January 9, 2006
In Dickinson's well-written fifth historical set in turn-of-the-20th-century Britain (after 2005's Death of a Chancellor
), Lord Francis Powerscourt investigates the death of a junior "bencher," Alexander Dauntsey, who falls face down into his soup at a formal dinner held at one of London's Inns of Court ("a trickle of blood ran down his chin to join the beetroot broth, Borscht Sanguinaire rather than Borscht Romanov"). When the other benchers close ranks, Powerscourt must rely on the inn's lesser lights and his extensive roster of in-laws for leads. His questions reveal a number of people who may have had a motive for poisoning Dauntsey, but few with the opportunity. While Dickinson may not provide enough clues for the reader to unravel the mystery behind Dauntsey's murder, the rich cultural background (e.g., lively commentary on what is still a superlative art collection, the Wallace, as well as on a stately home that resembles Knole, the seat of the Sackville-Wests) will please Anglophiles.