The Skeleton Army (The Oxford Mysteries, 2)
The Salvation Army comes to Oxford in 1882 with the mission to outlaw alcohol. The workers at the many breweries in the town take to the streets in death’s head masks to defend their livelihood. There are fisticuffs, marching, music and a couple of murders to solve. Town and gown clash in historic settings as the university follows its traditional calendar of events.
The well-drawn plot fizzes with surprises. There are two narrators, a man and a woman. They write alternate chapters, a strategy that enables the author to explore from both viewpoints the roles of men and women, love, sex, the law, and social justice. They write the structured prose of the 19th-century novel, with much humour and no overlong descriptions. Non, from Wales, is both a student at Somerville, the women’s college, and a would-be reporter for the Oxford Mercury. As a woman she cannot sit the university exams or be awarded a degree. When not riding her tricycle down the High Street, she may be seen talking to Hara, her dead twin, who is deaf. In spite of being at Jesus College, Basil is not quite as Welsh as Non. He is conscious of his male privileges but pays a heavy price for them. The laws against homosexuality at that time were ferocious. A thoroughly absorbing and thought-provoking read.
