Jack, Knave and Fool (Sir John Fielding Mysteries)

Bruce Alexander's books have the same addictive attention to detail as Patrick O'Brian's stories about the British navy. In fact, there really was a Sir John Fielding (1721-1780; would the Library of Congress lie?), the blind London magistrate so energetically restored to life by Alexander. And as he did in Person or Persons Unknown, Murder in Grub Street, Blind Justice, and Watery Grave, the author lets us observe Fielding from the distance of time, with middle-aged narrator Jeremy Proctor recalling his adventures as a 16-year-old alongside him. Here Jeremy plays a larger part in the investigations than he did in previous books. The two cases-- the poisoning of Lord and Lady Langinham, and the unknown identity of a severed head found in the Thames--are separated by money and class. Among the hundreds of little moments that make the book glow is Jeremy ordering coffee in a seedy dive, and being told by the waitress, "You only get that with a flash of lightning here, dearie"--meaning a shot of gin. --Dick Adler