Book Review – A Bitter Remedy by Alis Hawkins

Blurb

Amongst the scholars, secrets and soporifics of Victorian Oxford, the truth can be a bitter pill to swallow…

Jesus College, Oxford, 1881. An undergraduate is found dead at his lodgings and the medical examination reveals some shocking findings. When the young man’s guardian blames the college for his death and threatens a scandal, Basil Rice, a Jesus College fellow with a secret to hide, is forced to act and finds himself drawn into Sidney Parker’s sad life.

The mystery soon attracts the attention of Rhiannon ‘Non’ Vaughan, a young Welsh polymath and one of the young women newly admitted to university lectures. But when neither the college principal nor the powerful ladies behind Oxford’s new female halls will allow her to become involved, Non’s fierce intelligence and determination to prove herself drive her on.

Both misfits at the university, Non and Basil form an unlikely partnership, and it soon falls to them to investigate the mysterious circumstances of Parker’s death. But between corporate malfeasance and snake-oil salesmen, they soon find the dreaming spires of Oxford are not quite what they seem…

My Review

Organisational coverups have always been a thing. Can’t have anything befouling the reputation of the hallowed grounds of an Oxford College. But Non Vaughan and Basil Rice value the truth, and intend to find it. Risking their reputations and that of the college this unconventional pairing seek the truth, and face a few of their own truths too, painful as that is.

Alis Hawkins in an excellent author. I’ve only ever visited Oxford a couple of times, as a tourist, and what I’ve seen isn’t like the Oxford of the 1880s, but that’s what’s on the page and it’s brought to life in grim and glorious depictions. I wasn’t lucky enough to go to university full time, had to study parttime while working, not to mention having kids. So I have absolutely nothing in common with these characters, which is something that would usually put me off of such characters. On the other hand – I love Basil and Non.

Basil is everything I’m not, but he’s wonderful. As a character, I feel like I know him well, and care about him more than I should after a single book. And Non is of enhanced intelligence and insufficient filter. It was lovely watching her battle with her feelings and against the restrictions of her gender and her college, the prejudices of the time.

The investigation of the crime is runs along with logic and that important factor of local knowledge, particularly in this case who knows who. And ladies who can’t go to lectures, have plenty of time to talk, ask questions, investigate, work it all out.

The final denouement is quite as final as expected.  There’s a twist in the tail with this one that’s really interesting and well written.

The way that different characters use language differently works well. Though with Basil being a highly educated man of a age which I am not part of, so there were several times when words were used that I had to look up. Though a lot comes from context, not knowing is irritating, so I checked words, which threw me out of the read, which is irritating.

With strong characters, good description, intelligent plotting, this book has everything that a crime reader looks for. Would recommend reading it.