Helen Oddfellow has a talent for spotting literary links that no one else has seen for many years – but in this novel she also has a tendency to get into trouble. In this fourth Helen Oddfellow Mystery she thinks she may have found Dickens’ Nancy, but she may also have found a link to an old enemy. This book works well as a standalone thriller mystery as well as updating fans of the literary researcher on her latest adventures. Once again, I am very grateful for the opportunity to discover more of the world of a literary detective, combined with a vivid treatment of a contemporary issue. In this book there is a brutal and chillingly relevant description of people trafficking and those who benefit from the “debt slave” conditions that is part of the industry. I found it to be a genuine simmering thriller of the best sort where various characters are focused on and their motivation revealed. In addition to Helen, whose discovery of an old book and cutting propels her into an archive search, Nick, a resourceful investigative journalist is looking into an extreme group which is fiercely opposed to immigration in all its forms. The self-appointed members of the Patriot group turn out to be a violent mob, and Nick and his contacts are kept busy trying to discover what is truly going on. Both Helen and Nick are dismayed to see that Gary Paxton has been released from prison, as both bear scars of his previous crimes and their confrontations with him. Helen is also getting fed up with her single life, and is concerned that her academic job is on the line when she is summoned to see the new head of department at the University, Emmanuel Brown. Instead, she is dispatched to Rochester to help at a Reception for potential donors at a new Dickens exhibition. As Dickens is one of the subjects of her London walks, she is keen to see the exhibition. It is when she buys an old book at a strange bookshop that she is set on the trail of one of the best-known characters from Oliver Twist, the doomed Nancy. Her research in the potential inspiration for the character gives her academic research a boost. She also appears to have attracted the attention of an admirer who shares her curiosity about Dickens, even though he is not really a reader. A return to the bookshop in Rochester seems to spark off a chain of events which will test many characters. I enjoy the Oddfellow books because of their clever combination of literary mystery with a thriller type plot. There is a certain amount of violence which is in keeping with the tough themes that Anna likes to tackle in her novels. Not that I have to be a literary expert to appreciate the importance of the discoveries that Helen makes in the novels, just to know that in the case of classic authors the discovery of a new insight into their lives or work would be hot news. Helen has also developed as a character through the novels, though her willingness to become involved in potentially dangerous situations and her curiosity seems undimmed. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel on so many levels, as a contemporary thriller and a literary search as well as a well plotted novel. I recommend it to anyone in search of a good read with a contemporary theme and literary aspects with fascinating characters.

I’ve been a fan of Anna Sayburn Lane’s Helen Oddfellow mystery series since reading the first book, Unlawful Things, back in 2019. Two sequels – 2020’s The Peacock Room and 2021’s The Crimson Thread – saw Helen embroiled in more adventures, all combining a literary mystery with contemporary political concerns to provide page-turning thrills. Sayburn Lane’s latest book, Folly Ditch, finds Helen in new academic territory. Persuaded by her new Head of Department to schmooze potential donors at a new exhibition about Dickens’ connections to Rochester, Helen stumbles across an old book, London and Londoners, containing a faded newspaper clipping. When it transpires that the book might have been owned by Dickens himself, and that the clipping offers clues as to the real murder mystery that inspired one of Dickens’s best-loved characters, Helen is excited to have another literary revelation to research. When her hotel room is ransacked, and the book stolen, Helen reassures herself that it’s just an unfortunate break-in. But when the bookseller who sold her the book mysteriously vanishes – and an unwelcome face from her past is seen in Rochester – she begins to suspect that there are sinister forces at work. Calling on the aid of investigative journalist Nick Wilson, Helen sets out to uncover the truth once again. But what – or who – links Helen’s Dickensian murder mystery with Nick’s investigation into the links between modern-day slavery, human trafficking, and a dangerous new far-right political movement? As with previous books in the series, Folly Ditch, offers a standalone mystery but with character call-backs to previous novels in the series. Although there aren’t spoilers for the mysteries of previous books, the fates of some characters and major incidents from prior instalments are made explicit in Folly Ditch so, whilst it is possible to dive in with this fourth book, I’d urge new readers to begin with Unlawful Things and work their way through the series for maximum enjoyment. All four books are excellent page-turners! Returning characters – both friend and foe – make an appearance in Folly Ditch, although there is one notable omission whose absence allows for a poignant reflection upon the impact of the Covid-19 crisis, both upon individuals and upon wider society. References to the recent pandemic also ensure that the novel feels wholly contemporary, as do somewhat chilling allusions to recent political debates, and Sayburn Lane does an excellent job of integrating these elements with Helen’s historical research and of drawing out the parallels between past and present eras. As with previous novels in the series, there are some scenes of both psychological and physical abuse in Folly Ditch which, although not explicit, are distressing to read. As I’ve mentioned in previous reviews, however, Sayburn Lane always ensures that her antagonists are brilliantly realised and that their actions, however gruesome or sinister, feel in-keeping with their characterisation. Combining a page-turning literary mystery with a contemporary thriller and plenty of intellectual puzzles, Folly Ditch is another successful outing for Helen Oddfellow. Fans of the series will be delighted by her return, as will anyone who enjoys a literary mystery-thriller in the vein of Arturo Pérez-Reverte’s The Flanders Panel or Charlie Lovett’s First Impressions.