Bleeding Heart Square is the first book by Andrew Taylor that I've read, but it won't be the last. It's a mystery of sorts, but there is no body to speak of when you first start reading. The mystery surrounds the disappearance of a spinsterly lady who the reader comes to know through the pages of her diary. The story is revealed slowly and it takes a while for the action to really pick up and move along at a nice pace, but once you're hooked I found it to be a compulsive read.
"Sometimes you frighten yourself. So what is it exactly? A punishment? A distraction? A relief? You're not sure. You tell yourself that it happened more than four years ago, that it doesn't matter anymore and nothing you can do can change a thing. But you don't listen, do you? All you do is go back to that nasty little green book."
That nasty little green book is Miss Penhow's diary. Each chapter of the novel begins with an entry from the diary, and each entry is remarked upon by a character whose identity is unknown. Miss Penhow is an unmarried woman of a certain age who falls under the influence of a charming and slightly younger man who has an eye on her fortune. It doesn't take much wooing to separate Philippa Penhow from her property and money. By the time Miss Penhow realizes that Joseph Serridge's promises are false and empty it will be too late. Only the question is, just what happened to Miss Penhow. Is she dead or alive?
That's the question that will bring together Lydia Langstone and Rory Wentworth, and Bleeding Heart Square is where they converge. Unlikely counterparts brought together by chance in a seedier part of London but probably the perfect place for dastardly events to occur. Legend has it that the devil once danced in Bleeding Heart Square and now someone is sending Joseph Serridge animal hearts to show how much they care. The dilapidated house that stands on the square was once owned by Philippa Penhow, but now Serridge claims ownership.
Four years after Miss Penhow's disappearance Lydia Langstone comes in search of her father and a place to stay. She's left her abusive husband, and while she's used to a comfortable life of nice things, even Bleeding Heart Square is better than being knocked about. She's not really cut out for the sort of lifestyle her father leads, meaning one of poverty essentially, but she manages to find part time employment in a law office. Rory Wentworth is an out of work journalist just lately back from India. Each has a connection to or interest in Miss Penhow. For Lydia it's her father. He has shady ties to Serridge and thus Philippa Penhow. Rory is looking into Miss Penhow's disappearance on behalf of his girlfriend Fenella, Philippa's niece. But will they find Miss Penhow? Each brings different pieces to the puzzle, but will it be enough?
Taylor weaves an interesting mystery with lots of different threads. It takes some unraveling, but I thought he did a fairly impressive job of creating an unusual mystery with a surprising ending that I didn't see coming. Set in 1934 there are signs of the coming times--Mosley's politics are touted by some as the way out of the problems Britain is beset with. There's a clash of classes,as would be expected at this time. And more than a few of the characters are brutish bullies that give an already darkish story and even darker tone. I enjoyed this one and will be looking for the first of his Roth series, The Four Last Things, which I hear is even better.