Rebecca Stott’s THE CORAL THIEF is exactly how you write a mystery set in historical times that deals with historical themes. First, you craft an actual mystery — in this case, a theft of a rare diamond from the Jardin des Plantes. Second, you create characters we care about — in this case, a naïve young Scot named Daniel Connor and a seductive cougar named Lucienne Bernard, whose meeting changes both of their lives forever.
Third, you fully research your chosen historical setting, but you very slowly impart all that knowledge and research you’ve acquired to the reader, giving the details when it matters, withholding them when it doesn’t. That’s the trickiest part of an historical mystery but Stott nails it completely.
Connor is scheduled to begin work with the natural history legend Baron Cuvier. But on his travels from Edinburgh to France, he encounters a lovely woman who discusses some rather heretical ideas of natural history with him. He finds himself enchanted by this woman, but the next day, discovers that his case of specimens, with which he had hoped to please Cuvier, has gone missing.
Eventually, he encounters the woman again, and she teasingly plays with and manipulates him in a remarkable seduction that has Connor completely in the woman’s snare. And that woman has plans.
This is a wonderful mix of historical fiction, mystery and a bit of romance set in the post-Napoleonic era of 1815 France. Stott has a nice, gliding style that is good at passing along tons of information without making it seem like a footnote in an academic nonfiction text. If you have an interest in the timeframe or natural history, or if you want a mystery that has a bit more gentle romance in it than most, this is the choice for you. Very much recommended. —Mark Rose
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