Death at Apothecaries' Hall

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A Difficult Case for Apothecary Rawlings - Rated
Deryn Lake is a pseudonym of a well know historical novelist. Among the books she has written are the popular John Rawlings Mysteries, Death on the Romney Marsh, Death in the Peerless Pool, Death at the Apothecaries' hall, Death at the Devil's Tavern and others. As all her titles are preceded by the word death, this is a pretty good indication regarding the contents of the books and very good historical murder mysteries they are. `Deryn Lake' live near Hastings, in East Sussex

For those who read Deryn Lake's excellent Georgian mysteries the character of John Rawlings is now an old and trusted friend and the author's clean writing style makes the pages fly by. The books are good, well researched historical murder mysteries, mostly set in Georgian London and they are what they are and do not pretend to be anything else. Gentle escapism for the reader, away from the bumps and grinds of everyday life.

In this tale John Rawlings attempts, without success to save the life of a fellow apothecary, albeit an older and more illustrious member of the Apothecaries' Guild. However although his attempts are in vain, it becomes apparent that the victim attended a dinner at the Apothecaries' Hall and everyone else who attended was also laid low with sickness. John with the help of John Fielding, the magistrate known throughout London and beyond as the `Blind Beak' attempts to get to the bottom of what caused all of those who attended the dinner at the Apothecaries' Hall to be taken ill and even more curiously, why was it that Liveryman Alleyn, John's patient was the only fatality of all the dinner guests?

Fun, fact and fiction - Rated
I

The vivid descriptions of Georgian London, in Death at Apothecaries' Hall., complete with accurate and recognisable topography is a delight. The characters are just sufficiently over the top to be interesting and the plot, whilst not subtle, was a real page turner. The atmospheric descriptions of the river and the weather were perfect for an English winter's day reading.

I particularly enjoyed the fascinating descriptions of the apothecaries' skills and the use of the different herbs together with some insight into medical developments in the eighteenth century.

The combination of fact and fiction, together with the interesting characterisation of the apothecary John Rawlings, his friend Samuel, his father Sir Gabriel, his chick magnet apprentice Nicholas, the blind Magistrate John Fielding his mistress, the exquisite actress Coralie and his fiance the gorgeous, Emilia, together with familiar 18th characters from the Apothecaries Hall make up a winning cast.

Well crafted, well researched and fun to read.

A history who-dunnit that is easy to read - Rated
Finally somebody realised that history can be entertaining, and fun without getting clogged by sacrificing "correctness" for a compelling read.

For a layman in both period dramas, and pharmacy, it was easy to read. It has sucessfully hooked me, both on the character and the timeline.