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Victoria Cross Mystery #1
The End of April: A Victoria Cross Mystery
Victoria Cross travels to England, where she tries to ensure the safety of April Tate, a young lesbian activist who has received a series of increasingly threatening letters
223 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1992
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June 18, 2020Tor Cross is a special kind of P.I.: one who is trained to authenticate and preserve documents. Her great aunt hires her, ostensibly to validate the authenticity of handwritten Victorian-era erotica. In reality, however, she wants her to investigate a series of threatening messages received by a law student at Oxford—a beautiful law student, named April Tate. But April dismisses the threats and Tor has to go into overdrive to make sure that April’s complacence doesn't get her killed.
The setting conjures up Dorothy L. Sayers’ Gaudy Night. In fact, one of the characters even mentions it. But it also brings to mind other books in this side-genre of lesbian mysteries: murders in the halls of academia. A few come to mind: Report for Murder by Val McDermid, Angel Food and Devil Dogs by Liz Bradbury, Hallowed Murder by Ellen Hart, or even Agenda for Murder by Joan Albarella. I happen to like this motif; the educational settings seem to give the books a grounding in the literary.
The End of April is not constructed like many other lesbian mysteries in that Tor gets the girl right away—without having to wait until near the end of the book. And unlike the relationships in some books—in Stoner McTavish, for instance—the attraction between the two women is easy to understand. Both Tor and April are intelligent, outgoing, and immersed in their own special talents. It is a rather spare, easy-to-read novel and because Tor is likable, her first-person narration makes the novel smooth and enjoyable. The writing is always adequate, but in places—like when Tor thinks she has lost April for good and waxes poetic about love—it is both exquisite and wise.
Like in many mystery novels, though, it is a chore to remember the actual perpetrator even a day or two after finishing the book. This seems to indicate that the criminal was not really a major character. That’s all right; I don’t believe that the criminal even has to be part of the story at all. What I argue with is that, being present, the criminal should be memorable. Another small peeve is that Tor’s job transcribing Victorian-era porn goes no further than that. The job—or the author of the manuscript she is transcribing—are only lightly described. It is not impossible that Sarah Waters, in her dazzling >I>Fingersmith, took it upon herself to finish what Sumner started. Kudos to Waters but not to Sumner.
Give this one somewhere between 3 and 4 stars and add it to the burgeoning list of mysteries set in academic surroundings. There are only two books in this series and I intend to read the second. The first succeeded on a lot of levels. Maybe the second will succeed on the others.
Note: This review is included in my book The Art of the Lesbian Mystery Novel, along with information on over 930 other lesbian mysteries by over 310 authors.
The setting conjures up Dorothy L. Sayers’ Gaudy Night. In fact, one of the characters even mentions it. But it also brings to mind other books in this side-genre of lesbian mysteries: murders in the halls of academia. A few come to mind: Report for Murder by Val McDermid, Angel Food and Devil Dogs by Liz Bradbury, Hallowed Murder by Ellen Hart, or even Agenda for Murder by Joan Albarella. I happen to like this motif; the educational settings seem to give the books a grounding in the literary.
The End of April is not constructed like many other lesbian mysteries in that Tor gets the girl right away—without having to wait until near the end of the book. And unlike the relationships in some books—in Stoner McTavish, for instance—the attraction between the two women is easy to understand. Both Tor and April are intelligent, outgoing, and immersed in their own special talents. It is a rather spare, easy-to-read novel and because Tor is likable, her first-person narration makes the novel smooth and enjoyable. The writing is always adequate, but in places—like when Tor thinks she has lost April for good and waxes poetic about love—it is both exquisite and wise.
Like in many mystery novels, though, it is a chore to remember the actual perpetrator even a day or two after finishing the book. This seems to indicate that the criminal was not really a major character. That’s all right; I don’t believe that the criminal even has to be part of the story at all. What I argue with is that, being present, the criminal should be memorable. Another small peeve is that Tor’s job transcribing Victorian-era porn goes no further than that. The job—or the author of the manuscript she is transcribing—are only lightly described. It is not impossible that Sarah Waters, in her dazzling >I>Fingersmith, took it upon herself to finish what Sumner started. Kudos to Waters but not to Sumner.
Give this one somewhere between 3 and 4 stars and add it to the burgeoning list of mysteries set in academic surroundings. There are only two books in this series and I intend to read the second. The first succeeded on a lot of levels. Maybe the second will succeed on the others.
Note: This review is included in my book The Art of the Lesbian Mystery Novel, along with information on over 930 other lesbian mysteries by over 310 authors.
July 27, 2022
2.5 I found the premise really interesting and the characters likeable, which made it easy to read. Overall though I don't think it lived up to how great the premise sounded. I found the ending underwhelming with the way the actual mystery was wrapped up and I honestly didn’t find the book very memorable. Still glad I found it for the title and cover though 🤪
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews