2019/24: The Price of Meat -- K J Charles

To find oneself in such proximity to a weapon of murder must have blighted the nerves of any woman of sensibility; Johanna, who sadly lacked proper feeling, whispered an expletive and made a silent vow to see her villainous master hang. [loc. 47]

A novella, which I bought at publication and have unaccountably not got around to reading until now. I must say it cheered me up remarkably. Set in an alternate 19th century where Britain is ruled by Victor II, this is horror rather than romance, though there are two queer couples (M/M and F/F) who feature prominently.

Arabella Wilmot has been confined to an asylum by her greedy parents, who crave the generous bequest that will be theirs if Arabella dies before her 21st birthday. Fortunately, her lover Johanna Oakley is determined to save her: and when opportunity knocks -- in the form of another asylum inmate who tells her an incoherent tale of mass-murder and corruption -- Johanna is quick to seize it. She approaches Colonel Elias Jeffery, investigating magistrate, who is keen to discover what lies behind the disappearance of more than sixty men (though not a proportional number of women) in the last six months. The answers seem to lie in the Liberty of Alsatia, where the long arm of the law can't reach.

And then Jeffery receives a note from Johanna, who has taken a post as shop boy, 'needless to say in masculine attire', to investigate a barber's shop on the edge of Alsatia. In exchange for Jeffery's promise to help Arabella, Johanna proposes to 'observe, record and investigate'. Will her cast-iron sensibilities be a match for what she discovers within the Liberty?

This was a delightful read, despite the sheer nastiness of the premise. Johanna is a splendid heroine -- resourceful, brave and intelligent -- and Arabella is far from spineless: Jeffery is competent and honorable; and Ingestrie not only demonstrates considerable bravery and inventiveness, but also has some of the best lines in the novella.

I would be delighted to read more fiction set in this variant on the City of Dreadful Night. The horror is wholly human, and so are the characters: I'd love to know what happens to them after the end of The Price of Meat.