The Tortoise

            In my new release "Bespoke" (the first in a series of Victorian mysteries), Detective Inspector Deverell has just been promoted and sent north to Yorkshire, where he is expected to benefit from some well-earned rest and recuperation -- whilst also solving crimes, of course.

            Over the past few years, Deverell has not only been stabbed and shot at in the line of duty, but has suffered great tragedy in his personal life. Somehow he survives, plodding onward determinedly, and throws himself into work. He's a private man who keeps his troubles to himself and prefers to deal with problems alone, on his own terms. One day, he thinks wistfully, he'll retire somewhere south, where the climate is milder, so he can grow fruit trees. But that is all far off in the future and he's a realist. With the way his life has gone lately he knows he'll probably never make it that far.

 

           The "powers-that-be" believe a sojourn in Yorkshire will give Deverell a chance to get his breath back, away from London's grim streets and the busy world of Scotland Yard. But Deverell suspects he's simply in the way at the moment and nobody knows what to do with him. Truth is, he was not expected to pull through after being left for dead in an alley, shot by an assailant. When he survived not only the bullet but the surgeon's knife and a stay in hospital— nothing short of a miracle itself in late Victorian London— returning to work as if nothing much had happened, he took everybody by surprise. They'd already given his desk and chair to another man. Packing him off to the "wilds" of Yorkshire, therefore, was the best solution they could come up with -- that and a hasty promotion, of course, to make him think it was planned all along. Just part of his career trajectory.

            So there he is, sent to investigate some blackmail letters lately received by one Ezra Welford, wealthy, self-made businessman, who also happens to be a member of the same London gentleman's club frequented by the police commissioner. Welford has complained that the local police are incompetent and he wants one of Scotland Yard's finest to take the matter in hand. When Detective Inspector Deverell arrives and begins to work with his slow, meticulous methods— including an eccentric fixation on the most insignificant of details, Welford thinks he's been sent a dud and he's not best pleased. He's not the only one. The local people are distrustful of strangers, especially "foreigners", and Deverell, with his darker, dangerously exotic looks stands out like a sore thumb in the Yorkshire Dales. As for the local police, they are mostly resentful of the suggestion that they need anybody from London to show them how to do their jobs. It looks like another uphill climb for Deverell. Never mind. He's used to those. In fact, if he was ever welcomed somewhere with open arms and smiles he'd only be exceedingly suspicious. He doesn't much care what these folk think of him. He merely plans to bide his time here until his bosses decide he is mentally and physically fit to return to his duties at Scotland Yard. He'll get by; he always does. He's not expecting fireworks and fanfare.

 

He knows everybody calls him The Tortoise and not always with fondness.

            But when blackmail turns into a case of murder and the corpses start piling up, it soon becomes clear that Deverell, with a steady, methodical brain to untie all the knots, is the best man for the job after all. He'll even surprise himself, just when he thought such a thing was quite impossible.

            And he'll discover a few other new things about himself. Including the fact that he has a sweet tooth.

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Read more about Detective Inspector Deverell on February 20th! Stay tuned to this blog for an exclusive excerpt from "BESPOKE" next week. Have a great weekend, my lovelies!

 (Image: Self portrait by the artist Charles Wesley Jarvis 1812-1868. It was impossible to find a close likeness of D.I. Deverell, so this one must suffice, despite its lack of "exotic" features. And yes, the clothes are a little outdated for Deverell, but he's never been very aware of fashion and has not looked at himself in a mirror in thirty plus years, so you'll have to forgive him. Personally, I think he'd like this portrait since it looks so little like him. He can continue with his desire to go unrecognized and we have thrown you utterly off the scent.)