Black Hills, The

By Sara Hughes

Private detectives Grand & Batchelor embark for the Wild West - and headlong into a baffling murder investigation in this gripping Victorian mystery.

March, 1875. Although he has never had much time for George Custer, hero of the American Civil War and Commander of the 7th Cavalry, Matthew Grand feels duty bound to respond to a call for help from his West Point contemporary. Arriving at Fort Abraham Lincoln, deep in Dakota territory, private enquiry agents Grand and Batchelor discover the fort to be a powder keg of rumour and suspicion, petty rivalries, resentments - and closely-guarded secrets.

When a body is discovered during a routine scouting patrol, some of those secrets rise uncomfortably close to the surface. Are the Lakota Sioux responsible? Or does the killer lie closer to home? Could it have been a case of mistaken identity - and was Custer himself the real target? The General has made many enemies - but does someone have a good enough reason to kill him?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Severn House Publishers
• Release date: Nov 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781448303502

Sara Hughes

M J Trow is a military historian by training and the author of the long-running Inspector Lestrade and ‘Mad Max’ Maxwell detective series, as well as the Kit Marlowe Tudor mysteries and the Grand & Batchelor Victorian mystery series. He lives on the Isle of Wight.

Reviews for Black Hills, The

[vesper1931 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

March 1875 Enquiry agents Grand and Batchelor are in their way to the Wild West in response to a call for help from Colonel Custer, a West Point contemporary of Grand. On arriving in Washington and meeting up with Custer, various incidents lead them to believe that Custers' life is in danger. Even more so when they proceed to Fort Abraham Lincoln where Custer is stationed.
While enjoyable enough there really didn't seem much depth to the mystery or the characters.
A NetGalley Book