At Midnight in Venice (Charles Dickens and Superintendent Sam Jones. Book No. 5)

I adore this series and have bought them off Amazon because I could not resist. I love the English setting specially the contrast between the so very rich and aristocratic society always brought into the stories (as in this one) and then you get the stark contrast with the bone shattering poverty and crime that seemed to abound in London just metres away from the rich and famous. The poor were brought into the rich homes as menials in domestic service, in suppliers of all goods and services and how a rebellion did not happen earlier is a mystery! Two cities - one vision. Venice a few years before where Charles saw a vision of a murder and then fast forward to London where a young woman employed in an aristocrats house goes missing at the same time as the young music master. Add to this the case of the missing daughter of the house "sent to the country" due to ill health, the terrified nature of the Lady of the house and Dickens knows there is more to unravel. Very slowly unravelled with a host of characters, these stories are not for the ones who want fast paced action. This is slow detection work against the odds of having to be very careful when dealing with the high and mighty who have no compunction in using whatever powers that be to protect their name and family to the detriment of everyone else. It further highlighted the hopelessness of the poor and those who did not have family support and these people inhabiting the stories did not have much. Victorian London at its best with a mystery murder thrown in.