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Ursula Marlowe Mystery #1
Consequences of Sin
When her friend is falsely accused of murder, Oxford-educated Belgravian heiress and suffragette Ursula Marlow pursues answers that reveal her own late father's unsettling ties to the case, during which she seeks help from her father's trusted counselor, Lord Oliver Wrotham. A first novel.
262 pages, Hardcover
First published February 15, 2007
4 people are currently reading
608 people want to read
About the author
Clare Langley-Hawthorne
4 books28 followersClare Langley-Hawthorne was raised in England and Australia. She was an attorney in Melbourne before moving to the United States, where she began her career as a writer. Her first novel, Consequences of Sin, has been nominated for the 2008 Sue Feder Memorial Historical Mystery Macavity award. The second in the Ursula Marlow series, The Serpent and The Scorpion, is due out in October 2008. Clare lives in Oakland, California with her family. "
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews
June 11, 2015
Take one Nancy Drew book, add a (very small!) dash of Maisie Dobbs, stir in a bad '80's Harlequin romance and you have this book.
June 22, 2011
This was a short,easy to read "cozy" type mystery. Great way to spend a cloudy afternoon. It is "Edwardian" in time and so we must deal with the restricted lifestyles women were forced to live in back then. There is also a little romance thrown in as well. This one won't set the world on fire, but was a fun read.
July 3, 2018
I enjoy a good historical mystery, especially when the main protagonist is a strong independent woman. Unfortunately when Ursula is asked by a friend to help with a dead body, the first thing she does is calls a man, Lord Wrotham, when he arrives she bursts into tears, then he escorts her away with, to quote the author a slow, almost seductive gesture.
That was enough for me, the book didn’t live up to its own 'introductory blurb' and certainly not to my expectations.
That was enough for me, the book didn’t live up to its own 'introductory blurb' and certainly not to my expectations.
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February 2, 2019Writing not my cup of tea. Absolutely abysmal. Wrong end of cosy.
December 31, 2009
Consequences of Sin calls itself an "Edwardian Mystery" that introduces the character of Ursula Marlow. It's a very period-looking novel; even the author's name seems to fit the look. (Seriously: Langley-Hawthorne? Can you possibly get any more British? ;) )It seems oddly appropriate, too, that the story is as short as it is. I could easily imagine an author of the time (which is to say, 1910-11) producing a book this short.
That said, half of me feels that the story was actually too short. There's a whole lot of story woven into 250-odd pages here, and the experience of it was different for me than reading, oh, say, Charlaine Harris' Lily Bard books. Here, particularly in the latter half of the book, I kept wanting to see some expansion on interesting concepts that were barely touched upon--such as Ursula up and deciding that she was going to scamper off disguised as a young man to try to track down the guy everyone in the cast is presuming is responsible for the murder that starts the book.
On the other hand, there's a certain elegant sparsity to Langley-Hawthorne's prose. And while the romantic sucker in me felt vaguely cheated by the relative dearth of expounding upon the sentiments blooming between our heroine and the obligatorily dashing Lord Wrotham, there is nevertheless a certain refined sweetness to the brief exchanges they do have.
I think that for my ideal reading experience, though, this book could have stood to be slightly--but not much--longer. The latter half in particular felt quite rushed to me, with Ursula rushing from event to event, with barely any space to describe the transitions between glimpses of this situation and that. One character in particular, the skeevy fellow Ursula's father is anxious for her to marry, is given short shrift; he is quite important to the plot, and yet he barely gets any camera time at all. As a result, he comes out reading almost like a caricature.
All that said, though, I did like the writing, and Ursula and her Lord Wrotham are interesting enough that I'll probably check out the next book; I'll be quite interested to know whether Wrotham pulls off being able to marry a girl whose father was the son of a miner, and how he'll continue to deal with her blatant suffragette beliefs. In the meantime, for this book, three stars.
That said, half of me feels that the story was actually too short. There's a whole lot of story woven into 250-odd pages here, and the experience of it was different for me than reading, oh, say, Charlaine Harris' Lily Bard books. Here, particularly in the latter half of the book, I kept wanting to see some expansion on interesting concepts that were barely touched upon--such as Ursula up and deciding that she was going to scamper off disguised as a young man to try to track down the guy everyone in the cast is presuming is responsible for the murder that starts the book.
On the other hand, there's a certain elegant sparsity to Langley-Hawthorne's prose. And while the romantic sucker in me felt vaguely cheated by the relative dearth of expounding upon the sentiments blooming between our heroine and the obligatorily dashing Lord Wrotham, there is nevertheless a certain refined sweetness to the brief exchanges they do have.
I think that for my ideal reading experience, though, this book could have stood to be slightly--but not much--longer. The latter half in particular felt quite rushed to me, with Ursula rushing from event to event, with barely any space to describe the transitions between glimpses of this situation and that. One character in particular, the skeevy fellow Ursula's father is anxious for her to marry, is given short shrift; he is quite important to the plot, and yet he barely gets any camera time at all. As a result, he comes out reading almost like a caricature.
All that said, though, I did like the writing, and Ursula and her Lord Wrotham are interesting enough that I'll probably check out the next book; I'll be quite interested to know whether Wrotham pulls off being able to marry a girl whose father was the son of a miner, and how he'll continue to deal with her blatant suffragette beliefs. In the meantime, for this book, three stars.
December 3, 2008
CONSEQUENCES OF SIN (Ama. Sleuth-Ursula Morlow-England/Venezuela-1910/Edwardian) -VG
Langley-Hawthorne, Clare – 1st in series
Viking, 2007, US Hardcover – ISBN: 9780670038206
First Sentence: When the telephone rang downstairs so early that Saturday morning, Ursula Marlow knew it could only be bad news.
Ursula Marlow is the daughter of a wealthy businessman. She is Oxford educated and a suffragette; a transitional woman in a period of change. A friend has woken next to the body of her murdered lesbian lover and calls Ursula for help.
After the victim’s father commits suicide, Ursula uncovers a link to an expedition 20-years’ ago to Venezuela. In spite of danger, tragedy and men trying to protect her, Ursula is determined to prove her friend innocent.
At the beginning, I was afraid both the book and the character was going to be quite light and vapid. Boy was I wrong. The protagonist, Ursula, does begin as indulged and a big whiney but transforms into a brave, determined and strongly independent woman. She is a woman caught in an interesting time of social revolution; women moving from the Victorian era to a modern era of independence and the right to vote.
The author did a wonderful job of conveying sense of place. Even more so, and more rarely, the author creates a very strong, evocative description of sense of loss and grief. The story has good suspense, and excellent twist, a climatic ending wherein the protagonist saves herself, and a nice romance that is very well done.
I did have a couple small quibbles: the author overused the description of “a single lock of hair falling…” and, when the heroine is rendered unconscious, it is always for several days. I really did enjoy the story and shall definitely read the next in the series.
Langley-Hawthorne, Clare – 1st in series
Viking, 2007, US Hardcover – ISBN: 9780670038206
First Sentence: When the telephone rang downstairs so early that Saturday morning, Ursula Marlow knew it could only be bad news.
Ursula Marlow is the daughter of a wealthy businessman. She is Oxford educated and a suffragette; a transitional woman in a period of change. A friend has woken next to the body of her murdered lesbian lover and calls Ursula for help.
After the victim’s father commits suicide, Ursula uncovers a link to an expedition 20-years’ ago to Venezuela. In spite of danger, tragedy and men trying to protect her, Ursula is determined to prove her friend innocent.
At the beginning, I was afraid both the book and the character was going to be quite light and vapid. Boy was I wrong. The protagonist, Ursula, does begin as indulged and a big whiney but transforms into a brave, determined and strongly independent woman. She is a woman caught in an interesting time of social revolution; women moving from the Victorian era to a modern era of independence and the right to vote.
The author did a wonderful job of conveying sense of place. Even more so, and more rarely, the author creates a very strong, evocative description of sense of loss and grief. The story has good suspense, and excellent twist, a climatic ending wherein the protagonist saves herself, and a nice romance that is very well done.
I did have a couple small quibbles: the author overused the description of “a single lock of hair falling…” and, when the heroine is rendered unconscious, it is always for several days. I really did enjoy the story and shall definitely read the next in the series.
October 30, 2010
Our heroine is likeable, but while described as very intelligent would walk down a dark alley in a bad part of town to meet a bad guy without telling anyone where she, went wearing jewelry and carrying money. That said, she manages to evade total disaster and will no doubt seek further adventure. Plucky is what we might call her if we read about her again. I might because the plot was interesting as was the time period.
April 23, 2008
I moved this into my read file even thought I didn't finish it. I couldn't finish it! I thought the writing was terrible and I couldn't get into the characters. When Ursula's father died and I didn't care I closed the book.
If you like Victorian/Edwardian mysteries, try Deanna Raybourn, Jacqueline Winspear or Victoria Thompson. Of course, there's always the master -- Elizabeth Peters!
If you like Victorian/Edwardian mysteries, try Deanna Raybourn, Jacqueline Winspear or Victoria Thompson. Of course, there's always the master -- Elizabeth Peters!
September 19, 2009
I wanted so badly to like this book -- the premise sounded very promising -- but I really didn't. Still, I plugged away at it determinedly and kind of skimmed through the last 50-odd pages. I have no idea why I plugged along, but I did.
Things I really disliked:
- The plot was confusing, at times nonsensical, and jumped around too quickly. One example of this was that, seemingly out of the blue, Ursula was at a dinner party where numerous people suddenly wanted her to go abroad with the mysterious Lady Ashton, AND marry Tom Cumberland, without the reader really having any inkling of this previously. It felt clumsy and puzzling.
- I hate when heroines do stupid things, and Ursula kept doing stupid things, sometimes blatantly resulting in her being a damsel in distress, despite her claims to being part of the suffrage movement. Ugh. When she decided to marry Tom, a man she loathed and found physically repulsive, just because of some weak idea that it was her father's last wish (and I could never figure out why), I wanted to throw the book across the room. Ditto when she was in Venezuela (another clumsy plot movement!) and took off alone to look for the murderer. Clever.
- The writing was weak. If I only had a dime for every time I read, 'Ursula replied coldly', or, 'Ursula said quietly'. Every time a character said or did anything, there was an overused adverb describing it. It got old, usually because it was, nine times out of ten, 'coldly' or 'quietly'.
- Finally: the big mystery? Not so big, not so mysterious. In fact, the author pretty much beat the reader over the head with it. Here we have Tom, a slimeball who was shady and obviously after Ursula for nefarious reasons. Then when Ursula saw the photo of the murderer and something about him looked familiar but she couldn't quite place it -- ding ding ding! Just a bit later, she is in Tom's presence and watching him stand by the fireplace reminds her of something, but she can't place quite what it is, and, instead of trying to figure it out, she 'put it out of her mind' to focus on what 'she needed to do'. Further on, she was STUNNED to discover by means of yet another old photo that slimeball Tom was actually the murderer's son. They look just alike! Yet no one, including her father who was an old acquaintance of murderer Bates, picked up on this?! Ugh.
Honestly, Lord Wrotham was the only intriguing person in the whole book.
Things I really disliked:
- The plot was confusing, at times nonsensical, and jumped around too quickly. One example of this was that, seemingly out of the blue, Ursula was at a dinner party where numerous people suddenly wanted her to go abroad with the mysterious Lady Ashton, AND marry Tom Cumberland, without the reader really having any inkling of this previously. It felt clumsy and puzzling.
- I hate when heroines do stupid things, and Ursula kept doing stupid things, sometimes blatantly resulting in her being a damsel in distress, despite her claims to being part of the suffrage movement. Ugh. When she decided to marry Tom, a man she loathed and found physically repulsive, just because of some weak idea that it was her father's last wish (and I could never figure out why), I wanted to throw the book across the room. Ditto when she was in Venezuela (another clumsy plot movement!) and took off alone to look for the murderer. Clever.
- The writing was weak. If I only had a dime for every time I read, 'Ursula replied coldly', or, 'Ursula said quietly'. Every time a character said or did anything, there was an overused adverb describing it. It got old, usually because it was, nine times out of ten, 'coldly' or 'quietly'.
- Finally: the big mystery? Not so big, not so mysterious. In fact, the author pretty much beat the reader over the head with it. Here we have Tom, a slimeball who was shady and obviously after Ursula for nefarious reasons. Then when Ursula saw the photo of the murderer and something about him looked familiar but she couldn't quite place it -- ding ding ding! Just a bit later, she is in Tom's presence and watching him stand by the fireplace reminds her of something, but she can't place quite what it is, and, instead of trying to figure it out, she 'put it out of her mind' to focus on what 'she needed to do'. Further on, she was STUNNED to discover by means of yet another old photo that slimeball Tom was actually the murderer's son. They look just alike! Yet no one, including her father who was an old acquaintance of murderer Bates, picked up on this?! Ugh.
Honestly, Lord Wrotham was the only intriguing person in the whole book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 24, 2009
In this historical mystery, the heroine is an unlikely Edwardian character: Ursula (“Sully” to her intimate friends) Marlow is an aspiring journalist, an heiress living in London’s posh Belgravia neighborhood, and an Oxford graduate. Clearly, she is a young woman with her own mind. One indication of that is her role as a suffragette, something frowned upon by many in her social circle, who wonder how she will ever gain a husband when she is so very willful?
Ursula lives with her father, who seems to understand her better than anyone, but he worries about her, particularly her reckless bravery and determination to do the right thing. He knows the world is more complicated than that, but shielding his only daughter from harm may be more than he can achieve.
The mystery truly begins when a close friend of Ursula’s from the suffragette movement calls her in the middle of the night to come help. There’s a dead woman in her house, and she has no idea how the murder occurred. Ursula is convinced of her friend’s innocence, despite what the police have to say about her background and likelihood as the perpetrator of the crime.
Everyone around Ursula, including her father and his trusted counselor Lord Oliver Wrotham, try to convince her to drop her pursuit of the case. Certain that her friend is innocent, Ursula digs deep and uncovers startling information that links the case to her own father and his friends. The connection is a mysterious scientific expedition down the Orinoco River in Venezuela and a massacre of the local Indian population.
Ursula follows the trail to its end, but more murders occur, and pieces of the missing puzzle gradually come to light. In all, it’s a satisfying mystery, with just the right amount of character development and clues meted out along the way. It’s also a charming story for its period detail and unusually modern heroine.
Ursula lives with her father, who seems to understand her better than anyone, but he worries about her, particularly her reckless bravery and determination to do the right thing. He knows the world is more complicated than that, but shielding his only daughter from harm may be more than he can achieve.
The mystery truly begins when a close friend of Ursula’s from the suffragette movement calls her in the middle of the night to come help. There’s a dead woman in her house, and she has no idea how the murder occurred. Ursula is convinced of her friend’s innocence, despite what the police have to say about her background and likelihood as the perpetrator of the crime.
Everyone around Ursula, including her father and his trusted counselor Lord Oliver Wrotham, try to convince her to drop her pursuit of the case. Certain that her friend is innocent, Ursula digs deep and uncovers startling information that links the case to her own father and his friends. The connection is a mysterious scientific expedition down the Orinoco River in Venezuela and a massacre of the local Indian population.
Ursula follows the trail to its end, but more murders occur, and pieces of the missing puzzle gradually come to light. In all, it’s a satisfying mystery, with just the right amount of character development and clues meted out along the way. It’s also a charming story for its period detail and unusually modern heroine.
September 10, 2016
Six chapters into the book, and I'm moving it to my DNF shelf. Let's be honesty, if I am not drawn into the book by six chapters - it probably isn't going to happen. If I'm not interested in the mystery, the characters or anything at all about the book I see no point in continuing to read it. I did sound interesting when I first picked up a copy from the library, unfortunately this just did not work for me. It's not that the writing is super horrible or anything it simply did not appeal to me. It was a bit descriptive (of little things rather than the important things, that added to the setting but not really to the overall story). The mystery, didn't catch me. I mean it sounded like the type of thing that would catch my eye, but I just couldn't muster up any excitement or real curiosity for it.
The characters just didn't come to life for me, they fell flat. The lead, Ursula just came off as someone young, trying to be grown up but not quite getting there. I mean she goes to "help" her friend, and her "help" is calling for help from someone else. I didn't particularly like or understand Ursula, I didn't connect or bond with her and her insistence on her friends innocence didn't make a lot of sense - since from what I understand they didn't know each other well "personally" - they had intellectual and political views in common but didn't have the same social circle (so to speak). And I think we can all see where the thing with Lord Wrotham will (likely) lead.
This just did not catch my attention and I don't have the time or inclination to read something I don't like (or don't really want to read) not when there are other books out there I do want to read. This may appeal to some people, but for me it didn't.
The characters just didn't come to life for me, they fell flat. The lead, Ursula just came off as someone young, trying to be grown up but not quite getting there. I mean she goes to "help" her friend, and her "help" is calling for help from someone else. I didn't particularly like or understand Ursula, I didn't connect or bond with her and her insistence on her friends innocence didn't make a lot of sense - since from what I understand they didn't know each other well "personally" - they had intellectual and political views in common but didn't have the same social circle (so to speak). And I think we can all see where the thing with Lord Wrotham will (likely) lead.
This just did not catch my attention and I don't have the time or inclination to read something I don't like (or don't really want to read) not when there are other books out there I do want to read. This may appeal to some people, but for me it didn't.
January 28, 2019
Enjoyed it. It is both greatly imperfect and interestingly original. One day I will write a more thorough review. I enjoyed the romance; he reminded me of Jeremy Northam in 'The Winslow Boy' which to me is basically the height of attractive characters. Although my Victorian reality-check mindset kept coming into play - "what's your birth-control strategy, eh Ursula?!" I don't think I'll buy a copy, but I may reread again in the future.
December 10, 2013
Interesting, but uneven. The jumps from scene to scene were at times abrupt and confusing and not in a way that helped the story. A few of the plot lines seemed to get lost, even at times the main mystery, in Ursula's frustration about how she is being treated. The romance however is sweet and thoroughly enjoyable, and Ursula is a strong, but not perfect, female lead which is refreshing.
August 15, 2013
As all murder-mystery books go, this book starts with a phone call about a murder to catch the reader's attention on the get go. I have just finished a modern murder-mystery book before this so the wow-factor was lost on me.
The story is the first person POV of Ursula "Sully" Marlow, the only daughter of Edwardian magnate, Robert Marlow. At this time, the middle classes have risen and a select few have accumulated riches from various industries. Yay for industrial revolution! Sully is no ordinary heiress or respectable Edwardian upper class debutante. She takes part in the suffragette business and has attended often violent rallies. She even has friends within the elite intellectual female circle. Sully even went to Oxford! This is quite rare in Edwardian England as women were not seen as very intelligent nor interested in the intellectual side of things. Education is usually reserved for men, and even then only those who could afford it.
The opening murder happened within the household of Winifred Stanford-Jones. Freddie, as Sully calls her, has a dead girlfriend in the bedroom by the name of Laura Radcliff. Naturally, Freddie is suspect number one. The first half of the book follow's Ursula's efforts to free Freddie from suspicion. Her efforts doubled when Freddie was eventually arrested. There was even an attempt at Ursula's life in the garden. She survived a blow on the head, having been put to sleep by the doctor to avoid possible hysterics (Good job, Doctor!). You know how women are. They have such feeble constitutions. Never mind that they give birth in the most dire of medical situations. A little incident is sure to put their nerves in a knot.
Anyhow, other characters that populate Ms. Marlows worlds are:
Robert Marlow, dear old papa. Mr. Marlow is a self-made man whose father was a humble coal-miner. Marlow's amazing business instincts, perseverance and hard work had paid off immensely. He was able to establish himself as a respectable and very wealthy business man. Marlow is the ideal father who loves Ursula to death.
Prince Charming #1, Lord Wrotham. His lordship is an impoverished aristocrat with his own issues. He was the younger son and had very little prospects. That was until no-good older brother with a gambling habit died passing the title and estate on to his most capable and very Mr.Darcy-esque hands. So far, I've only read two period murder-mystery set in England. And both of them had a Mr. Darcy. From now, Lord Wrotham becomes Lord Darcy.
Prince Charming #2, Tom Cumberland. He had the most boring introduction as the man whom Sully's papa wanted her to marry. He was the quintessential apprentice. He was honed by Marlow himself to take care of the business. Naturally, papa wanted Sully to marry the bugger as papa was that kind of man (who didn't think women could run a business, weak constitution see). Mr. Cumberland seemed boring enough. Over eager to impress, as what was expected. To be fair, Tom probably had been told repeatedly that all of the business could be his if he could persuade Sully to marry him. SEE SPOILER IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT TOM AND THE LOVE TRIANGLE.
Mr. Biggs, the butler. He is the most interesting character here. He keeps the house tidy and collected. He is SUPER BUTLER, with the ability to anticipate needs and give out white lies to keep everybody happy. Oh how I want a Mr. Biggs in my life.
Julia, the lady's maid. Due to the complicated and multi-layered Edwardian costume, all respectable ladies need to keep a lady's maid. The prime function of a lady's maid is to help Sully look like Sully. Julia even "suggests" the proper accessories and does Sully's hair, when I only have YouTube for that. *jealous*
The other businessmen are a group of old farts who are in the same line of business as papa. They come with their wives and children.
** SPOILER ALERT ** ** SPOILER ALERT ** ** SPOILER ALERT ** ** SPOILER ALERT ** ** SPOILER ALERT **
** SPOILER ALERT ** ** SPOILER ALERT ** ** SPOILER ALERT ** ** SPOILER ALERT ** ** SPOILER ALERT **
Ursula's characterization was poor. Maybe, the author is being accurate here. As what I have learned from "The Supersizers Go... Edwardian", it's all about freedom and nothing about education. There's freedom to express one's self, but there's really not a lot of education and learned wisdom to express here. With this, I found Ursula absolutely annoying. She wants to run a business she knows NOTHING about. Had she any plans of doing those things, she ought to have have observed her father a little bit more closely. For example, she knows nothing about their business except that there's a factory there and there's a mill over there. If her papa was truly the good man that she thinks he is, then showing interest in the business would have paid off. Instead, in college, she hooks up with a Russian hunk who was had delirious love for the Bolshevik. If she wanted equality as much as she did, she would practice it. Wear the pants now and ask for women pants later (when you've proven that pants look good on you and makes you ass look nicer).
At the end of the first half of the book, Marlow gets shot seemingly taking a bullet for his daughter. Ursula is devastated because she's alone in the world. Personally, she has Mr. Biggs who could probably run the business better than Marlow. If she had half a mind, she'd make Biggs her personal lady's butler and have him advice her on business matters. Anyhow, Lord Wrotham becomes the Marlow estate's trustee, wherein Ursula gets a lump sum now and would get all when she turns 30 (because women weren't mature enough until later in life) or gets married. Ursula accepts this and gets engaged to Tom. Seriously??? Has the suffragette movement taught her nothing? At the end of the book, triggering the climax, Freddie throws Sully a heavy handed one liner... Will Sully always live under the shadow of a man? Well, Freddie now seems to be the more intelligent female. At least the female who had actually embraced the suffragette movement with her mind, body and soul. Ursula is a failure. No matter how much charity work she does, at the end of the day she goes home to central heating, electricity and indoor toilet and bath. She doesn't know the poor as she doesn't know how to BE poor, be hungry, be cold, etc. Marlow had raised a completely useless daughter. Good enough to look at, but nothing in her head.
Speaking of wearing the pants, Ursula did get to wear the pants - literally. Early on in the book, it was established that heiresses within Marlow's circle were murdered one by one. Eventually, Ursula is one of the few girls left alive. We know that there's this bigger mystery of the Radcliff expedition into South America to search for birth control plants. Marlow has a thing about the purity of the races. I suspect that Marlow just saw how population can be beneficial. I am all for that. With Radcliff was Bates who was a crazy crazy fellow. Bates was in love with Marlow's wife and suspected that Radcliff et al was out to get him. He was delusional wherein the entire world revolved around him. The ready would already know that Bates wasn't personally doing the killing as he was in Venezuela where he was dirt poor and living like the natives. Ursula travels to Venezuela disguised as a man... for a few days at least. He was quickly discovered by Lord Darcy. Sully and Lord Darcy connect physically. Sully, as usual, wanted to see some action and seeks Bates alone. Bates was crazy and locked her up in his hut. To all the ladies reading the book, that's a good lesson. Never seek out the crazy suspected murderers on your own. They are crazy and could harm you. But Ursula was naive and on the stupid side of the life. Ursula escapes with the aid of Lord Darcy and the police after learning that Bates had a son. Eventually, we learn that it was Tom (Ursula finds out after she decides to break off the engagement after Freddie's one liner). OF COURSE! We knew this from the get go.
Unfortunately, Tom only has two chapters of action. This is the funniest bit. Tom chooses to strike on Mr. Bigg's day off!!! Naturally, his plan succeeds. The household is drugged and he has some precious alone time with Ursula. It ends happily as Tom is caught and Ursula pursues to manage her father's business. The lesson they have all learned is... MR. Biggs would never be allowed to have a day off.
It was entertaining enough. But it lacks so much heart, so much intelligence. The main character is boring and annoying, similar to Bella Swan of Twilight. Sigh.
The story is the first person POV of Ursula "Sully" Marlow, the only daughter of Edwardian magnate, Robert Marlow. At this time, the middle classes have risen and a select few have accumulated riches from various industries. Yay for industrial revolution! Sully is no ordinary heiress or respectable Edwardian upper class debutante. She takes part in the suffragette business and has attended often violent rallies. She even has friends within the elite intellectual female circle. Sully even went to Oxford! This is quite rare in Edwardian England as women were not seen as very intelligent nor interested in the intellectual side of things. Education is usually reserved for men, and even then only those who could afford it.
The opening murder happened within the household of Winifred Stanford-Jones. Freddie, as Sully calls her, has a dead girlfriend in the bedroom by the name of Laura Radcliff. Naturally, Freddie is suspect number one. The first half of the book follow's Ursula's efforts to free Freddie from suspicion. Her efforts doubled when Freddie was eventually arrested. There was even an attempt at Ursula's life in the garden. She survived a blow on the head, having been put to sleep by the doctor to avoid possible hysterics (Good job, Doctor!). You know how women are. They have such feeble constitutions. Never mind that they give birth in the most dire of medical situations. A little incident is sure to put their nerves in a knot.
Anyhow, other characters that populate Ms. Marlows worlds are:
Robert Marlow, dear old papa. Mr. Marlow is a self-made man whose father was a humble coal-miner. Marlow's amazing business instincts, perseverance and hard work had paid off immensely. He was able to establish himself as a respectable and very wealthy business man. Marlow is the ideal father who loves Ursula to death.
Prince Charming #1, Lord Wrotham. His lordship is an impoverished aristocrat with his own issues. He was the younger son and had very little prospects. That was until no-good older brother with a gambling habit died passing the title and estate on to his most capable and very Mr.Darcy-esque hands. So far, I've only read two period murder-mystery set in England. And both of them had a Mr. Darcy. From now, Lord Wrotham becomes Lord Darcy.
Prince Charming #2, Tom Cumberland. He had the most boring introduction as the man whom Sully's papa wanted her to marry. He was the quintessential apprentice. He was honed by Marlow himself to take care of the business. Naturally, papa wanted Sully to marry the bugger as papa was that kind of man (who didn't think women could run a business, weak constitution see). Mr. Cumberland seemed boring enough. Over eager to impress, as what was expected. To be fair, Tom probably had been told repeatedly that all of the business could be his if he could persuade Sully to marry him. SEE SPOILER IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT TOM AND THE LOVE TRIANGLE.
Mr. Biggs, the butler. He is the most interesting character here. He keeps the house tidy and collected. He is SUPER BUTLER, with the ability to anticipate needs and give out white lies to keep everybody happy. Oh how I want a Mr. Biggs in my life.
Julia, the lady's maid. Due to the complicated and multi-layered Edwardian costume, all respectable ladies need to keep a lady's maid. The prime function of a lady's maid is to help Sully look like Sully. Julia even "suggests" the proper accessories and does Sully's hair, when I only have YouTube for that. *jealous*
The other businessmen are a group of old farts who are in the same line of business as papa. They come with their wives and children.
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Ursula's characterization was poor. Maybe, the author is being accurate here. As what I have learned from "The Supersizers Go... Edwardian", it's all about freedom and nothing about education. There's freedom to express one's self, but there's really not a lot of education and learned wisdom to express here. With this, I found Ursula absolutely annoying. She wants to run a business she knows NOTHING about. Had she any plans of doing those things, she ought to have have observed her father a little bit more closely. For example, she knows nothing about their business except that there's a factory there and there's a mill over there. If her papa was truly the good man that she thinks he is, then showing interest in the business would have paid off. Instead, in college, she hooks up with a Russian hunk who was had delirious love for the Bolshevik. If she wanted equality as much as she did, she would practice it. Wear the pants now and ask for women pants later (when you've proven that pants look good on you and makes you ass look nicer).
At the end of the first half of the book, Marlow gets shot seemingly taking a bullet for his daughter. Ursula is devastated because she's alone in the world. Personally, she has Mr. Biggs who could probably run the business better than Marlow. If she had half a mind, she'd make Biggs her personal lady's butler and have him advice her on business matters. Anyhow, Lord Wrotham becomes the Marlow estate's trustee, wherein Ursula gets a lump sum now and would get all when she turns 30 (because women weren't mature enough until later in life) or gets married. Ursula accepts this and gets engaged to Tom. Seriously??? Has the suffragette movement taught her nothing? At the end of the book, triggering the climax, Freddie throws Sully a heavy handed one liner... Will Sully always live under the shadow of a man? Well, Freddie now seems to be the more intelligent female. At least the female who had actually embraced the suffragette movement with her mind, body and soul. Ursula is a failure. No matter how much charity work she does, at the end of the day she goes home to central heating, electricity and indoor toilet and bath. She doesn't know the poor as she doesn't know how to BE poor, be hungry, be cold, etc. Marlow had raised a completely useless daughter. Good enough to look at, but nothing in her head.
Speaking of wearing the pants, Ursula did get to wear the pants - literally. Early on in the book, it was established that heiresses within Marlow's circle were murdered one by one. Eventually, Ursula is one of the few girls left alive. We know that there's this bigger mystery of the Radcliff expedition into South America to search for birth control plants. Marlow has a thing about the purity of the races. I suspect that Marlow just saw how population can be beneficial. I am all for that. With Radcliff was Bates who was a crazy crazy fellow. Bates was in love with Marlow's wife and suspected that Radcliff et al was out to get him. He was delusional wherein the entire world revolved around him. The ready would already know that Bates wasn't personally doing the killing as he was in Venezuela where he was dirt poor and living like the natives. Ursula travels to Venezuela disguised as a man... for a few days at least. He was quickly discovered by Lord Darcy. Sully and Lord Darcy connect physically. Sully, as usual, wanted to see some action and seeks Bates alone. Bates was crazy and locked her up in his hut. To all the ladies reading the book, that's a good lesson. Never seek out the crazy suspected murderers on your own. They are crazy and could harm you. But Ursula was naive and on the stupid side of the life. Ursula escapes with the aid of Lord Darcy and the police after learning that Bates had a son. Eventually, we learn that it was Tom (Ursula finds out after she decides to break off the engagement after Freddie's one liner). OF COURSE! We knew this from the get go.
Unfortunately, Tom only has two chapters of action. This is the funniest bit. Tom chooses to strike on Mr. Bigg's day off!!! Naturally, his plan succeeds. The household is drugged and he has some precious alone time with Ursula. It ends happily as Tom is caught and Ursula pursues to manage her father's business. The lesson they have all learned is... MR. Biggs would never be allowed to have a day off.
It was entertaining enough. But it lacks so much heart, so much intelligence. The main character is boring and annoying, similar to Bella Swan of Twilight. Sigh.
July 9, 2024
I'm going to call it the 'Fat Eyelid Phenomenon.' It's that moment when you page through a book that you might or might not buy, might take home from the library, might even read, and you catch sight of something that puts the possibility of reading it forever beyond your powers of endurance.
Perhaps fat eyelids exist. Perhaps some of you have fat eyelids. But when a character who is otherwise unexceptionable has fat eyelids you can't help but think that he has a dangerous edema and should see a doctor. You know that no matter what this character does, his eyelids will be in the forefront of your mind until the end of the trilogy. I should make it clear that no one in this book, as far as I know, has fat eyelids. That was the doom of a character in a different book but it became my term for 'what I can't stop thinking about once the author has mentioned it'.
I admit that I'm easily seduced by an attractive cover and a Victorian or Edwardian setting. Not even the threat of a 'strong heroine' is enough to put me off. So when I saw Consequences of Sin, I pulled it from the shelf and turned to p.262. Yes, I always cheat.
"He came close to her and knelt by her side, bringing his face level with hers. Like the panther in her dreams, sleek and black, he waited and watched for her response."
I don't know about you, but I went through the 'panther in my dreams' phase when I was in school. Certainly, I expected better of a suffragette whose friend, Winifred, wears brown wool trousers and smokes a Dunhill pipe. In 1910, mind you. The book went back on the shelf but my adventure didn't end there. I got the book from the library because, while panthers might not be worth a twenty, I'm happy to check them out for free.
I turned to p.1.
"Ursula rose quickly from the four-poster bed, slid her feet into a pair of ivory satin slippers, and grabbed the tawny cashmere shawl that lay furled on her bedroom chair..."
Sigh. If you don't know what's wrong with that paragraph, you're beyond hope. And when Lord Wrotham, he of the sleek blackness, hoves into view, things go from bad to worse.
"Ursula then summoned her courage to ask to be connected to the one person in the world to whom she dreaded being in debt. Lord Oliver Wrotham. Thirty-nine Brook Street, Mayfair. King's Counsel and her father's most trusted adviser. The only man who could help her now."
He announces his arrival with 'a hard, sharp rap'.
"No sooner had she begun to open the door than a tall, dark shadow pushed roughly against her, closing the door almost as soon as it had been opened."
*flips through several pages*
Good lord. She just slapped him, in spite of his cool, appraising blue-gray eyes and his aristocratic thinness.
This book received decent reviews as well as comparisons to Heart of Darkness. Yes, really. There are sequels involving Palestine and Irish Home Rule. No doubt there's an endless amount of black sleekness. Good god, could it be any more clichéd? Fat eyelids coming out my lugholes!
Perhaps fat eyelids exist. Perhaps some of you have fat eyelids. But when a character who is otherwise unexceptionable has fat eyelids you can't help but think that he has a dangerous edema and should see a doctor. You know that no matter what this character does, his eyelids will be in the forefront of your mind until the end of the trilogy. I should make it clear that no one in this book, as far as I know, has fat eyelids. That was the doom of a character in a different book but it became my term for 'what I can't stop thinking about once the author has mentioned it'.
I admit that I'm easily seduced by an attractive cover and a Victorian or Edwardian setting. Not even the threat of a 'strong heroine' is enough to put me off. So when I saw Consequences of Sin, I pulled it from the shelf and turned to p.262. Yes, I always cheat.
"He came close to her and knelt by her side, bringing his face level with hers. Like the panther in her dreams, sleek and black, he waited and watched for her response."
I don't know about you, but I went through the 'panther in my dreams' phase when I was in school. Certainly, I expected better of a suffragette whose friend, Winifred, wears brown wool trousers and smokes a Dunhill pipe. In 1910, mind you. The book went back on the shelf but my adventure didn't end there. I got the book from the library because, while panthers might not be worth a twenty, I'm happy to check them out for free.
I turned to p.1.
"Ursula rose quickly from the four-poster bed, slid her feet into a pair of ivory satin slippers, and grabbed the tawny cashmere shawl that lay furled on her bedroom chair..."
Sigh. If you don't know what's wrong with that paragraph, you're beyond hope. And when Lord Wrotham, he of the sleek blackness, hoves into view, things go from bad to worse.
"Ursula then summoned her courage to ask to be connected to the one person in the world to whom she dreaded being in debt. Lord Oliver Wrotham. Thirty-nine Brook Street, Mayfair. King's Counsel and her father's most trusted adviser. The only man who could help her now."
He announces his arrival with 'a hard, sharp rap'.
"No sooner had she begun to open the door than a tall, dark shadow pushed roughly against her, closing the door almost as soon as it had been opened."
*flips through several pages*
Good lord. She just slapped him, in spite of his cool, appraising blue-gray eyes and his aristocratic thinness.
This book received decent reviews as well as comparisons to Heart of Darkness. Yes, really. There are sequels involving Palestine and Irish Home Rule. No doubt there's an endless amount of black sleekness. Good god, could it be any more clichéd? Fat eyelids coming out my lugholes!
November 22, 2017
Short but predictable historical fiction/mystery novel, first in the series, I found the protagonist Ursula Marlow to be likable. As a suffragette who is wealthy, Ursula, aka "Sully" becomes involved with a fellow suffragette's plight as she is accused of murder. The story revolves around this event and other "business" events that involve her father a wealthy business man and her discovering her independence as a woman in the Edwardian era.
October 28, 2021
This was worth the time and effort of reading and is a good story. My only problem with it was a lack of passion. and the true feel of friendship and family. It took Ursula most of the book to find out just what she, herself, really wanted, not what everyone else wanted for her. I am probably being over critical, because this book didn't live up to MY expectations. Read it for yourself. Perhaps you will enjoy it thoroughly!
November 16, 2022
For a book I don't even remember buying I enjoyed it, it was a quick and easy thing to get through. The romance was cute, and though the plot was fairly predictable by the middle when I'd pretty much had most of the who done it and why figured out. I still enjoyed it, May or may not read the second book but this was cute. Not too heavy in too many troupes but also seemed like it attempted too much in too short a time.
January 1, 2023
A new to me author with a very exciting mystery. Ursula Marlow is a very smart, strong woman who is called to help a friend and that starts a chain of mysterious murders. I plan to find more of these books
June 30, 2018
At times, this felt almost like a fantasy novel, with dreams and portents and what seemed almost like mind control. Very odd. But quite readable for me.
July 1, 2020
2.5 stars. Format: paperback. Formulaic and a bit anachronistic and silly, but also fun (if this genre is your jam) and a quick read.
January 30, 2024
This was a novel I purchased when it came out; finally got to read it recently and enjoyed it. Nevertheless, I found it a bit flat.
July 16, 2017
It was okay.
September 7, 2016
Consequences of Sin (Ursula Marlowe Series #1) Fans of the series of books by Gillian Linscott will probably like this, as it treads much of the same ground with a Suffragette protagonist in the early 20th century. There's a couple of rough patches in the writing where the non-English background of the author seems to come through, but generally it's not too bad...In the case of Consequences of Sin, our hero is Ursula Harlow, an Oxford-educated heiress and ardent Suffragette - she becomes involved in a sordid tale of murder when she gets a late-night telephone call from one of her friends and is summoned to a murder scene. Knowing she's somewhat out of her depth, Ursula calls a friend of her father, a barrister who has given him advice, and is summarily hustled out of the house and back home.What Ursula doesn't initially realise, since the murder is being painted by the press as a crime of passion, is that there is a connection between the murder victim and her own father. As the bodies begin to stack up, she comes to see that her own life is in danger, though she seems to spend as much time either avoiding her would-be betrothed or mooning over a certain Darcy-clone barrister.In the end, it was the heavy-handed romance angle that vexed me the most, when pretty much anything Ursula did that demonstrated a spark of independence was swiftly followed by Wrotham popping up again like a bad penny. There's a sequel, The Serpent and the Scorpion, but I'll want to flick through it first and see how much of a role Wrotham plays, given how annoying I found him.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 29, 2009
I like mysteries and have enjoyed other early 20th century England stories, especially the Maisie Dobb s books and I believe one of the reviews even compared them favorably. I found the story predictable, but it was still interesting. As with the Maisie Dobb s books, this attempts to show the early suffragette struggle and how alternative lifestyles were not completely unheard of, even if not accepted. The writing is good. I was a little tired of all the swooning and fuzzy memories, but that is my fault. I remember the time I was rear-ended, not even a serious accident, and I was a bit fuzzy on details. So I imagine being hit on the head, shot at, or in a physical fight with a killer would lead to some shock-induced fuzz.[return][return]I also imagine the confict of having well-meaning society expectations, parental hopes, and individual dreams and hopes was a very trying thing when women didn t do anything but marry well (measured by money more than anything else). All of that is captured in this book.
January 31, 2010
A very strong first mystery novel set in the Edwardian period, in London. Ursula Marlow is a well brought up heiress with a radical streak. Strong minded, well-educated, beautiful and well dressed, she is unconventional in her politics, taking active part in the women's suffrage movement and in social equality radicalism.
Her friend Winifred Stanford-Jones seeks her out in desperation when "Freddie" finds her friend and lover dead in her bed and Frreddie has no memory of what has occurred.
Passionately sure of her friend's innocence, Ursula pursues the mystery to its sorrowful end. She is pitted with and sometimes against her father's trusted advisor Lord Wrotham, fighting her attraction to this enigmatic man of conservative politics.
Exciting, adventuresome, the mystery pulls on past mysteries as the conclusion unfolds. Very satisfactory!
Her friend Winifred Stanford-Jones seeks her out in desperation when "Freddie" finds her friend and lover dead in her bed and Frreddie has no memory of what has occurred.
Passionately sure of her friend's innocence, Ursula pursues the mystery to its sorrowful end. She is pitted with and sometimes against her father's trusted advisor Lord Wrotham, fighting her attraction to this enigmatic man of conservative politics.
Exciting, adventuresome, the mystery pulls on past mysteries as the conclusion unfolds. Very satisfactory!
April 1, 2009
Although the name evokes a hammy romance novel, Consequences of Sin is actually a good mystery. The murder of a young woman brings back a mystery from over 20 years (and 2000 miles) previously. Along the way, our heroine Ursula, struggles to maintain her independence in the strict Edwardian era. I can't quite believe Ursula as a suffragette - her wealth shields her from some of the unsavory elements - but she's likable enough. The romantic relationship she develops with Lord Wrotham also requires some suspension of disbelief (an unrequited love situation there). However, the tale is well told, with a number of twists that keep the pages turning.
May 10, 2010
A very enjoyable read. I have just recently been introduced to the genre of cozy mysteries and am absolutely loving them. This book is no exception. Ursula is the daughter of a wealthy early 20th century industrialist in London. She is an independant, intelligent and strong-willed woman struggling with abiding by the norms of society versus her wants, desires and needs. She becomes embroiled in a murder investigation when a good friend is accused of murder. Aided by a relunctant Lord Wortham, Urusla discovers the reason for the murder is not so far removed from her family dynsasty. Well worth the read!
July 12, 2012
A mediocre mystery-? detective novel? - not familiar with this genre so I'm not sure what to call it - set very unconvincingly in the Victorian period. Protagonist Ursula, for all her political activity, is supposed to be a feminist heroine, and her close friend and fellow suffragette, who is accused of murder and pretty much disappears from the novel after the first chapter, is a lesbian, but somehow the book still ended up focusing on the protagonist's torrid love for the male-chauvinist guardian who reminds her of her late father. Not impressed. It was also a rather slow read until the end, when all the action happened.
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