#BookReview The Darwin Affair by Tim Mason @AlgonquinBooks @FreshFiction

The Darwin Affair by Tim Mason
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Get ready for one of the most inventive and entertaining novels of 2019—an edge-of-your-seat Victorian-era thriller, where the controversial publication On the Origin of Species sets off a string of unspeakable crimes.

London, June 1860: When an assassination attempt is made on Queen Victoria, and a petty thief is gruesomely murdered moments later—and only a block away—Chief Detective Inspector Charles Field quickly surmises that these crimes are connected to an even more sinister plot. Was Victoria really the assassin’s target? Are those closest to the Crown hiding something? And who is the shadowy figure witnesses describe as having lifeless, coal-black eyes?

Soon, Field’s investigation exposes a shocking conspiracy in which the publication of Charles Darwin’s controversial On the Origin of Species sets off a string of murders, arson, kidnapping, and the pursuit of a madman named the Chorister. As the investigation takes Field from the dangerous alleyways of London to the hallowed halls of Oxford, the list of possible conspirators grows, and the body count escalates. And as he edges closer to the Chorister, he uncovers dark secrets that were meant to remain forever hidden. 

Tim Mason has created a rousing page-turner that both Charles Dickens and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would relish and envy.

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London, 1860. Inspector Charles Field is convinced that the attempted assassination of Queen Victoria is part of a plot. He's not convinced that she was the intended target and that a killer is still out there hiding and planning something. He also suspects that there could be high ranking people behind it all. His investigation leads straight to the publication of Charles Darwin's very controversial On the Origin of Species. Could this book be behind it all, and why? Why would someone kill because of a book?

READ THE REST OF THE REVIEW OVER AT FRESH FICTION!