The Nightingale Affair
In 1855, the Crimean War still rages, and within the walls of the Barracks Hospital, another war takes place between the male doctors and Florence Nightingale and her band of brave nurses. Recently that secondary war has escalated. Nurses are being murdered—strangled, with an embroidered rose sewn to their lips—and Inspector Field is sent from England to find the culprit. But Field gets no help from the male doctors, and clues are few and far between. With a combination of guile, experience, and luck, Field tracks down the killer, who commits suicide. Everything is neatly tied up and the murders are solved—or are they?
Twelve years later in London, Field encounters another murder victim with the tell-tale rose on her lips. The last time he saw such a rose was in the Crimea, where he’d been sent to protect Florence Nightingale and her nurses. Did they get the wrong man then? Is this the same ruthless killer he met before, or is a copycat killer now on the loose in London?
This is a fast-paced, compelling novel with historical fact and fiction expertly interwoven. The historical characters never overpower the story, nor does the fiction detract from fact. If The Nightingale Affair has a fault, it is lack of detail in the clothing. For instance, we’re told the Nightingale nurses have horrible uniforms but not why they’re horrible, nor how they differ from regular women’s clothing. The sense of long, full skirts is totally absent, and the author missed a chance to enhance an already fine novel with these extra details. I will certainly look for the author’s other books!
