The Dark Lantern

By: Gerri Brightwell

Narrated by: Anne Flosnik

The Bentley's London household is in a state of flux. The elderly matron is on her deathbed, so her son, recently returned from France, is acting as the new master of the house. While he is busy developing a reputation in anthropometry, the science of identifying criminals by body measurements, he is unaware of the secrets that the women in the household - the mysterious woman who claims to be the bride of his dead brother, the new maid from the country, and even his own wife - keep from him.

A fascinating portrayal of 19th-century England and a page-turning mystery, The Dark Lantern exposes the genteel "upstairs" of a Victorian home, as well as the darker underside of its servants' quarters. The clash of these two classes makes for a suspenseful novel of mistaken identities, intriguing women, and dangerous deception.

©2008 Gerri Brightwell (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Too much atmosphere, not enough plot

The ratio of descriptive detail to plot and character development is far too high for my taste. Too much about how the tea, the mutton, the toast, has gotten cold. Too many internal re-thinkings of the advantages of anthropometry over fingerprinting. Not enough plot. Not enough change in the characters. Page-turning as in "get *on* with it" rather than "what's going to happen next?". I loved Sarah Waters' "Tipping the Velvet", "Affinity", and "Fingersmith". This was excruciatingly slow and static by comparison.

OK. Not bad, Not great.

I was in the mood for a Victorian Era novel and the plot for this one caught my attention because of the main character’s work in anthropometry; I though it would give the story an interesting twist.

Turns out the mysteries weren’t that interesting after all, and I got bored rather quickly. The author did a good job of soaking us in the atmosphere of the time, but the rest was a little too dull for me.

The Dark Lantern

This book was such a great read. I empathized with the main character, and enjoyed the entire story from beginning to end. Anyone interested in reading a Victorian mystery set in London, and read with the English dialect would thoruoghly embrace this novel.

Great book

Loved the mystery and the characters. The plot well written and I hope to read more from Geri Brightwell