A Bitter Remedy by Alis Hawkins
Jesus College, Oxford, 1881.
An undergraduate is found dead at his lodgings and the medical examination reveals some shocking findings. When the young man’s guardian blames the college for his death and threatens a scandal, Basil Rice, a Jesus college fellow with a secret to hide, is forced to act and finds himself drawn into Sidney Parker’s sad life.
The mystery soon attracts the attention of Rhiannon ‘Non’ Vaughan, a young Welsh polymath and one of the young women newly admitted to university lectures. But when neither the college principal nor the powerful ladies behind Oxford’s new female halls will allow her to become involved, Non’s fierce intelligence and determination to prove herself drive her on.
Both misfits at the university, Non and Basil form an unlikely partnership, and it soon falls to them to investigate the mysterious circumstances of Parker’s death. But between corporate malfeasance and snake-oil salesmen, they soon find the dreaming spires of Oxford are not quite what they seem…
An intriguing first installment of The Oxford Mysteries series by master crime writer, Alis Hawkins. Perfect for fans of Laura Shepherd-Robinson, Sarah Waters and Kaite Welsh.
About the author
Alis grew up on a dairy farm in Ceredigion. Her inner introvert thought it would be a good idea to become a shepherd and, frankly, if she had she might have been published sooner.
As it was, three years reading English at Oxford revealed an extrovert streak and a social conscience and she has spent the subsequent three decades variously working in a burger restaurant, bringing up two sons, working with homeless people, and – having trained as a speech and langauge therapist – helping teachers and families to understand their autistic children. And writing. Always. Nonfiction (autism related), plays (commissioned for production in heritage locations) and, of course, novels.
Initially fascinated by the medieval period, Alis began her crime and mystery career at Pan Macmillan with Testament, a novel set in a fictitious medieval university city. Part of Testament’s narrative takes place in the fourteenth century and part in the twenty-first which taught Alis that she is far more passionate about writing historical fiction than contemporary.
So she fast-forwarded four centuries from fourteenth South East England to nineteenth century West Wales to write a book based on Wales’s best kept historical secret: the Rebecca Riots. And then she fell in love – both with nineteenth century west Wales and her characters – and the result is the Teifi Valley Coroner crime series featuring visually impaired investigator, Harry Probert-Lloyd, and his chippy assistant, John DavieS.
As a side-effect of setting her series in Ceredigion, instead of making research trips to sunny climes like more foresighted writers, she just drives across Wales to see her family.
Now living with her partner on the Welsh/English border, Alis is a Welsh speaker, collects rucksacks and can’t resist an interesting fact.
Fun fact: In 1977, Alis was the winner of the under 16s stockjudging competition at the Cardiganshire Federation of Young Farmers Rally. She loves cows…
Review
‘A Bitter Remedy’ was a brilliant start to a brand new series from Alis Hawkins! It's a dark Victorian crime series that is set in 1880s Oxford with brilliant characters and a well-developed and nuanced plot. I fell in love with Nora, Basil and the gang and the location of Oxford. It was a layered narrative that had me guessing right till the end and I did not see that final reveal at all!
Rhiannon ‘Non’ Vaughan is among the first women to be admitted to sit in lectures at Jesus College, Oxford. She has only been allowed to attend if she meets certain criteria, i.e. being accompanied by her chaperone Lily Maddox, wearing appropriate clothing and the subject matter needs to be ‘suitable’ topics. But Nora is a trailblazer and won't stand for people who do no support the inclusion of women. Plus, she secretly thinks she is better than everyone. So when the death of a fellow scholar interrupts a lecture, Nora is determined to ‘help out’ with Professor Basil Rice and his investigation. But will this put in her danger…
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I really liked Nora. Yes, she could be a headstrong and annoying specimen at times but she is fighting for her place in history and society in general. I loved her fight against the patriarchy and her spats with ‘The Peacock’! I was fascinated with the inclusion of Rev Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) which sent me on a deep rabbit hole on Google to learn about his life at Oxford!
This is a brilliant start to a series and I will be keeping an eye out for its follow-up! Let me know if you read this one.
