A Broken Vessel by Kate Ross

Book #2 in the Julian Kestrel mysteries. Read my review of book #1 here.

Another gem; I loved it almost as much as Cut to the Quick.

One night, a prostitute name Sally Stokes picks up three separate men. She swipes a handkerchief from each of their pockets in the hope of selling them later. After a bad run-in with John #3, whom she refers to as 'Blinkers', she runs into her brother, who just happens to be manservant to one Mr. Julian Kestrel.

Kestrel discovers a letter hidden in one of the handkerchiefs. Problem is, he's not sure which handkerchief it came from and, of course, there is no name on the letter (that would be just a little too easy, wouldn't it?). The letter is a desperate plead from what is clearly a woman in trouble. The woman is soon tracked down, but there's another problem: she's dead. Her death is written off a suicide, but Kestrel thinks otherwise. With the help of Sally and his manservant Dipper, Kestrel tries to discover who had the letter and what their connection was to the mysterious woman, and more importantly, who was the killer?.

A Broken Vessel was a great fast-paced historical mystery novel. There were so many twists and turns that you're not sure which way is up until the very end. Just when I think I have down the culprit, my mind is soon changed, and I'm suspecting someone else.

So far, this is a strong series and hopefully it'll just get better.