Edinburgh Dusk (#2 Ian Hamilton Mysteries)
Author: Carole Lawrence;
Genre: Historical Mystery;
Format: Audiobook;
Narrator: Simon Mattacks;
Publisher: Brilliance Audio (2018);
Rating: 
(3 / 5).
This is the second in a series of detective novels set in Victorian Edinburgh, Scotland; the first is “Edinburgh Twilight” (read my review). Ian Hamilton is a likable main character, and the entertaining supporting cast includes people from vastly different levels of society, including some real-life personalities in this case.
The descriptions of the city in 1880 are very good and the atmosphere is fun. I did question a few things that didn’t seem authentic to the time period, but I tried not to let those throw me off. There are also times when the author goes a little overboard with philosophy, but otherwise, the story moves along at a decent pace. The mystery itself was presented very well, and the denouement was satisfactory but not exciting.
I have to add that the coming out of one of the characters as homosexual was—as far as I can tell—just jumping on the gay bandwagon. It seems all authors these days feel they must include the topic, although it didn’t add anything to the plot. That was a disappointment, merely because it was unnecessary.
The narrator of the audiobook, Simon Mattacks, was very good. His timing was particularly good, and his Scottish accents really added to the story; I wasn’t fond of one of the voices, but a narrator only has so many choices.
Quite a bit of sexual references, some violence but nothing graphic, no foul language. The tone is quite dark, but so is the plot; this is definitely NOT a cozy mystery.
Amazon Kindle links: Edinburgh Twilight, Edinburgh Dusk
