This is a series of novels by Jim Eldridge. There are ten books so far in the series.
THE DETECTIVES
Daniel Wilson is a former Scotland Yard detective, sergeant under inspector Abberline during the investigation into the ripper murders. Abigail Fenton (later in the series Mrs Wilson) is a Cambridge educated archaelogist specialising in ancient Egypt. This partnership investigate crimes at various museums, hence their and the series’ title. Often, though not always, they are working in parallel with Scotland Yard. Superintendent Armstrong, a bully of such unpleasantness as to make Edward Marston’s superintendent Tallis look saintly by comparison (and lacking Tallis’ great virtue of actually being good at the job), does not like the pair at all, though inspector John Feather gets on well with them, recognising unlike Armstrong that they have a common goal.
THE CASES
Daniel and Abigail first overlap at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, and other non-London venues to feature are The Ashmolean, The Manchester Museum and the Louvre, in which last case Abigail finds herself a suspect at first. The London museums to feature are in chronological order The British Museum, The Natural History Museum, Madame Tussauds, The Victoria and Albert Museum, The National Gallery and the Tower of London (yes, among its many guises the Tower is London’s oldest museum). Sometimes the crimes involve museum personnel and sometimes not, but invariably the scope of the investigation widens beyond just the museum. Abigail is a fan of the then fledgling underground system, and they often use the Inner Circle (we are talking about the 1890s, so only the Metropolitan, District and their central combination, then known as the Inner Circle, and the City and South London Railway, then serving a mere six stations and unconnected to the others, are in existence, though the Metropolitan has already reached the furthest from Central London that any of the lines that became London Underground ever will -Brill in Buckinghamshire, 51 miles from Baker Street). Nevertheless, with the Wilson’s living within walking distance of Euston Square, Scotland Yard being near Embankment and one or too other useful locations appearing opportunities arise. In “Murder at The Tower of London” they have to chase up a witness in Loughton, then served by the Great Eastern Railway (this branch is now the eastern end of the Central line, but that development was almost half a century away when the action in the book was happening). The books are all splendid reads.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
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