Review: Murder at the Natural History Museum

Happy Thursday Everyone!

I hope you are all well and thriving! Works begins in a few days on my end and I’m staying busy juggling teaching stuff, book stuff, and buying a house stuff…and I am just so ready for Fall and some cooler weather.

Today is the release date for Murder at the Natural History Museum! I’m excited to share my thoughts on this one with you all, and I’m grateful to NetGalley and Allison & Busby for a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review. 🙂

Rundown:In this fifth installment of Jim Eldridge’s “Museum Mysteries” series, we find archaeologist Abigail Fenton and P.I. Daniel Wilson–partners in detection and in life–investigating not a death, but the vandalism of a dinosaur skeleton in London’s Natural History Museum. True to form, however, a murder is soon discovered at the museum, launching Abigail and Daniel into a twisty mystery involving London’s elite, blackmail, and one of the most dangerous situations the pair have found themselves in up to this point.

My Thoughts:I think this is my favorite installment in the series. One of the aspects of these books I have really enjoyed is the historical and factual information given throughout the story–in this case, around dinosaurs, fossils, and archaeological digs. It makes for an interesting read and it is clear that Eldridge has spent time researching, which I love. In this story in particular, I loved the introduction of real-life historical figures as characters. Bram Stoker and Oscar Wilde figure prominently in this one, as well as some others. As a reader, these details made the read more fun and if this series continues, I would love to see this happen more. As far as the mystery went, this one kept me guessing primarily because of the sheer number of angles and suspects, but it wasn’t overwhelming at all. I had an inkling of who the culprit might be as the story went on, but because of the various red herrings, I was never completely sure. There were moments throughout the story where the dialogue felt a little flat, or were assumptions were made that felt out of nowhere, but this didn’t happen enough to really bother me.

Recommendation:I rated this 4/5 because while I was not blown away by the story and it fell into a predictable pattern like its predecessors, I really liked many aspects of this story and I feel the characters of Abigail and Daniel have grown since this first book. If you love mysteries, mystery series, stories in Victorian England…I definitely recommend! Plus, the concept is cool: an archaeologist and a private investigator solving museum mysteries in Victorian England–what’s not to like?

I’m hoping to get another post up before the weekend is over and before work officially starts! As always, keep reading!