Daughters of Night

‘Daughters of Night’ by Laura Shepherd-Robinson is a thrilling historical mystery set in the England of 1782. I combined reading with its unabridged audiobook edition narrated by Lucy Scott.The main character is Caroline (Caro) Corsham, wife of Captain Henry (Harry) Corsham, who was the protagonist of Shepherd-Robinson’s 2019 debut, ‘Blood & Sugar’. Caro was a supporting character in it though it was clear that the marriage was rocky with Caro constantly courting scandal. Now in 1782, Harry has been in France on a diplomatic mission for the last few months, leaving Caro to her own devices.At the opening of ‘Daughters of Night’ Caro is on her way to an assignation at the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. In the bowers she discovers a well-dressed woman, who has been mortally wounded. The Bow Street constables are initially swift to investigate - until they discover that the woman is a highly paid lady of the night. Yet Caro wants justice for her and so hires thief-taker, Peregrine Child to discover the identity of the murderer. In the course of the investigation other mysteries come to light. Yet the situation quickly becomes dangerous.I won’t say more in order to avoid spoilers and what follows is an intricately woven murder mystery that also explores the various roles of women in Georgian society.I wasn’t a great fan of Caro in ‘Blood & Sugar’ given her selfish behaviour and treatment of Harry. Yet over the course of this novel I came to appreciate her and yes love her for despite her flaws she emerged as a complex, compelling woman.Clearly a great deal of research has gone into the creation of both novels and they serve as companions to one another. The historical details are very impressive with the result that I felt completely immersed in the narrative.I appreciated the ‘In Attendance’ list that was placed before the main text. The Historical Note was also very informative, providing background on the period including the real life members of Georgian society that served as inspiration for her characters.In terms of the audiobook, Lucy Scott has served as narrator on a wide variety of audiobooks. Her voice is beautiful and I adored her narration of this novel. She was an excellent choice for narrator and brought those in attendance vividly to life.On a side note, the designers at Mantle Books have created an exquisitely presented hardback edition.Very highly recommended.

Set in 1782, DAUGHTERS OF NIGHT continues the story of Caro and Harry, who starred in Shepherd-Robinson’s debut, BLOOD & SUGAR. But while B&S was Harry’s story, DoN is Caro’s chance to shine. It starts with Caro discovering a dying woman, Lucy Loveless, in the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens (the Gardens are beautifully described by the author) who turns out to be a prostitute, leading to the police becoming uninterested in solving the murder. So Caro takes it upon herself, with the aid of Peregrine Child. Naturally the situation becomes increasingly dangerous, and Caro finds herself the target of harassment from Lucy’s clients and wider society.The author’s eye for detail and historical research really shines through, and generally doesn’t hang too heavily on the narrative. There are moments when one wishes perhaps the editor had been a little more vicious (it’s a BIG book at 592 pages) and the plot does get a little bogged down in parts, but overall one can forgive this. Especially because the character of Caro is so well drawn and real. Similarly the exploration of the female experience and the sex trade in the eighteenth century is often eye-opening and handled thoughtfully. It manages to both be vivid, informative, and also a thoroughly good read. Overall a really excellent murder mystery. The hardback edition is beautiful, with stunning endpapers.

Absolutely wonderful book! I bought this as a bit of a gamble having never read anything by this author before and I'm so glad I did. The characters really come alive and you start to truly care for them. The story is so well woven with little details and twists you never see coming. I mostly read before bed and in the day I would find my mind wandering to this book and wondering what would happen next, wondering who was guilty, and just looking forward to my next opportunity to find out more. Giving 5 stars out of 5 is a big deal, it's saying a book is perfect, but that's genuinely how I feel. I adored this book. I never wanted it to end. I have now bought Blood & Sugar which is this authors other book, based on how good this one was I can't wait to read it! 100% recommended for fans of historical thrillers or just fans of great books!

I loved Laura Shepherd-Robinson’s debut novel, Blood & Sugar when I read it a couple of years ago. I was really excited to get a copy of her latest, Daughters of Night and I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to get round to reading it. This is an outstanding book and Laura Shepherd-Robinson’s writing draws you into the setting and she brings Georgian London to life to well. It is so rich in historical detail that it feels as though the past has come back to life.Following the brutal murder of a young woman, Caroline Corsham employs Peregrine Child, a thief-taker, to help her find out what happened and who murdered her. The young woman, whose body has been found, is a prostitute and most of society would much rather forget about her. There are many people high up who, it appears, are trying to cover up their tracks and prevent the murder from being solved. But Corsham and Child are determined to find out what happened, regardless of what the rest of society says. Their investigations take them into the city’s dark underbelly and into the treacherous world of prostitution and they put themselves in very real danger.Laura Shepherd-Robinson has written a really intriguing mystery on Daughters of Night. Her writing is very immersive and although this is quite a long book, it didn’t feel like that at all, I was flying through the pages. I really admired Caro for wanting to get justice for the young woman who had been murdered, Lucy Loveless, who it feels would not have had a voice to be heard otherwise were not for Caro. Caro did briefly appear in Laura’s debut novel so it has been good to get to know her better. She is the wife of Captain Henry Corsham, the main protagonist in Blood & Sugar, and is waiting for the return of her husband, who has been abroad in France for many weeks. Although she did appear in the Laura’s last book, this book can easily be read as a standalone.I thought Peregrine Child was also a very engaging and intriguing character. He and Caro work together really well as they both fight to get justice for Lucy. We also meet Pamela whose viewpoint the story is also told from and she is a very intriguing character as well. There are so many layers in this book which add depth and mystery to the plot. I loved how Laura brought her characters to life. They feel like real historical figures who you might read about in a history book.Daughters of Night is a book which you can really lose yourself in. It is very entertaining and it is crying out to be turned into a television drama. I can’t wait to read what Laura Shepherd-Robinson writes next.

A Georgian murder mystery set amongst ' society' and its darker underbelly, involving the Prince Regent, and lots of prostitution. It's all fairly simplistic and the prose style is pretty dreadful, to the point of being irritating. The characters are all cardboard cut -outs, with silly names to match. More like a book written for 12 year olds, if it was not for the subject matter. If you like Hilary Mantel you will not like this.