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DS Billings Victorian Mysteries #0.5
Death Takes a Lover
The year is 1888. Detective Sergeant John Billings has been sent to a remote house in the Yorkshire Moors to investigate the suspicious death of Roger Thornton, a young man who seemed to have everything to live for. He gets a frosty reception from the lady of the house and her rag-tag collection of domestic staff who try to put him off the scent, but as Billings delves deeper into their lives, he uncovers hidden passions, bitter rivalries and a truth so dark and sinister, it will shock you to the core.
Fusing Gothic romanticism and fin-de-siecle melodrama, 'Death Takes A Lover' is a chilling entry into a world which some may not want to enter, but if you do, don't say you haven't been warned...
Fusing Gothic romanticism and fin-de-siecle melodrama, 'Death Takes A Lover' is a chilling entry into a world which some may not want to enter, but if you do, don't say you haven't been warned...
119 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 31, 2014
25 people are currently reading
122 people want to read
About the author
Olivier Bosman
16 books33 followersBorn to Dutch parents and raised in Colombia and England, I am a rootless wanderer with itchy feet. I've spent the last few years living and working in The Netherlands, Czech Republic, Sudan and Bulgaria, but I have every confidence that I will now finally be able to settle down among the olive groves of Andalucia.
I'm an avid reader and film fan and I have an MA in creative writing for film and television.
I'm an avid reader and film fan and I have an MA in creative writing for film and television.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
July 8, 2017
I think I found someone I want to follow a bit. Billings is an interesting character who I want to see more of.
Whilst this book introduces us to him it also poses questions such as does the finding out of the truth and making it know to all serve a purpose in all cases. This is a question I think Billings has even in view of other truth he has, kept secret. What would be the result of these secrets, truths are out. Will that serve any purpose.
dnf
November 30, 2020DNF @ 37%
~This starts with Billings on his way to investigate ... something. Turns out someone died. Not sure why foul play is suspected.
~Everyone runs at the mouth without saying anything - when they agree to talk anyway - and they all relate their tales with full dialogue of the parties involved, because that's normal.
~The characters are annoying. They don't act like people in 1888 would act - a man and woman who are not related talking alone in a room, for instance; the cook just bursting into a guest room; the lady's son barging into the maid's room at two in the morning to brag about his gambling win and no one batting an eye at this.
~But at least the treatment of the mentally ill woman is bleak and horrible.
~Billing's a morphine addict.
There's potential but not enough for me to keep pushing.
~This starts with Billings on his way to investigate ... something. Turns out someone died. Not sure why foul play is suspected.
~Everyone runs at the mouth without saying anything - when they agree to talk anyway - and they all relate their tales with full dialogue of the parties involved, because that's normal.
~The characters are annoying. They don't act like people in 1888 would act - a man and woman who are not related talking alone in a room, for instance; the cook just bursting into a guest room; the lady's son barging into the maid's room at two in the morning to brag about his gambling win and no one batting an eye at this.
~But at least the treatment of the mentally ill woman is bleak and horrible.
~Billing's a morphine addict.
There's potential but not enough for me to keep pushing.
July 5, 2017
3,5 stars.
Quite a pleasant historical mystery. Short and interesting. You can't guess who did it in the middle of the book because you actually don't know what exactly happened. And the secrets revealed were dark and shocking enough. The main character, Billings, was very intriguing, struggling with his drug addiction and his homosexuality. I think I'm going to read the next book.
Quite a pleasant historical mystery. Short and interesting. You can't guess who did it in the middle of the book because you actually don't know what exactly happened. And the secrets revealed were dark and shocking enough. The main character, Billings, was very intriguing, struggling with his drug addiction and his homosexuality. I think I'm going to read the next book.
July 17, 2020
Hmm. The writing was very good. But this had such a gloomy, claustrophobic feel that I can't decide whether to go on to the next book. I would like to see Billings on his own turf and interacting with more people. But I'll probably wait until things aren't so gloomy and claustrophobic in real life.
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November 16, 201911/16/19 Currently FREE via Amazon: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00O2DJYUI
March 26, 2020
The Moors of Yorkshire
Late nineteenth century Scotland Yard investigation send the recurring character DS Billings north. As he seeks to unravel the story, the author colors in the cast in the stone mansion. The settings of the class-structured household are painted well and complement well,
As I am a gatherer of books, I collect books and ebooks from a variety of sources: Goodreads wins, Bookhub, BookFunnel, emails from authors and publishers, and others. I do lose track of their sources. But, as a reader, I feel I should give an honest, unencumbered review for all I read.
Late nineteenth century Scotland Yard investigation send the recurring character DS Billings north. As he seeks to unravel the story, the author colors in the cast in the stone mansion. The settings of the class-structured household are painted well and complement well,
As I am a gatherer of books, I collect books and ebooks from a variety of sources: Goodreads wins, Bookhub, BookFunnel, emails from authors and publishers, and others. I do lose track of their sources. But, as a reader, I feel I should give an honest, unencumbered review for all I read.
June 12, 2017
** 4.5 Stars **
A deliciously sordid Victorian Mystery. It's a great start for a series. This is gay fiction, not romance! The novella focuses on the investigation and Detective Sergeant John Billings happens to be gay. This is a man who wrestles a great deal with his inner demons and it's very well done.
Going to read book 2!
February 5, 2020
This novella is a prequel to the DS Billings series, which is a gritty Victorian police procedural featuring a morphine-addicted homosexual police officer struggling with his demons while doing his best at his job.
We are introduced to John Billings as he has traveled to the countryside to investigate a suspicious death. A reclusive widow, her adopted daughter, and their few household staff were the only people present when the young man died, and Billings quickly realises that everyone is hiding something.
I had previously read the first full-length novel in the series, so I had expected the vivid world-building, excellent character building, and a gritty and bleak tone. I was not disappointed. While this is not the sort of world I would feel comfortable inhabiting often, I feel that it does an excellent job of capturing what lived experience during the period would have been for the majority of people.
While this isn't a light or especially pleasant read, owing to conditions within society, the author brings it to life brilliantly, and I'm very eager to continue following the series.
I received a copy of this story through the author.
We are introduced to John Billings as he has traveled to the countryside to investigate a suspicious death. A reclusive widow, her adopted daughter, and their few household staff were the only people present when the young man died, and Billings quickly realises that everyone is hiding something.
I had previously read the first full-length novel in the series, so I had expected the vivid world-building, excellent character building, and a gritty and bleak tone. I was not disappointed. While this is not the sort of world I would feel comfortable inhabiting often, I feel that it does an excellent job of capturing what lived experience during the period would have been for the majority of people.
While this isn't a light or especially pleasant read, owing to conditions within society, the author brings it to life brilliantly, and I'm very eager to continue following the series.
I received a copy of this story through the author.
February 7, 2019
A little taster I think! 3.5*
We get introduced to Billings, but more questions remain than answers, so hoping we will get to know him more in the subsequent stories.
A kind of closed room mystery - who killed Roger when only 5 other people in the house.
It is 1880’s so use of drugs is somewhat accepted but homosexuality is not. The class divides are massive, even isolated on the Yorkshire Moors. The ‘gentry’ feel they are above the law. And the treatment of those with mental health issues is inhuman.
Billings gets to the bottom of Roger’s death but the house is definitely a mad house in that they all covered up Mrs Thornton’s bizarre request, and that likely sent Gracie further into madness.
We get introduced to Billings, but more questions remain than answers, so hoping we will get to know him more in the subsequent stories.
A kind of closed room mystery - who killed Roger when only 5 other people in the house.
It is 1880’s so use of drugs is somewhat accepted but homosexuality is not. The class divides are massive, even isolated on the Yorkshire Moors. The ‘gentry’ feel they are above the law. And the treatment of those with mental health issues is inhuman.
Billings gets to the bottom of Roger’s death but the house is definitely a mad house in that they all covered up Mrs Thornton’s bizarre request, and that likely sent Gracie further into madness.
July 8, 2021
An odd Victorian mystery set in the gloomy Yorkshire moors. DS Billings has been sent from Scotland Yard to investigate a death of young Mr. Thornton. His suspects are the mother, the butler, the cook and the maid.
It's a macabre tale of "an isolated place and isolation can do queer things to the mind. Sometimes we need other people to anchor us. Stop us from straying too far into the byways of our own minds and fancies. To prevent our inner demons from taking over and running riot."
And DS Billings knows about inner demons more than most as he is a morphine addict and desperately finding his sexuality.
An interesting start to a series. 3.5 stars.
It's a macabre tale of "an isolated place and isolation can do queer things to the mind. Sometimes we need other people to anchor us. Stop us from straying too far into the byways of our own minds and fancies. To prevent our inner demons from taking over and running riot."
And DS Billings knows about inner demons more than most as he is a morphine addict and desperately finding his sexuality.
An interesting start to a series. 3.5 stars.
June 2, 2025
Everyone wanted to fuck Roger Thornton, including his mother. The only person who let the poor man alone was the cook. He was a golden retriever boy who just wanted to love everyone and make them happy and it got him killed in the end. He didn't even find rest in death, not immediately. Death Takes a Lover was chilling and superb in a way that I was not expecting after reading The Ornamental Hermit. Hermit was gritty and depraved in it's own way, but pales in comparison to this introductory novella.
December 8, 2019
I don't know. Everyone, every single character was miserable in every way. The MC was basically useless because his addiction was running him so hard. I was really hoping that this would be a new series I could get involved with, but I don't know if I want to read five books about desperately unhappy people. The writing is good, but that's not enough to keep me reading.
November 18, 2019
1888. Detective Sergeant John Billings has been sent to Hammerock House, the home of the Thorntons in Yorkshire. There he is to investigate the suspicious death of the son, Roger Thornton.
An enjoyable well-written mystery
An enjoyable well-written mystery
January 1, 2019
I'm not sure about this series. I'll give the first full length book a shot before giving up though.
January 22, 2024
This is a 2.75 🌟 read rounded ⬆️ to 3 🌟.
Not bad in any way ..... but weird, definitely weird.
Not bad in any way ..... but weird, definitely weird.
January 30, 2016
This is a great introduction to the DS Billings Mystery series although it is a little short for my liking. It's pretty obvious that Billings is a gay man who is not ready to admit that part of himself, whether it is his Quaker upbringing or the era that he lives in, who is to say. I did appreciate the fact that it is not an overused plotline but looked upon in the the detective's inner monologues.
January 3, 2017
I read this after reading the second book in the series. It was shorter but I loved it more than the second book. I like gothic stories and this was a really good one with an ending I did not foresee. The detective was being introduced here whereas in the second book he seemed more fully fleshed. Had I read them in the correct order I probably wouldn't have noticed this so it was my fault not the fault of the author. The setting of Victorian England is researched / written well. Worth reading
March 14, 2020
This is an excellent Victorian mystery series. A conflicted Sargent Detective, overbearing Chief Inspectors, and seemingly baffling crimes. I've read them all and hope there are many more to come.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews