I decided to read some Civil War-era mysteries because of my interest in that conflict and that time period, because I like mysteries, and because I have an idea in the back of my mind about a mystery story of my own set in that period and I wanted to see how other writers handled it. Combining research and pleasure.
I'd seen the Civil War mystery series of C. M. Gleason praised on some mystery lists, so I got a couple of them from the library. Murder in the Lincoln White House is the first in the series, and the one I read first.
Overall assessment: Good period mystery. There are some interesting characters, the writing is competent, the plot works, the historical details were obviously researched. Worth reading, and enough to inspire me to read more in her series.
It's set at the time of Lincoln's Inauguration in 1861, with the Civil War about to break out. The novel deals with those tensions, and they play into the murder mystery, though they are not the only reason for the killer's action.
A couple of quibbles, though.
As I was reading, I noted:
The protagonist, ruggedly handsome and moral and upright, has a disability.
The protagonist was also an orphan and a frontiersman.
He studied tracking and hunting techniques under a wise Native American mentor.
He enlists the aide of a Black doctor who is skilled at autopsies. (In 1861?)
He encounters a female journalist who disguises herself as a man and who becomes another ally and potential romantic interest. (Yes, I know there are stories of women disguising themselves to be, for example, soldiers.)
He recruits an Irish immigrant boy as a messenger and spy.
He meets up with an 1861 Smithsonian version of the Lone Gunmen to help in his investigation.
He meets a beautiful, willful Southern Belle who provides insights, and serves as a possible romantic rival for the journalist.
I kept wondering what box was going to get checked next.
Our protagonist keeps trying to figure out the real identity of the journalist. But at one point the protagonist seems to know her name - chapters before he actually discovers it. Hmmm. Did an editor miss that one?
One other observation - though it is not a quibble.
I had no idea who C. M. Gleason was before I started reading. But as I read, I began getting the feeling Gleason has to be a woman given some of the character descriptions, the way the protagonist thinks, and certain details about fashion and setting. That the protagonist was tall, well-built, ruggedly handsome, with a cleft chin ... well.
When I finished, I looked up Gleason. Sure enough, a woman.
Maybe I should be a detective!
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