Sepulchre Street (2023) by Martin Edwards

This is the second year I have treated myself to a Rachel Savernake mystery using my Christmas money and then saved it in readiness for having a great read at the start of the new year. It’s a bit like saving something for a rainy day, which is apropos given today’s weather of sleety rain.

Synopsis

‘How can you solve a murder before it’s happened?

‘This is my challenge for you,’ the woman in white said. ‘I want you to solve my murder.’

London, 1930s: Rachel Savernake is attending renowned artist Damaris Gethin’s latest exhibition, featuring live models who pose as famous killers. But that’s just the warm-up act…

Unsure why she was invited, Rachel is soon cornered by the artist who asks her a haunting favour: she wants Rachel to solve her murder. Damaris then takes to the stage set with a guillotine, the lights go out – and Damaris executes herself.

Why would Damaris take her own life? And, if she died by her own hand, what did she mean by ‘solve my murder’?

There are many questions to answer, and the clues are there for those daring enough to solve them…’

Overall Thoughts

‘I want you to solve my murder,’ said the woman in white.’

That is how the fourth book in the Rachel Savernake series begins. Yet the woman who speaks these words, Damaris Gethin, is no Wilkie Collins damsel in distress. Indeed, she is a character who demands and captivates Rachel’s, and the reader’s, attention. What particularly drew me in was that Gethin does not ask to be saved from dying. Her acceptance of her fate is chilling and subsequent events also reinforce the sense that in this story notions of victimhood are subverted. Moreover, I would say Martin imbues his victim with unusual levels of personal agency which I have not seen much of in my reading (an exception is Gubh Furyy bs Qrngu ol Avpubynf Oynxr [Title is in ROT 13 Code to prevent spoilers). In addition, Damaris does not provide Rachel with any clues, which is something of a gamble for her. However, when Rachel asks about this, her reply is merely: ‘If you deserve your reputation, you will discover them for yourself.’

Both women operate outside of gender-societal norms and ‘test the boundaries’. Damaris describes Rachel as a ‘she-devil’, which is an odd, unsettling and even subversive way to describe an amateur sleuth, as is the fact another character says to her that ‘people find you menacing’. However, it is not many pages later that we are reminded by Rachel herself: ‘I am not a detective’. This leaves Rachel in an interesting position as a character as she clearly does solve mysteries, yet she is resistant to identifying as such. As the plot unfolds at the beginning, I think Rachel is set up more as an ‘avenger’ rather than as a conventional sleuth.

Rachel has a “second-in-command” character in the figure of Jacob Flint, and I like how Martin has not made it an equal relationship. In a way this counteracts the many series there have been over the years in which a man and woman set out to solve a crime, yet the man quickly takes over the investigation. This is not likely to happen here, as whilst Jacob does find out information pertinent to the case, it is usually discovered through getting himself in a mess that he needs Rachel’s help to extricate himself from.

The first chapter is centred on Rachel and Damaris, but with chapter two the attention shifts to Jacob and Captain Malam, the latter of which is an antithesis of subversion:

‘[…] he radiated robust masculinity. His pedigree showed in his erect posture, in the expert knotting of his bow tie, in every syllable of his patrician drawl. He might have had a tattoo stamped on his forehead proclaiming Eton and Sandhurst.’

The differing chapter focuses made for an interesting contrast. It is also in the second chapter that an additional mystery comes to light via Jacob, which like the first is set up with some uncertainty and ambiguity: ‘Failure stabbed him. If his hunch was right, Kiki de Villiers’ life was in danger, but he’d done nothing to save her. Or persuade her to confess her true identity.’

The first few chapters take place at the Hades Gallery, which makes for an atmospheric opening to the book, as the place feels like a tomb, being situated in a tunnel beneath a working railway line. Martin makes good use of the sounds of such a setting in order to create false tension, before a chilling death occurs: ‘There was a terrible crashing noise, but this time the racket didn’t come from a train. It was so close, so frighteningly close.’ All in all, a very gripping opening and when death does strike, the question of why someone died has never been so pertinent.

After the first death we see contrasting reactions from Jacob and Rachel. The pair arguably swap gender stereotypes as Jacob provides an emotional response of shock and horror, whilst Rachel’s response is coldly philosophical. Phrases like these sound like something Holmes would have said to Watson in one of his colder moments:

‘All of us die sooner or later. Every single day, people die in circumstances far more pitiful and painful. Not to mention protracted beyond endurance […] Death by guillotine is appalling, but consider things rationally. Is it really more horrific than the claustrophobia of the gas oven or the giddy terrors of the cliff-edge leap?’

Unexpected plot developments leave the reader wondering how certain characters and events connect and I would say Martin gives us an unconventional mystery, as Rachel almost has to figure out what questions need to be answered before she begin solving the case. Suffice to say the direction of this novel is not easy to anticipate.

We see snapshots of events and narrative threads from different perspectives in this story and like small parts of a picture being revealed, the full story is slowly built-up chapter by chapter. This does lead to different characters’ plans clashing with one another’s, resulting in unpredictable outcomes. (Spoiler in ROT 13 code: Bar bs gurfr pynfurf cebivqrf na vagrerfgvat inevngvba ba gur senzvat qrivpr hfrq va Gur NOP Zheqref ol Ntngun Puevfgvr).

I found the reason for Damaris’ death disappointing. Whilst it does fit the character and there are clues for it, the opening hook, for me, was so impressive, so dazzling, that I felt the ending didn’t match it. Nevertheless, I very much enjoyed this book and I look forward to Rachel’s next adventure.

Rating: 4.5/5

See also: The Puzzle Doctor also reviewed this title here.

Reviews for the other Rachel Savernake Titles

• Gallows Court (2018)
• Mortmain Hall (2020)
• Blackstone Fell (2022)