A romantic historical mystery brimming with loss and forgiveness.
A Deadly Affection brings to mind the books of Anne Perry and Deanna Raybourn. The setting is fresh and alive, an engaging portrayal of 1907 New York. Dr. Summerford is trying to succeed as a woman in a crowded medical profession, difficult enough, while dealing with a past full of the sadness she tries to cure in others.
Her honourable father wants her to use her talents properly, instead of wasting them on untested mental theories. Jealous male students seek to discredit her. And pushed down into the past is the stable boy well below her station who left her humiliated and heart-broken – until he appears in her life again as the one person who can help her.
The book begins with her trying to help a group of troubled young women. She encourages one of them, Eliza, to seek the baby taken from her. Unfortunately, the doctor who took her baby winds up dead that same morning. The police believe they have an open and shut case. Dr. Summerford’s anger and heartbreak with the stable boy Simon must be put aside if she is to solve the case.
As she attempts to prove the innocence of her client Eliza, she is forced to both confront her own past and the dark secret that lurks behind the death of the good doctor. The mystery twists and turns with an ending that was rather disturbing, but overall the book seeks to focus on the courage of the characters.
Faith Allington 