A close call for the World’s End Bureau!

Ex nurse Lily Raynor’s detective prowesses continue to grow as she takes on another case for the World’s End Bureau, the enquiry agency she’s started.
Lily’s been asked to try and prove the innocence, or guilt, of Phyllida Westwood’s ex fiancé, Wilberforce Chibb. Chibb is currently residing in an asylum in Paimpont, Brittany. He's accused of murdering his father and is now an inmate of that institution. Phyllida wants the truth.
Lily’s assistant, Felix Wilbraham, has been in Paris tying up some loose ends about an inheritance left to him by his former lover Solange Devaux Moncontour. It had been withheld by the family solicitors. (Some of Felix’s past coming to light. Hmm!)
Lily telephones Felix to have him stay in Paris and meet her.
Their investigations take them into that Breton asylum, rescuing Will the young man whose been condemned for a murder he possibly hasn’t committed. They flee up to the Pyrenees, into Switzerland, back to Paris trekking unknown trails, and onto England all the time being relentlessly pursued by English and German intelligence organizations. Gun toting secret agents not withstanding, they finally make it to England. Always their pursuers seem to be if not one step ahead, then close on their heels?!
An intriguing and dark, bordering on the Gothic mystery, that smacks of plots, counter plots, and hidden secrets.

A Severn House ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher. ( )

The World's End Bureau Victorian mystery series is a favorite of mine, peopled with an unusual cast of characters who are all quite engaging and whose different skills are usefully complementary. This volume begins and ends in England, but takes place for the most part in France.

Lily Raynor, head of the World's End Bureau, has been asked to travel to France to look for a patient missing from an asylum. The request comes from missing man's fiancee, and she explains that he may or may not be responsible for two murders, and she wants him found so she can decide whether to continue their engagement. Meanwhile, Felix Wilbraham, the other member of the World's End Bureau, is already in France, having been notified of an unexpected inheritance.

The two join up and begin the hunt for the missing man—and quickly realize there are others also looking for him who would like to take Raynor and Wilbraham off the case, by killing them if necessary. Raynor and Wilbraham follow one lead after another, traveling from Paris to the French side of the Pyrenees and back again.

There is an interesting mystery at the heart of this novel that involves a wild mix of characters, but the primary action focuses on the journey to, in, and from France. I admit that I grew somewhat tired of repeated rounds of our-heroes-escape-to-x-only-to-find-their-nemeses-still-in-pursuit. Chase scenes can be exciting, but they can't really carry a novel.

If you like historical mysteries, I strongly recommend the World's End Bureau series, but I would suggest starting with one of the three previous volumes. The Stranger in the Asylum will make more satisfying reading once you've come to know the characters a bit better.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own. ( )