The Path of the Wicked by Caro Peacock

Review by Jerelyn H. (I-F-Letty)

Liberty Lane is back but traveling out of London for her next case.  Fed up with Disraeli and the skullduggery which he thrives on, she refuses to be drawn into his new machinations.  To distance herself, Liberty takes a case in the west of England.  A timid magistrate has come to her for help, fearing an innocent man is about to be hung, and at a lost as how to stop this injustice.

For those who have read the Liberty Lane series, this is a worthy addition to the ongoing tale of our Miss Lane.  Ms. Peacock has set this story in the West Country where she resides, and the flavor of the region permeates the story line. Farm labor unrest, the ruling classes getting away with murder, and the working class taking it on the chin as usual.

In the mid 19^th century, justice was not for the poor or the working class, and if you were a poor working class woman, there was no such thing as justice, not under the law nor in society.   Amos Legg and Lizzy are with Liberty on this case, and we get to know a bit more about Amos. Lizzy is as always her curmudgeonly self, a fish out of water in the country but invaluable to Liberty as she struggles to unravel the complicated tale which lead to the murder of an admired governess, and finally to the murderer.

Caro Peacock aka Gillian Linscott’s writing career has been based on the struggles of women, the poor and the working class in the Victorian and Edwardian periods.  She eloquently shows the beginnings of the social revolution in the 19^th century, a revolution that was the only recourse against social injustice first for workers then onto women rights.  Sadly the problems she addresses are as relevant today as they were 140 years ago.

These books are not a preachy socialist, or feminist manifesto, but an entertaining way for us to be reminded that we didn’t always enjoy the freedoms we have now, and if we aren’t very careful we may wake up one day to find those rights so many fought for,  eroded and perhaps gone.

4 Stars!

Tags: Book Recommendations, Book Reviews, Book Suggestions

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