacked woman, Caro realizes the Lady’s attack was planned, and before she could get answers, Lucy dies in Caro’s arms. The investigation gets picked up by Bow Street Runners and they stop s it when they realize the real identity of the woman who was murdered. The mystery surrounding Lucy’s death deepens with the Bow Street Runner’s reluctance to do the required search and their negligence of evidence of foul play. Caro wants to bring the killer forward and sets out on the path to do it by hiring the thief-taker, Peregrine Child. With each step in the right direction, the Lords, and authorities covering up their tracks things start to get more dangerous for Caro and Child. Can they bring justice to Lucy or will they find themselves conceding in defeat in their search for the killer?
This was such a fascinating read and I was hooked to the story from the beginning till the end. It was detailed, descriptive, and the clever writing makes this a fascinating book to read. It gives us a detailed view of Georgian London in all of its glory and explores the different themes of patriarchy, misogyny, sex-trade, the privilege of the upper-class, and how all of this contributes to the treatment of women and especially women who don’t fit into the societal standards put forward by the people of the time. It shows the clear division in the society created by the people with power and money. The power they wield over society is very much apparent. They hold and use their positions to cover up crimes and manipulate the law to protect themselves at the same time claim to be morally superior.
I loved Laura’s writing and while the pacing was slower for the thriller/mystery genre, I enjoyed the pacing that was set for the story. It helps us understand Caro, her motivations, and her reasons for her fight. We get to see the society and all of its sides through her and Child’s eyes. Child takes us through a different side of London from that of Caro and gives us the gritty and dark London. Everything is so detailed, you can see it vividly in your mind and I loved that.
The characters were well written with stories from Greek mythology being entwined into character’s storylines made it even more intriguing. I feel like I missed some of the details and I do think I will maybe read this again just to have the immersive experience of the world and the time-period. It felt very realistic and I believe the author did extensive research to get the detail down. I loved Caro and her tenacity to uncover the truth just to right the wrong and her refusal to stand down even amid rumors and accidents that were threatening her life and her position in society. She is a very strong woman and it’s great to see a woman who is not only fearless but also brave enough to stand up to men who seek to control her. Child and other characters were all well written and I enjoyed seeing the different storylines giving us glimpses of all these characters and helping us understand how it all worked. It’s wonderfully written and cleverly executed and I loved how everything merged seamlessly and brought this story together. I wish I could read more about Caro and I hope Laura would give us a continuation of her life in society after the ending in this.
Overall, this was a slow-paced historical fiction that will captivate you with the atmospheric setting of Georgian London and keep you glued to the book by the themes of social, class, political, and gender divisions. It’s a murder mystery that will be the perfect partner for your night-time reading routine. I gave the book 4.5 stars and highly recommend it if you love slow-paced historical murder mysteries.
Buy Daughters Of Night –
Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon AE
Buy Blood & Sugar –
Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon AE
DISCLAIMER : Some of the links are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through the link and make a purchase.
SYNOPSIS
From the brothels and gin-shops of Covent Garden to the elegant townhouses of Mayfair, Laura Shepherd-Robinson’s Daughters of Night follows Caroline Corsham, as she seeks justice for a murdered woman whom London society would rather forget . . .
Lucia’s fingers found her own. She gazed at Caro as if from a distance. Her lips parted, her words a whisper: ‘He knows.’
London, 1782. Desperate for her politician husband to return home from France, Caroline ‘Caro’ Corsham is already in a state of anxiety when she finds a well-dressed woman mortally wounded in the bowers of the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. The Bow Street constables are swift to act, until they discover that the deceased woman was a highly-paid prostitute, at which point they cease to care entirely. But Caro has motives of her own for wanting to see justice done, and so sets out to solve the crime herself. Enlisting the help of thieftaker, Peregrine Child, their inquiry delves into the hidden corners of Georgian society, a world of artifice, deception and secret lives.
But with many gentlemen refusing to speak about their dealings with the dead woman, and Caro’s own reputation under threat, finding the killer will be harder, and more treacherous than she can know . . .


2 Comments
bookwormbloggerweb
This looks really good. Fab review
Fazila KP
Thank you !!?