Review: The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

 

Nella is an apothecary in 1791 London. Long ago, she took over her mother's apothecary business.  

While her mother was purely a healer, Nella's own path has led her to be a dispenser of poisons. She sells these only to women who are in dire need.  Her shop is well hidden in a back alley.  Where the front of her mother's shop used to be, there's only an empty room with a grain barrel in which the desperate place a letter asking for help.

Each customer is entered in her register, name, prescription and amount, and who the medicine is for.  Nella feels she is preserving the lives of the women who come to her who would otherwise be nameless in history.

One day she receives a curious note in tidy hand requesting her services.  Something about the note causes her to worry and be cautious. 

The next day, twelve year old Eliza, a household servant, comes to collect the poison.  She admits she wrote the note and is getting the medicine for her mistress and herself.  Completely self-possessed, she answers Nella's questions and listens to her instructions for administering the poison, which she will do herself.

From Eliza's chapters, we learn the truth of her situation, and how though the poison was successful, things fall apart at the manor with the demise of the master of the house.  Left on her own while the mistress retires to a country estate, Eliza goes to Nella's and asks to stay there and learn something of the apothecary business while her mistress is away.

Nella, horrified, sees what the dispensing of poisons has done to her own body and soul, and refuses.  Though she tries to push Eliza away, the child becomes involved with Nella's next customer, to the ruination of all of them.

In the present day, Caroline is on vacation alone in London unexpectedly. She was to celebrate her tenth anniversary with her husband on this trip.  Learning that he's been having an affair with a co-worker shatters all she was hoping for and she comes to London alone and to sort things out.

On a mudlarking expedition with a chance group of people, she finds an apothecary jar in the mud with an etching of a bear on it.  Trying to re-connect with the student of history she once was, and keep her mind busy, she researches the jar and tries to find its history with the help of a new friend at the British Library.

Through Caroline's research we find out what happened to Nella and Eliza in the past. Her own story echoes that of many of the women in the apothecary's register.

I loved the parts of the story in old London. Nella and Eliza are so wonderful together despite Nella's reluctance to let Eliza into her life.

Things are messier in the present day, and while I wished Caroline well, I was ready to hear more about Nella and Eliza.

https://www.sarahpenner.com/

Cold Blooded Myrtle (Myrtle Hardcastle Mystery #3) by Elizabeth C. Bunce

 

The third Myrtle Hardcastle mystery takes place at Christmas time in the small village of Swinburne. 

Part of the festivities in the town at this time of year revolve around a yearly Display of the town in miniature, crafted by the owner of Leighton's Mercantile.  Everyone dreams of the Display and the important events of the town the previous year depicted in the shop window.

This year, the owner is late opening the curtain on his work of art.  His wife bustles into the shop, however, and draws the curtain before looking for her husband. 

Everything is perfect in it's detail, as always, except none of the expected events are depicted.  Instead, the focus is on the unexpected inclusion of a nearby college campus.  At the center of that is the campanile, a bell tower, with a crowd of people at its base.  Near them is a black painted well, and some olives.

There's a scream just then from within the shop, and a gasp of horror from within the crowd itself.

Inside the store, Mr. Leighton is dead.  He's been made to drink hemlock. He sits bolt upright in his chair, staring.

Thus begins the unraveling of a mystery from the town's past. A young girl fell from the bell tower but was never found.  It seems several prominent people in the past, including Myrtle's own beloved mother, may have been involved somehow in the disappearance of Olive Blackwell.

Myrtle and Miss Judson have their work cut out for them this time, trying to piece together past and present, and hoping to prevent more murders, which inevitably come to Swinburne.

It's one thing to investigate murder among strangers, but when you know all of the suspects well, it's a difficult task.  

Next year's Myrtle book is revealed on the last page:  In Myrtle Peril. 

 

Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche by Nancy Springer

 

 

Tish Glover seeks Sherlock's help in discovering the truth about her twin sister. A casual letter from her brother in law informed Tish that alas, her sister died suddenly of a fever and was cremated.

Sherlock is deep in a state of melancholy after solving his last case, and he doesn't respond to his visitor at all.

Luckily for Tish, Enola is there trying to rouse Sherlock.  She takes the case.  As the details are laid out, Sherlock begins to come to a bit, and announces he will find Felicity.

Enola has had great success in London due to clever disguises, sharp wits and considerable monies to back her up.  As she travels through the countryside, she finds the men highly offended that she's traveling alone. 

Not used to being thwarted, Enola is less than tactful and winds up heading towards the widower's estate in a carriage pulled by a wild and dangerous horse named Jezebel.

She must make up some ruse to fool the suave widower into allowing her to stay in his manse as no one else will offer her a place to stay in her shocking unaccompanied state.

Here she must act quickly to find clues as to what happened to Felicity.  If she's alive where is she?  If she truly died, was there foul play?

Good thing Enola and Sherlock have finally come to an understanding as she will need him, Watson, and her old friend the Marquess of Basilwether to help undo the dark deed which has been done.

This lively seventh novel is a welcome return of Enola Holmes, who last appeared in 2011's The Case of the Gypsy Goodbye.  The cover art has changed Enola to look more like Millie Bobby Brown.  Understandable but previous covers have made Enola seem considerably younger and her adventures more thrilling because of her youth.

The character has not changed except that she's remarkably fond of fashionable hats and matching gowns.  Perhaps she feels she can hide in the guise of wealth, thus cutting through some of the frustrating limits put upon the women of her day.

Highly recommended to anyone who has read the previous books or seen the Netflix series.