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Cambridge Fellows Jonathon “Jonty”
Stewart and Orlando Coppersmith have finally moved from
their rooms at St. Bride’s into their own cottage nearby.
Having solved several mysteries and gone through a lot in
their time together, they are ready to settle down into calm
domesticity and a bit of rugby for fun. They don’t get much
of a chance to relax, however, before they’re faced with a
new mystery courtesy of Matthew Ainslie, a man they met
while solving a previous crime. Ainslie wants them to help
prove a friend of his didn’t commit murder. Much to Jonty’s
horror, the victim turns out to be one of the boys who
tormented him at school, leaving emotional scars that still
haven’t healed. Orlando and Jonty take the case, but will
the terrible secrets they learn be too much for Jonty to
bear?
Lessons in Power is another great installment
of the Cambridge Fellows Mysteries. Charlie Cochrane’s
writing really conveys the historical setting. I love her
descriptiveness and wordy-in-a-good-way style. In this
installment, Orlando has fully recovered from the events of
Lessons in Disovery, and Jonty and Orlando are happy
in their new home. Of course, a case pops up to throw a
wrench in the works (although not in a terribly contrived
way, fortunately). In Lessons in Power, Jonty
and Orlando have a bit of a reversal in their roles. The
normally sunny, happy Jonty is weighted down by awful
memories of the abuse he endured in school. Ms. Cochrane
deals with a painful subject in a sensitive manner, neither
making light of it nor making it seem insurmountable.
Orlando, whose normal role is to be analytical, shows his
protective and emotional inner core. Watching him
try—sometimes unsuccessfully, although he never gives up—to
help Jonty through the resurgence of his memories is sweet,
and it made me love Orlando even more than I already did.
The mystery itself is a twisty affair, with lots of horrible
revelations and scandalous secrets. As always, Jonty and
Orlando manage to put things to rights, bringing
Lessons in Power to a satisfying conclusion for most
of the characters involved. Fans of the Cambridge Fellows
series will be certain to enjoy this installment, just as I
did. Anyone new to the series ought to start with the first
one and work their way up to this one, as they’re all quite
good. |
