In 1885, Lord Richard Marbury, a liberal stalwart in Parliament, sends his young daughter Alicia to Brighton to spend her vacation with his old professor, The Reverend Charles Dodgson. Alicia, however, is kidnapped from the train platform in Brighton by her father's political enemies. A chance meeting with a young doctor on his honeymoon, one Arthur Conan Doyle, results in this unlikely duo working to rescue Alicia from a most unpleasant fate.

I picked up an ARC copy of this book cheap at a library sale. I like books set in the Victorian era and I like history mysteries but I was somewhat worried about the author using Charles Dodgson and Arthur Conan Doyle together as characters. As it turned out, it wasn't as bad as some of the other mysteries of that kind that I've read and better than most. ( )

This is a very interesting Victorian era mystery series featuring Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) and Arthur Conan Doyle as codetectives. I find it a very interesting look at the two men and their times.

When the series opens, Charles Dodgson is in Brighton, awaiting the arrival of the daughter of one of his students, now a reformer in Parliament. Dodgson is middle-aged and already famous for his writings as Lewis Carroll. The child is being sent for a visit to shield her from the demonstrations taking place in London against her father. When she fails to arrive, and the servant accompanying her is found dead, Dodgson very reluctantly accepts the help of a youthful and eager Arthur Conan Doyle, and his new wife Touie.

Dodgson originally finds Doyle rather irritating, but he is partially redeemed by Dodgson's respect for his uncle Richard "Dickie" Doyle, and over time, he grows on Dodgson.

I particularly enjoyed the changing relationship between the two men. Arthur and Touie are charming a a loving young married couple, and the portrayal of the era is vivid. ( )