A Particular Eye for Villainy by Ann Granger was published in 2012 and it’s the first book that I’ve read by the author.
The setting is London in the 1860s and the story is told by Elizabeth Martin Ross and her husband Inspector Ben Ross, taking turns to tell the tale.
Mr Thomas Tapley was a neighbour of the Ross’s, he was an elderly gentleman, it looked like he had seen better days but he seemed friendly enough and harmless. So when he is found in his rented rooms, having been bludgeoned to death there are few clues to go on. But Mrs Ross had seen him on the day of his death and she is quite sure that he was being followed by someone dressed as a clown. She has a particular fear of clowns ( I know the feeling!) and her husband the inspector is inclined to put her suspicion down to her own aversion to clowns.
I quite enjoyed this one although I think it would have been better if I had started reading from the beginning of the series, I think this is the fourth one. I guessed the culprit fairly early on in the book. I’m not sure if I’ll read any others in this series as I have so many books and series to catch up with. I also feel that I should pay more attention to the many unread books of my own which I’ve been neglecting. They’re the bookish equivalent of the cobbler’s weans who went barefoot!