Dr. Spilsbury and the Cursed Bride by D.L. Douglas - Book Review

Series: Dr. Slipsbury #2

Publication Date: 04th July 2024 

Genre: Historical Mystery 

4 Stars 

One Liner: Entertaining 

September 1920

A young bride is found dead at the country house of her would-be husband. People claim that she is a victim of the Withington curse which affects all women who marry into the family. However, Dr. Spilsbury is sure the cause of her death is a human and not some curse. With help from Violet and Charlie, the famous forensic pathologist is ready to find the killer. 

The story comes in the third-person POVs of Dr. Spilsbury and a few other characters.

My Thoughts: 

While the book works as a standalone, I would recommend reading the first. Violet’s introduction is necessary to understand her character (and she is still my favorite). 

Yet again, we start with something that seems pretty simple at the beginning only to realize there’s much we don’t know. There is much more than a curse, which gets only a teeny space as Dr. Spilsbury is not the one for such stuff. 

The victim was a force to reckon with and a stickler for rules. We know such people make a lot more enemies than they should simply because they don’t know where to draw a line. 

The list of suspects is pretty long, though a certain clue cuts it down by half. The mystery is intriguing as we get multiple flashback scenes from the past (involving the victim). I did guess the killer, though I had to wait for the reveal to find the reason. It comes together well. 

The war is once again one of the prominent players in the plot. However, there are other themes like bullying, PPD, mental illness, old money vs. new money, and a few more. 

The dynamics between the trio are shifting even though Dr. Spilsbury is determined to ignore the changes and be his useful self. The next book should be more interesting!

Though the pacing is a bit uneven (again), it doesn’t hamper our enjoyment. I did miss Annie but Charlie is proving himself to be a worthy addition to Scotland Yard (even if he can be annoying at times with his little rants). 

To summarize, Dr. Spilsbury and the Cursed Bride sustains the momentum established in the previous book and provides good entertainment in the process. I’m quite surprised this series has such few reviews on Goodreads. It’s a solid historical mystery with the right amount of dark. It deserves more readers. 

Thank you, NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group, for eARC. 

#NetGalley #DrSpilsburyAndTheCursedBride