The Mermaid in the Basement

by Gilbert Morris Book 1 in the Lady Trent Mysteries series.

First published 2007

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4.3(138)

London, 1857. Serafina Trent is a wealthy widow and the daughter of a scientist, accustomed to relying on evidence rather than convention. When an actress is murdered soon after publicly rejecting Serafina’s brother Clive, suspicion falls immediately on him and the prospect of the gallows becomes very real.

Determined to prove Clive’s innocence, Serafina begins investigating the victim’s life and forms an uneasy alliance with Dylan Tremayne, an actor and storyteller whose criminal past makes him an unconventional partner. The case leads through theatres, aristocratic households and the social restrictions imposed on Victorian women. Serafina’s confidence in rational explanation is repeatedly tested as the investigation forces her to reconsider both the people she trusts and the beliefs by which she judges them.