Colin and Ethan, partners in detective work and life, work on solving two cases in this book. The first is a horrific murder of a military man and his wife. Even though the military hires them, Colin and Ethan get no help from them in their investigation as they work against a three-day deadline. The second case is dog-napping which they solve in short order.
This is light reading despite the gory murder, although at the end of the story, there is some serious ruminating about being gay in Victorian England. The storytelling is excellent, with plot being the driver.
The characterization is a bit thin but the slightly saucy narration overcomes any weakness with character development. The coroner Denton Ross, who seems to have the hots for Ethan, is a standout for me. The pompous Scotland Yard detective Emmett Varcoe is there for Colin to annoy and put in his place. I expect these two will re-appear in subsequent novels in this series and it will be interesting to see what their roles will be.
This is the second of a series and can be read as a standalone without difficulty.
A good fun read. ( )

A Royal Guardsman and his wife have been killed and a prize dog has been kidnapped. Both cases for Colin Pendragon and his trusty sidekick Ethan Pruitt in Victorian London.

I could give more detail but I don't think there's much point as this is one of those books that I felt was a real chore getting to the end of. The plot is actually quite good but the writing is poor and the use of a quite modern idiom in a Victorian setting just jars. The homosexual subplot is used to awkwardly make a point and the female characters are caracatures.

As a piece of homosexual Sherlock Holmes fan fiction this probably has a place but I'm glad a got a review copy as I wouldn't waste my money. ( )

The murder of a captain in Her Majesty’s Guard has prompted Major Hampstead to enlist the services of Colin Pendragon and his assistant/companion Ethan Pruitt. Colin, in answer to the Major’s request to pacify the press while the Guard deals with their own, vows to solve the murder of Capt. Bellingham and his wife Gwendolyn in three days. If he fails, he will read the prepared statement.
Of course Colin has no intention of failing or being puppeted by the Major.

This was my first and last adventure with Colin and Ethan. My expectations for THE BELLINGHAM BLOODBATH and this series were high, much too high as it turns out. I didn’t like the characters at all.
Colin has no finesse. He’s not brilliant, subtle, or impressive. His quirks, the dumbbells and push ups, came across as affections. The coin manipulation and name mispronunciations were the exceptions. They were believable. There was nothing to distinguish his investigative or questioning techniques, no intuitive leaps. With no evidence presented to justify Colin’s reputation and renown, as a reader I was unable to believe in his “abilities”.

As for Colin’s assistant/companion/partner Ethan, his petty jealousies and insecurities were irritating at best. His childish fit of pique leading to his stay at the Devonshire was ridiculous. The only characters even remotely appealing to me were Lady Dahlia Stuart and Lady Priscilla.
The mysteries were unable to overcome my dislike of the characters. My overall impression was childish pettiness with an occasional swipe of spite.

If not obligated to read THE BELLINGHAM BLOODBATH it would have been a D(id) N(ot) F(inish) for me. ( )