I love a good cosy mystery. It’s defined as a mystery without gore or anything particularly triggering. Agatha Christie’s books are a prime example. There is a new crop of current day authors out there writing books based in the 1920s in the same vein as her. In either case, the majority of books are based in beautiful countryside, quaint cottages or stunning manor houses. If it’s in the city, it’s in the clubs and vast apartments of the rich and famous. The trope is well known.
Writers in the past, such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie and Margery Allingham, all mention the London fog in their books, but in passing. When characters are in the countryside, mud is mentioned, but nothing that evokes the senses. Some of my favourite current authors who write stories based in the 1920s have the same way of glossing over the grit and grime.
This brings me to a novel I just finished by Ann Granger, a current day author, called “The Old Rogue of Limehouse”. The series is based in the 1870s and follows the adventures of Inspector Ben Ross and his wife, Lizzie. What’s different about this book is that most of it happens in the gritty streets of London, which is described in great detail as absolutely reeking, noisy, and dangerous. There are the few token rich characters in their nice house, but there are many prominent characters who are from the working classes. She describes the realities of 1870s urban London in a very evocative way but doesn’t dwell on the negatives for long enough to be a downer.
I know that a certain amount of “prim and proper” writing etiquette is expected of authors in the 1920s that is not expected of an author writing in 2024, and that definitely is one part of it. However, so many other current day authors avoid true detail in this way. It was quite refreshing to be thrown amongst the unwashed masses as I, from my armchair, tried to help solve the mystery. There is a balance to be struck between going overboard and being depressing, and making things seem real, and in this case Ann Granger hit the perfect balance.