Family Plot by Sheri Cobb South

Narrated by Joel Froomkin

Family Plot is book three of Sheri Cobb South’s series of historical mysteries featuring Bow Street Runner John Pickett, a sharply intelligent and quietly charming young man who was rescued from a life of crime by magistrate Patrick Colquhoun, and eventually became the youngest member of the Bow Street force.

In book one, In Milady’s Chamber, John was, by the happy accident of being in the right place at the right time, instrumental in proving the innocence of Lady Julia Fieldhurst, who was accused of the murder of her husband. John has been in love with the beautiful young viscountess ever since he first set eyes on her but is well aware that the vast difference in their stations makes any relationship impossible. By the end of that book, with the mystery solved and Lady Fieldhurst exonerated, John is resigned to never seeing the object of his affections again – until she calls upon him to investigate a murder at a country estate in Yorkshire in A Dead Bore. John – posing as Lady Fieldhurst’s footman – discovers her to be an excellent investigative partner; she’s observant, intelligent and her position in society enables her to go to places and speak to people that John’s does not. And it’s here that we get the first hint that perhaps John is not the only one trying to ignore a very inconvenient attraction. The beginning of Family Plot sees both John and Julia back in London, and back in their very different social circles, where, by rights, their paths should never cross again. Yet neither is able to quite forget the other. This very slow-burning romance is – for me, at any rate – the most enjoyable part of these books, because I generally find the mysteries to be a little simplistic and have often guessed the identity of the villain and/or solved the mystery before John and Julia reach their conclusions.

Lady Julia might have been widowed for eight months, but she is still subject to the carping and disapproval of her late husband’s family, and when she commits the most dreadful faux pas of publicly conversing with a young man well below her station, her mother-in-law and the new viscount decide to pack her off to the family estates in Scotland so she cannot cause any more gossip. This is a bit rich, seeing as it’s just come to light that the viscount’s three sons are illegitimate – but this is a society in which men and woman had to abide by different rules, and it seems Julia’s friendship with a nobody is of far greater concern than the fact that three boys have just been declared bastards. On the long and arduous coach journey with her three restless nephews, the oldest, Harold (who is eighteen and at Oxford) wishes that they could be somewhere nobody knows them or their name; the revelation of his bastardy has caused many of his fellows to turn on him and taunt him – and Julia finds herself in complete sympathy with him. Instead of making their way to Inverbrook, she decides to go to somewhere near the coast where they can holiday incognito – and just to be safe, they will register at the local inn under an assumed name. And it so happens that the only name Julia can think of… is Pickett.

“Mrs. Pickett” and her nephews are walking along the beach one morning not long after their arrival when the two youngest boys come across a woman lying on the shore, apparently washed there by the tide. Fortunately, she isn’t dead, and Julia sends Harold to the house at the top of the cliffs for help. He returns with two gentlemen who introduce themselves as Gavin and Duncan Kirkbride, cousins who are the nephews of the local Laird, Angus Kirkbride. Astonishingly, Gavin recognises the young woman, and insists she is their cousin Elspeth, the laird’s beloved step-daughter, who disappeared fifteen years ago and is believed dead. Duncan isn’t so sure and doesn’t want to get their uncle’s hopes up; the old man is in poor health and he worries that the shock could kill him. In any case, they arrange for the woman to be taken to their home and cared for, and Julia and the boys accompany them to Kirkbride House – where Gavin proceeds to dismiss Duncan’s qualms, and tells their uncle that he believes Elspeth has at last come home. But Duncan isn’t so easily put off and insists that they should find out all they can about the new arrival, suggesting that the best thing would be to send to London for a Runner to investigate.

Back in London, Patrick Colquhoun receives the Kirkbrides’ request and decides it would be good for John to get out of London for a while. He has been thinking of taking a holiday in his homeland, and tells John they will travel together, and that John can make the necessary enquiries while Colquhoun enjoys the excellent fishing to be had. No surprises for guessing where they end up – or the extent of John’s surprise when he finds he has suddenly acquired a wife.

Family rivalries, wished-for inheritances, lost love – all come into play as “Mr. and Mrs. Pickett” learn more about the Kirkbride family history during the course of their investigation into the veracity of Elspeth’s claims to be the laird’s missing daughter. But the sudden death of Angus Kirkbride – which is almost certainly murder – brings things to a head as the killer’s lust for money places members of the family – and Julia – in danger.

I’ve only listened to Joel Froomkin once or twice before, but he’s someone I really should listen to more, because his performance here is excellent. He’s a very experienced narrator (he also records a lot of m/m romances using a different name) and his bio calls him a “UK transplant”, so his English accent is pretty much flawless. The only thing that gives him away are the American pronunciations of certain words, such as leisure and details – which we pronounce as LEH-zhur (not LEE-zhur) and DEE-tails (not de-TAILS), which do stick out a bit. Otherwise, though, he does a fabulous job all-round; his pacing in narrative and dialogue is perfect, his diction is sound, his voice is easy on the ear, and his vocal characterisations – of both principals and secondary cast – are extremely good. Given the Scottish setting, he gets the chance to really show off his repertoire of Scottish accents, which range from the soft lilt he gives to Elspeth to the gruff, strongly accented tone he adopts for Angus, to the broad Billy Connolly-esque boom assigned to the local innkeeper. His portrayal of John Pickett is spot on, too; his light tone and less-than-perfect accent conjure a picture of an intelligent, charming, somewhat shy young man who can nonetheless stand his ground when it comes to his determination to ferret out the truth. Mr. Froomkin’s female voices are very good, too – he’s so good as Julia that I almost forgot I was listening to a man at times – and I also have to give special mention to his portrayal of Julia’s mother-in-law, a fabulous ‘crusty dowager’ for whom he was, surely, channelling Maggie Smith.

While I tend to prefer historical mysteries that are a little more complex, Family Plot is engaging and well-written, the mystery is well-put-together, and the story is peppered with gentle humour and the ever-simmering undercurrent of romantic tension between John and Julia. The bombshell dropped at the end looks set to change the nature of their relationship – and if you’ve followed the series this far, chances are you’ll want to dive into book four, Dinner Most Deadly to find out what happens next.

Caz