The Plague Letters by V.L Valentine

Author: V. L. Valentine 

Title: The Plague Letters 

Publisher: Viper

Published: 2021

Pages: 416

Genre: Historical Fiction / Mystery 

 

      WHO WOULD MURDER THE DYING... London, 1665. Hidden within the growing pile of corpses in his churchyard, Rector Symon Patrick discovers a victim of the pestilence unlike any he has seen before: a young woman with a shorn head, covered in burns, and with pieces of twine delicately tied around each wrist and ankle. Desperate to discover the culprit, Symon joins a society of eccentric medical men who have gathered to find a cure for the plague. Someone is performing terrible experiments upon the dying, hiding their bodies amongst the hundreds that fill the death carts. Only Penelope - a new and mysterious addition to Symon's household - may have the skill to find the killer. Far more than what she appears, she is already on the hunt. But the dark presence that enters the houses of the sick will not stop and has no mercy...

     I came across this book last week whilst at my local book store. For the most part, my experience with historical fiction only goes back about a hundred years or so. Never straying too far from what I know. But when I started scanning the blurb for this book I became intrigued by what was there. It is I believe not the most common setting for a fictional tale. A great deal of time has been devoted to writing about what really happened even many documentaries have been filmed SHowing its spread and how it affected this land. But the human element, the actual lies of people living through it are too often overshadow but larger swipes of the brush. So for a start it had that going for it. Secondly, I do love a good mystery/hunt for a killer. It is what I devote most of my reading time too, which has its ups and downs. But I figure with one half of the equation known to me I could not go too far wrong jumping into Valentine's novel. Sometimes you have to dive headlong into the unknown and hope for the best. 

     I loved this group of characters she has brought to life on the pages of this book. Symon is the man ever trying to do right by those in his small world. Searching for the truth in matters beyond his understanding can lead him to the company of some strange bed fellows and even stranger situations. But you can rely on him to get there in the end. I suppose in a more modern setting he would be the detective hero of this piece the guy we root for to avenge the fallen and bring justice to the world. Dogged in his pursuit of the truth and willing to risk it all to save the day. But our hero would not get so far if not for his trusty sidekick, all thought I'm sure she would kick you from one and of the room to the other for calling her that. Que Penelope our mysterious helper of sorts. I enjoyed how she to carried her own puzzles and mystery on top of those set out for our main purposes. It allowed for the novel to be more fleshed out and also gave someone for Symon to bounce of. These two work like yin and yang, they strive to bring order to a world descending into chaos without the added need for a mad man on a killing spree. 

     There is a great deal to love within this book, the author did a fantastic job of bringing 1665 to life before my eyes. This world she created feels like one we could step straight into, hearing its inhabitants bustling past us in the purest of the daily tasks. I get the feeling that had she not got this right the whole novel would have fallen apart around her ears. But this is merely the first building block in her arsenal. The way she uses the plague in this book feels like an organic flow, ever-present in the background but also an integral part of the tale. Which may seem like stating the obvious once you've read the blurb. But the point is she knows her stuff and it becomes this ominous force rather than merely a setting from which to jump off from. Too easily it could have been miss-handled and once again let the whole book would fall down. But Valentine seems to be ever the master of the high wire act and pulls a little here and pushes a whole lot there to give us a wonderful mystery that I could so easily get lost into. 

     I have to say this book kept me wrapped up in its mysteries and the human experience till the very last page. There was so much for me to delve into, from the characters to the setting it was like watching the best period drama you've seen in a good long while. In the end, the mystery elements more than held up to their more modern counterparts and it felt to me like she had spent a great deal of time putting in the research to make sure the payoffs worked to maximum effect, without being pulled from the story think well that wouldn't have happened in 1665. To be fair I don't know all that much about the time period but you get my point. I'm so glad that I decide to pick this book up as I got to spend a couple of blissful days lost in the world she has created and as for Symon and Penelope well I have no doubt that should another book featuring them were to arise I would snap it up without a seconds thought.