THE ROSE IN THE WHEEL

Set in Regency London, this thoughtful and thought-provoking debut offers a large cast of characters and a wealth of historical detail in a tale of murder, intrigue and the 19th-century English justice system. When a young lady well known for her work among the destitute women of Soho is found dead, presumably run over by a hansom cab, John Chase of the Bow Street Runners investigates. Chase discovers strangulation marks on Miss Tyrone, and at first, evidence points to Jeremy Wolfe, an artist whose drawings of Miss Tyrone in the guise of St. Catherine cause a sensation in the courtroom. Wolfe's wife, Penelope, joins forces with Chase and the attorneys Thorogood and Buckler to clear Wolfe and uncover the real culprit. But readers likely won't simply ask whodunit; they'll also seek answers to a number of questions the book leaves unanswered. Why, for example, does Penelope want to pursue Miss Tyrone's charitable work when such work exposes her to disease and she has a child of her own to support? What is the nature of Buckler's strange malaise? Solid research—particularly into the forensic technology of the day—centers the book, but the faintly sketched background characters and the dream sequences that herald the denouement fail to advance the plot and seem ill-considered in comparison. At a time when the fear of infectious disease has reentered the collective conscious with a new intensity, Rizzolo provides oddly relevant mystery fare in this talented but uneven first novel. (Jan. 25)