The stranger in the asylum

Clare presents another entertaining entry in her World's End Detective Agency series (after The Man in the Shadows, 2022), set in Victorian London and featuring private investigators Lily Raynor and Felix Wilbraham. Miss Phyllida Westwood hires Lily and Felix to find her fiancé, Wilberforce Chibb, who's fled to an asylum in rural France after being accused of killing his father; he's since been accused of killing another asylum patient. If he's guilty of the crimes, naturally Phyllida can't marry him. Neither Lily nor Felix guesses the daunting case will lead them into grave danger, force them to make a treacherous journey through the remote French countryside and across dangerous mountains to evade mysterious strangers who seem determined to kill them, challenge their courage and stamina, and uncover a tragic secret linked to Queen Victoria and the German government. A sunny beginning that quickly turns into heart-palpitating suspense, coupled with a twist-filled story, appealing characters, excellent writing, and vivid descriptions of the French people and countryside, make this a thoroughly enjoyable read.

Lily Raynor and Felix Wilbraham, private investigators who run the World's End Bureau, engage in a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse in 1882. While Felix is away in Paris to collect a bequest left to him by a wealthy Frenchwoman, Lily is visited in London by Phyllida Westwood, whose fiance, Wilberforce Chibb, was sent to an asylum in France by his family, who suspected that he'd killed his father. Now Wilberforce stands accused of having killed a mysterious inmate in the same fashion. Miss Westwood pays Lily a large sum to travel to France and find out the truth. Is Wilberforce mad, or is he being framed? Lily hastily sets off to join the French-speaking Felix on a mission that will tax every bit of their considerable skills. Before they arrive, Wilberforce escapes just as another man is murdered. Their only leads are Wilberforce's friends in an artists' colony. Upon arriving there, they find a man shot dead, apparently mistaken for Wilberforce. Although he's being pursued by the police and asylum guards, neither would have shot him in the back of the head, so a more dangerous player must be involved in the hunt. When they finally catch up to the desperate Wilberforce, who's beside himself with terror, they face the challenge of keeping him alive until they can return him to England and sort out all the charges. Thus commences still another dangerous game as they travel by ship, train, and foot to escape their dogged pursuers. A page-turning mystery with a well-hidden motive and a surprising number of twists. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.