In Holland's impressive third Victorian novel of crime and corruption (after 2003's The Devil's Acre
), the tormented Reverend Tuckworth is still haunted by his mercy killing of his fatally ill wife. When the death of Bellminster's member of Parliament causes a feeding frenzy among the town's powers-that-be and would-be power players, Tuckworth's friend and patron, Lord Granby, further stirs the pot by deciding to stand for election. The resulting turmoil divides the community, and some resort to violence to influence the voters. After an innocent bystander is brutally beaten to death, Tuckworth finds himself unable to resist investigating, despite the local leadership's opposition. Though the choice to reveal the killer's identity early on somewhat undercuts Tuckworth's achievements as a sleuth, Holland does an excellent job at evoking the desperate claustrophobia of the town, which will remind many of the setting of Dickens's Hard Times
. Agent, Bob Solinger at the Dickens Group Literary. (Dec.)
