Photography, misfits, and murder.
Amateur photographer Sarah Bain is all alone in the world. Her father died long ago and her mother is recently deceased. The only part of her past that she has are her memories and her father's studio; a business that she's struggling to keep afloat. Most of her money comes from the selling of boudoir photographs, something that will land her in jail if she gets caught. The models for these photos are prostitutes, one of whom turns up brutally murdered one day. Sarah thinks nothing of it until another model meets a similar end. It isn't until a third model dies that Sarah's suspicions are confirmed: the murderer is using her photographs to pick their victims.Unable and unwilling to inform the police, Sarah begins to investigate her model's deaths on her own. During her investigation, her friend Catharine Price- an aspiring actress- joins in, as does Lord Hugh Staunton, a charming nobleman; Mick O'Reilly, a street urchin; and Abraham Lipsky, a Jewish butcher, and his wife Rachel. Together, this motley crew of outcasts must solve the Crime of the Century before anymore harm can come to the ladies of the streets.
Sarah Bain is a series of historical mystery novels by Laura Joh Rowland. They are set in Victorian England, towards the end of the 19th century.
The books included in this series are:
- The Ripper's Shadow (2017)
- A Mortal Likeness (2018)
- The Hangman's Secret (2019)
- The Woman in the Veil (2020)
- Portrait of Peril (2021)
- Garden of Sins (2022)
- River of Fallen Angels (2023)
This series provides examples of:
- Attempted Suicide: In The Ripper's Shadow, Hugh attempts to kill himself by slitting his wrists while in a body of water. Fitzmorris finds Hugh before his master can bleed to death.
- Betrayal Insurance: Sarah and company's leverage for their bargain with Reid at the end of River of Fallen Angels. They know the truth of the Torso Murderer's death and how it was actually Reid's actions which got him and dozens of people killed. If Reid reneges on his end of their bargain and tries to screw them over, they'll go public.
- Bittersweet Ending:
- Garden of Sins. Benjamin Bain is legally exonerated for Ellen Casey's death thanks to Sarah's efforts. But they are left estranged as she broke her promise not to expose the late Mary Bain's role in the murder (or at least what they'd all believed was her role prior to the new evidence revealed in this novel). Sally's also left estranged from her own mother after the latter testified against Benjamin to punish him (and out of a misguided attempt to protect Sally). Mick's budding romantic relationship with Anjali ends due to her nearly being killed during the book's investigation and her father's demands. Hugh is still struggling with suicidal depression. Barrett's forced to be an accessory to another police coverup and his lifelong relationship with Jane Lambert's all but destroyed after she tries to break up his marriage. Finally, thanks to the devil's bargain she almost struck with Reid, the Inspector has been vindicated in his belief that Sarah and her friends are withholding evidence from the Ripper murders. So Sarah knows Reid will be coming after all of them again with renewed vigor.
- River of Fallen Angels, with more emphasis on the sweet than the bitter. The resolution of the Torso Murderer case resolves many of the ongoing crises and problems for Sarah and the rest of the cast. Reid is left indebted to them for saving his career from disastrous ruination and they have Betrayal Insurance if he ever breaks the deal Sarah struck. Reid also ends his private war with the Barretts for now, believing the Torso Murderer was also the Ripper and that Sarah's 'secret knowledge' was a Red Herring this whole time. Hugh and Dr. Lewis are also now together and Mick and Anjali have resumed their own romance (with the grudging blessing of her father). On the other hand, Sarah and Sally are still estranged from both their parents after the events of the previous novel. Sally's role in cracking the case (thanks to Sarah's deal with Reid) has also made her professional career — and this ironically isn't a good thing for the characters, because Sir Gerald now wants her to start digging into the Ripper Case with a fresh perspective. Sarah is rightly worried that Sally's stubborn determination (and her mounting suspicions that her half-sister, brother-in-law, and friends are all withholding information about the murders from her) may still end up exposing their role after all.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Jane Lambert after Barrett. Her inability to get out of it has disastrous consequences during Garden of Sins.
- Dead All Along: The missing child in A Mortal Likeness was killed sometime before he was kidnapped.
- Demoted to Extra: Once her role in the Jack the Ripper case is over, Catherine becomes more of minor character. She doesn't appear often and when she does, it comes across more like a cameo.
- Didn't Think This Through: Jane Lambert's attempts to break up Barrett and Sarah's marriage in Garden of Sins. She's so intent on doing whatever it takes to get her childhood sweetheart back — including leaking classified investigation details to frame Sarah and to destroy her professional career — that she didn't think about what would happen if/when Barrett found out. Barrett takes the revelation of her actions about as well as you'd expect.
- Dramatic Irony: Reid is absolutely right that Sarah and company are guilty of obstruction of justice for the Ripper murders and that they had a role in it. However, bringing Sarah and company to justice and exposing the Ripper's true identity wouldn't make Reid's career or see the Ripper's victims avenged. It would utterly destroy the credibility and reputation of the Metropolitan Police.
- Dude, She's Like in a Coma: In The Woman in the Veil, one of the leering spectators shoves a couple fingers up the victim's vagina. (Keep in mind, this guy thought she was dead.)
- Everyone Has Standards: Played with during Garden of Sins when Mrs. Barrett speaks to Sarah about the Jane Lambert-inflicted marital problems her son and daughter-in-law are experiencing. While Mrs. Barrett would've preferred her son had married Jane, even she's taken aback by Jane's recent behavior and her inability to let Barrett go. So Mrs. Barrett gives her support to Sarah for patching up her estrangement with Barrett...though it's also made clear this support is less about protecting Sarah and more about protecting her son and their family from any fallout a divorce would cause.
- Evil Is Petty: Inspector Reid oh so much. Best shown at the end of Portrait of Peril when he arrests Sarah's father in retaliation for her refusing to give him the evidence on the Ripper case.
- Fallen Hero: Portrait of Peril reveals Inspector Reid of all people is one. According to Barrett, Reid actually used to be a dedicated, principled officer...until the Ripper Murders. The horror of the killings, and (correctly) believing Sarah, Barrett, and their friends are guilty of obstruction of justice, corrupted Reid. It's eroded his ethics and morals and turned it into an obsession.
- Fairytale Motifs: The victim of The Woman in the Veil and her potential family members all share various traits from classic fairy tales:
- The victim herself is given the nickname of Sleeping Beauty due to her being in a coma.
- Her first potential family member is a Bluebeard-like man.
- Her second potential family resembles the tale of Cinderella with the victim cast as the titular heroine.
- Fire-Forged Friends: During their investigation of Jack the Ripper, Sarah and the motley crew of outcasts she comes into contact with slowly become friends. Most of this comes from saving each other from bodily harm or even certain death.
- Forced Out of the Closet: After Hugh gets caught by the vice squad at a homosexual party, the newspaper the next day names him as allegedly being in attendance. Even though the paper doesn't outright say that he attended or that he's gay, the insinuation alone is enough to ruin his reputation.
- Frame-Up: During Garden of Sins Reid threatens to pin the Ripper murders on Barrett if Sarah doesn't reveal the evidence he knows she's been withholding.
- Framing the Guilty Party: To save Reid's career as part of their bargain at the end of River of Fallen Angels, Sarah proposes framing the Torso Murderer for his own death and the suicide of his followers (deaths for which Reid was directly and indirectly responsible). Reid reluctantly accepts the bargain. The Torso Murderer is also framed for the Ripper murders — or at least Sarah and company don't dissuade Reid's belief that they were the same individual rather than two separate killers.
- Has a Type: Upon meeting Barrett's ex-girlfriend Jane Lambert, Sarah realizes she and Jane are physically similar. She's understandably unhappy about the implications of this and how Barrett views her and their relationship.
- Ironically, this also ends up being a plot point in Garden of Sins. Jane poses as Sarah to leak classified police investigation to the press as part of her attempt to drive a wedge between her and Barrett. Because of their similar physical appearances, the journalist (who has never actually met Sarah before this book) thinks it's her. It's not until Sarah tracks him down that the journalist realizes 'Sarah' was an imposter (and his description of the doppelganger's appearance helps Sarah realize it was Jane).
- Historical Detective Fiction: The series is set during the later part of the Victorian era, specifically 1888 to 1891. The main protagonist is Sarah Bain, a small-time professional photographer turned crime reporter. Alongside her two best friends and husband, Sarah and company solve a number of crimes that stub even the police.
- Interrupted Intimacy: Sarah interrupts a pair of gay men as they engage in intercourse. Over the next couple days, she keeps bumping into one of them, a nobleman called Hugh Staunton. The third time it happens, they're more amused than irritated, Hugh even seeing it as a stroke of fate that they were meant to be good friends.
- It's Personal: The initial antagonism between Sarah and her friends and Inspector Reid gradually escalates into a full-blown vendetta, with a mutual shared hatred between both parties. The vendetta finally comes to an end for now during River of Fallen Angels between the deal Sarah strikes to save Reid's career from ruination and Reid erroneously believing the Torso Murderer was the Ripper and that there's no further need to continue pursuing the Barretts.
- This also ends up becoming a minor plot point in Garden of Sins. Reid's vendetta gets brought up in court by Benjamin Bain's legal team to try and discredit him as a witness.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Even after Sally joins the cast, Sarah and the others don't bring her into the loop re: their role in the Ripper Murders. This ends up causing problems during River of Fallen Angels, as Sally is confused and suspicious of why her half-sister, brother-in-law, and friends are so certain the Torso Murderer isn't the Ripper, but can only offer vague explanations as to why. The ending of the novel (see Bittersweet Ending) leaves Sarah fearing leaving Sally out of the loop could potentially get their roles exposed anyway.
- Long-Lost Relative: Sarah's father, Benjamin Bain, went missing over a decade ago. Sarah's mother told her that he died during a protest. It isn't until the Jack the Ripper case that Sarah finds some information that reveals that Benjamin may still be alive. During her search for him, she finds out that she has two siblings. She never reunites her older half-brother as he died before the series began, but she does meet and befriend Sally, her younger half-sister. At the end of The Woman in the Veil, she also ends up finding and reuniting with her father.
- Myth Arc: Each book has a separate mystery for Sarah and her friends to solve while also advancing Sarah's search for her father, as well as figuring out the truth behind Ellen Casey's death.
- Never My Fault: Reid blames Barrett and Sarah for his career troubles (such as Barrett getting promoted over him) as the series develops — even though it's his continuing vendetta against them (and ignored repeated warnings from his superiors to drop it) which have stymied his career and reputation.
- Off with His Head!: The titular hangman of The Hangman's Secret was murdered via decapitation.
- One-Steve Limit: Sally Albert's first name is actually Sarah; Benjamin Bain named her that after having to leave his first daughter, Sarah Bain, behind. Benjamin's second wife, Mrs. Albert, didn't like the name, so she began referring to their daughter as Sally instead. For her part, Sally doesn't mind being referred to as such, meaning any potential confusion with having two prominent characters named Sarah running around is avoided.
- Practically Different Generations: Sarah is ten years older than her half-sister Sally.
- Put on a Bus:
- Abraham and Rachel are never seen again after the events of The Ripper's Shadow.
- Jane Lambert at the end of Garden of Sins. She leaves London after nearly destroying Barrett's marriage.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Sarah and her new friends are among some of society's outcasts, and it's up to them to track down Jack the Ripper before he kills again. The "bunch" part gets replaced by "small group" after the first book: Catherine appears briefly in A Mortal Likeness and is mentioned in the following books. Abraham and Rachel are mentioned in the second book, but never make an appearance afterword.
- Secret Other Family: After fleeing the police, Benjamin took on a different name. Underneath this name, he remarried and sired a child with his new wife. He even named his second daughter Sarah (though others call her Sally).
- Self-Harm: Whenever his depression is at its worst, Hugh will often disappear for days at a time, during which he'll go out to drink himself silly and sleep around with random men. At its very worst, Hugh cut his wrists as part of a suicide attempt.
- Stalker with a Crush: Jane Lambert ends up becoming this after Sarah and Barrett marry. She can't accept her old sweetheart chose another woman over her and escalates her attempts to get him back in Garden of Sins to the point of engaging in blatant sexual harassment.
- Stock Unsolved Mysteries: The Ripper's Shadow is Rowland's take on the Jack the Ripper case.
- Sympathy for the Devil: After hating and despising Reid for the entire series, Sarah finally comes to pity him and see his obsession with the Ripper Murders in a different, more tragic, and in a way even noble light during the climax of River of Fallen Angels.
- The Unfavorite: After finding out about Lucas, Sarah realizes that her mother much preferred him over her. Her mother showered him with love and affection while giving Sarah minimal attention.
- Unlucky Childhood Friend: Jane Lambert. She doesn't take Barrett choosing Sarah well at all. Her efforts to try and break up their marriage during Garden of Sins ironically end up all but destroying their lifelong friendship..
- Villain Respect: Reid's reaction to the deal Sarah proposes at the end of River of Fallen Angels to save his career and ensure she, him, and the rest of the supporting cast all get what they want. Reid's initially appalled at the sheer audacity of her bargain, but comes around and grudgingly concedes she played her hand well here.
- We Used to Be Friends: Jane and Barrett's lifelong friendship is left in tatters after her antics during Garden of Sins. That being said, she is genuinely remorseful in her final scene and the door is left open for a reconciliation somewhere down the road.
