From the Stacks: Bruce Alexander’s “Person or Persons Unknown”

Genre
Mystery – British, historical fiction

Escape experience
Go back to a time of no smart phones, cell phones, pagers or other pesky mobile devices; no text messaging, e-mail or Internet, wireless or otherwise; no telephone or telegraph; no GPS, radio, satellites or cable television – the bliss of (almost) absolute disconnectivity. No automobiles, gas or electric stoves, vacuum cleaners, dishwashers, washing machines, dryers or Swiffer mops and dusters – the simplicity or drudgery (depending on your personal proclivities) of a pre-technological, pre-industrial world. It's 1770, London, England – a time of nascent laws and an infant police force.

Read this if you’re into…
Tuning into the History Channel and tuning out of your frenetic, hyper-connected, modern-day existence. You devour any and all documentaries on pre-Revolutionary War America and England, often imagining yourself living in that time period. You're also one of those rare creatures who still send hand-written notes on personalized stationery.

Plot
London, England, 1770: Scotland Yard is in its infancy and a mere 20 constables and a local magistrate shoulder the burden of preserving peace in the land. Prostitutes are turning up dead in the dark alleys of London, stabbed with a stiletto or vivisected with surgical precision. Blind magistrate Sir John Fielding and his 15-year-old assistant Jeremy Proctor lead the chase for the killer (or killers).

Pace: Reading this is like walking in a pair of...
Penny loafers, as you wander through the hallowed stacks of Oxford's Bodleian Library. You want to be comfortable because you'll be browsing a long while: you don't want to overlook that obscure but fascinating historical volume, tucked among dusty, leather-bound tomes.

Cast of characters

• Sir John Fielding - The "Blind Beak of Bow Street" and co-founder of the New Scotland Yard. A blind magistrate who established and formalized much of modern-day policing procedures, including the first criminal database. Through his other (heightened) senses, the Blind Beak "sees" what the sighted often miss: the deceits and insecurities hidden behind the most practiced masks.
• Jeremy Proctor - Narrator and fictional character. Orphaned 15-year-old Jeremy was rescued from unjust imprisonment by Sir John Fielding and given a permanent home and the opportunity to study the law. In return, Jeremy renders whatever services are necessary in running Fielding's household and assists Fielding in his investigations.
• Gabriel Donnelly - An Irishman formerly serving as a surgeon in the British navy. Donnelly pioneers the role of medical examiner, aiding in the investigations of Sir John Fielding.
• The Bow Street Runners - Established by Sir John Fielding and his half-brother, novelist Henry Fielding, a constabulary force that lays the foundation for the New Scotland Yard.

Books in the Sir John Fielding series  

1. Blind Justice 
2. Murder in Grub Street 
3. Watery Grave 
4. Person or Persons Unknown 
5. Jack, Knave and Fool 
6. Death of a Colonial 
7. The Color of Death 
8. Smuggler's Moon 
9. An Experiment in Treason (featuring Benjamin Franklin)
10. The Price of Murder 
11. Rules of Engagement 

You might also like…

• Robert Lee Hall - Nicolas Handy assists Franklin in Benjamin Franklin Takes the Case.
• Anne Perry - Begin the William Monk series with The Face of a Stranger.