Lestrade and the Guardian Angel

Sholto Lestrade Mystery #8

by M.J. Trow

Inspector Lestrade, the Victorian sleuth, returns in his strangest case yet, as a series of killings lead him from dinner at a palace to a dangerous balloon ride and a deadly cycling tour.

Genres: Mystery, Historical Mystery, Audiobook, Crime, Historical Fiction

235 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1999

About the author

Meirion James Trow is a full-time teacher of history who has been doubling as a crime writer for seventeen years. Originally from Ferndale, Rhondda in South Wales he now lives on the Isle of Wight. His interests include collecting militaria, film, the supernatural and true crime.

Reviews

[Carl · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Sholto Lestrade Mysteries are certainly different than many Sherlockian pastiches and spin offs which feature the world’s greatest detective. Holmes fans are all familiar with Scotland Yard’s Inspector Lestrade, famous for his Sherlock Holmes connection. The Inspector is well known from the Doyle Canon for coming to the detective for help in some of Lestrade’s more baffling cases. In Trow’s series, Lestrade is a stand-alone character who is a better inspector than he is portrayed in Doyle’s classic works.

“Lestrade and the Guardian Angel” offers the reader and our good Inspector a series of murders of seemingly unrelated murders. The first fatality in a bizarre series of killings is a Captain of the Second Life Guards, found in the River Thames with a war medal wedged between his teeth. Then a dead Egyptologist is discovered with a scarab clamped between his molars. What appears to be a series of "revenge" killings continues, but it seems as if they have nothing in common with one another ~ except perhaps that these victims deserved it! One thing that began to bother me in the book was a sense of humor (comedy?) that seemed to grow throughout the book, especially in relation to Lestrade’s character. Sadly, this detracted from the mystery for me. Regardless, it was an enjoyable mystery, and I liked the character of Lestrade (with a bit less of comic relief regarding him).

[Johnny · Rating 4 out of 5]

M. J. Trow is having far too much fun with this series. In Lestrade and the Guardian Angel, we have a helmsman named Soulou (p. 19), a police vessel that picks up bloated corpses from the Thames as Calliphora Vomitoria (“blue bottlefly”—though it even sounds like what could happen when a body was recovered—p. 18), and a gardener named Bush (p. 24). All of these clever entries occur before we get 25 pages deep in the novel. Later, we run into a reference to an archaeologist named Oscar Jones (who happens to be from Indiana—p. 44), a victim named Richard Tetley (yes, not only as in the tea, but mistakenly referred to at one point as a “tea leaf” instead of “thief”—p. 43), and two off-stage characters named after Australians (former James Bond actor, George Lazenby, and Aussie entrepreneur, W. J. Howe). The most egregious naming convention, however, was a former colleague named “Little Boyd Blue” (p. 90). As usual, Sholto Lestrade has a tendency to bluff through conversations as though he knows what he is talking about and confuses such matters as thinking: that Melton is a food instead of a material (p.17), that Constable Dew has picked up a social disease rather than vital evidence from a corpse (p. 23), that “a bientot” was Spanish rather than French (p. 90), and a certain “Coquette” as a type of chocolate (p. 125). And, there is the usual brush with historical characters, in this case not Winston Churchill, but his famous mother Lady Jenny. I also had to look up the reference to Holloway Sanitarium (for the mentally ill in Surrey) because I was unfamiliar with the reference to bad habits (in this case, kleptomania) picked up at Holloway, but suspected as much from the context.

As is often the case in mysteries, the solution to the crime is eponymous. The question in this case, without providing a spoiler, is whether the “Guardian Angel” is literal or figurative, serious or facetious. This was one of those occasions where I quickly deduced the connection, but there were a couple of red herrings to keep me from feeling overconfident about my suspect. Nor is there a lack of gender ambiguity with this “angel” (much more like the “death angel” associated with the Passover perhaps than what one imagines upon first hearing the appellation). Trow has used cross-dressers to his advantage in earlier books in the series and there is, at least, the possibility of such a murderer in this story. Finally, the ability of this murderer to move about England with impunity remained a difficulty to me throughout the story, but the tenuous connections between the victims were satisfactorily explained.

The actual mystery in this case begins with the case of a decorated veteran being fished out of the Thames with his Ashanti campaign medal between his teeth. Subsequent victims are found with a scarab, a wedding ring, and a a piece of aluminum (spell as it is pronounced in England, “aluminium”) wedged between their teeth. Other victims are clearly the result of phosphorus poisoning. One other tie between the victims seems to be the fact that all of them are disgusting individuals who have wronged one or more persons and either destroyed their lives (leaving them in ruins) or caused their deaths. So, there are moments when one wants to give a rousing cheer for the murderer as though this were a “Batman” from another era (Hint: It is NOT a “Batman” in spite of the Sherlock Holmes film that used an individual associated with bats as a suspect.)

Of course, one doesn’t read one of these Lestrade books for the stimulating mystery (though they are often such), one reads them for the humor. In addition to the “punful” material referenced above, I was amused in this book by the recurring theme of “…like a policeman.” It is often used with regard to Lestrade and it is not complimentary in the least. Usually, the phrase is used when Lestrade is attempting to do something undercover. Each time, it offers some amusement. In spite of my high personal rating, I can’t claim that Lestrade and the Guardian Angel is magnificent, but I can certify that it was loads of fun for me and more chuckles even than usual in these books.

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lestrade investigates a series of "revenge" killings. Semmingly with nothing in common but that the victims deserved it.

His investigations take him in balloon rides and bicycle races leaving him rather worse for the wear.

But his humor and style is his own and very entertaining.

The motive weak, the killer interesting, but still a fun story

[Margareth8537 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook
This is read by the author which always adds a neat twist.
Sherlock Holmes and Conan Doyle are characters in a book where CD's character is real. A nice touch. Not totally incompetent as he appears in those books, but a bit bumbling. He gets there in the end.

[Les Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one of my favourites. Still good

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

A library find.
Interesting! Enjoyable!
A great way to spend a afternoon!