I didn't fall in love with these characters, but I did like them, and I enjoyed following along on their adventure. And I'm pleased to read another book with them. ( )

I don't know if I am ready for this world or not, to be "paired" and told what to do, or to be daily watched night and day for the good of the society! I liked this book and liked Kate, who was happy with her life. Married to Eric and had two children, but Eric was gone more and more to help find a cure for Cancer and it would be good for the community. I was not happy with the leader's choices to break up Eric and Kate ( )

In April 1857, Jasper Lightner, star detective of the London police force and keen student of scientific methods, faces a crisis that threatens his career. His obdurate father, a duke who’s found fault with his second son forever, believes that Jasper’s chosen profession stains the family escutcheon. But since His Lordship can’t deter his wayward progeny by cutting off his allowance — an aunt has conveniently left Jasper a sizable legacy — he applies political pressure instead. The duke gives Jasper an ultimatum: leave the police force or go to (ugh!) New York and teach the colonial upstarts how to sleuth properly, if he likes.

Jasper doesn’t particularly like — his imperious valet, Paisley, likes it even less — but our hero accepts the journey as an adventure. What he doesn’t know and couldn’t possibly anticipate, no sooner has he landed than he realizes he’s walked into a snake pit. Every copper in the city resents him on sight, whether for his nationality (they’re Irish), reverse snobbery about his class, or because they believe that the interloper will expose the incredible corruption they take as their right.

The nonstop political turf war, with gangs, Tammany Hall, and rivalries within the force, may turn violent any second; woe betide the newcomer, who can’t know whose toes he’s just stepped on. And oh, by the way, someone’s cutting through the ranks of the city’s wealthiest men, killing them in copycat fashion, with garrotte and knife. The mayor wants these murders solved yesterday.

Absence of Mercy, the first of a promised series, wades into this donnybrook with gusto. If you like complicated mysteries in which bodies fall by the day, perceptions change by the hour, and the gritty atmosphere could be packed into a ball and used to scrape rust, you’ll find your pleasures here.

But clever as the plot is — at times, too clever for me to follow — the most winning aspect of this novel is its protagonist. I’ve never encountered a detective like Jasper Lightner, and maybe you haven’t, either. You might suppose that a thumbnail sketch of his past reminds you of a cross-genre James Bond. Handsome? Check. Suave? You got it. Throw in his impeccable manners, refusal to rise to the insults that his legion of enemies hurls at him, and magnetism for women, and you’ve just about spelled trope. Do I need to mention that he’s a veteran of the Crimea, a survivor of the charge of the Light Brigade, and trained to become a doctor, only to abandon his studies shortly before completing them?

But hold on. This paragon stutters, badly, except in the rare moments when he allows himself anger. Paisley, his valet, scares him. Jasper’s former fiancée married his brother. He suffers nightmares because of that infamous charge, and he hates that Tennyson wrote a poem about it. He still carries shrapnel from the battle, and to dull his pains, physical and emotional, he favors madak, tobacco laced with opium. Most importantly, despite his social gifts, sensitivity, and kindness, he can’t abide intimacy.

Consequently, Jasper pulls you in thoroughly, and you’ll need that connection as your compass, because Absence of Mercy visits the most degraded locales in a filthy metropolis. Goodwin lovingly portrays the muck, stench, and horror of New York life for the teeming underclass less than a mile from Fifth Avenue, but who might as well inhabit another planet. Life’s hard, and a man like Jasper, who believes in justice, has his work cut out for him.

Aside from occasionally losing the threads tying motive to crime and the timing of who said or did what, when, I find this novel absolutely engrossing. Every once in a while, the diction slips, as Jasper speaks like an American, whereas his American assistant, a detective improbably named Hieronymus (Hy) Law, talks like an Englishman. But despite that, Goodwin’s a careful writer with a gift for creating vivid scenes and a sense of history, for the narrative takes place during the years of the Fugitive Slave Act, which figures in the story and puzzles our English protagonist.

If you go along for the ride, don’t be alarmed if the odd detail puzzles you. ( )

1857 Lord Jasper Lightner, hero of the Crimean war, and Detective Inspector of the London Metropolitan Police has embarrassed his father for the last time, so he is sent to New York City to train detectives. Arriving just as the dead body of a Alard Janssen has been discovered, murdered. He meets disgraced detective Hieronymus Law and they partner up to investigate a series of murders but with no motive, and no hint of a suspect.
An entertaining well-written Victorian murder mystery with two likeable but flawed main characters. A very good start to a new series.
An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Absence of Mercy by S. M. Goodwin
A Lightner & Law Mystery #1

Splendid Story ~ I was hooked and could not put it down! This may be a debut novel but a stellar one for sure! With a sympathetic hero, wonderful supporting characters, history, a bit of romance, excellent plotting & writing, well, it was a riveting read!

What I liked:
* Lord Jasper Lightner: detective, war veteran, traumatic brain and other injuries from the war, son of a duke, likeable, observant, unflappable, multilingual, skilled fighter, and very human – I really like him.
* Detective Hieronymus Law: detective, falsely accused, interesting, intelligent, a man I want to know more about.
* The writing, plot, historical aspects
* Paisley: Jasper’s valet but also much more…he is a force to be reckoned with. Looking forward to hearing more about him in the future
* John: a young boy with a stammer that I hope will grow into more within the book
* Jasper’s ability to understand the best way to interact with others – no matter who they might be
* The twists and turns
* Feeling as if I was “in the story” with all senses engaged
* The canes…each one different and equally deadly…in the right hands
* Character development of main and supporting characters
* The way all the threads of the story were drawn tightly together to conclude the story
* That I thought, felt, and wondered about “what if” I had been various characters in the story
* All of it really except…

What I didn’t like:
* Jasper’s father – an unlikable man…though his wife didn’t seem much better
* The “powers that be” within New York
* The corruption of police and politicians
* being reminded of the rough life so many endure…wealthy and poor alike

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more in this series? Definitely!

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars ( )