Reggie Fortune is a highly skilled surgeon who functions as a special medical and forensic consultant for Scotland Yard. On the surface, Fortune is eccentric, talks with a unique, clipped, and elliptical style, and has rather whimsical, upper-class mannerisms. However, beneath his soft and occasionally childish exterior lies an extraordinarily sharp, fearless, and sometimes ruthless investigator.
Unlike many of the light-hearted cozy mysteries of the Golden Age, Bailey’s Reggie Fortune stories are notably dark, gritty, and morally complex. The stories in this volume and throughout the series frequently delve into:
Gruesome crimes like multiple homicides and bizarre disappearances.
Institutional corruption, including compromised police forces and obstruction of justice.
Grim societal underbellies, often touching on financial fraud, murderous obsessions, and even child abuse.
Vigilante justice, as Fortune is known to care more about absolute moral justice than rigid adherence to the official limits of the law.
