# The Plague Letters

By V. L. Valentine

Profile: https://hahafiction.com/books/the-plague-letters-4f1f2d4b/

Rector Symon Patrick encounters a body showing signs of medical experiments during London’s 1665 plague. Someone is using the dying to pursue a cure. Symon turns to medical men for answers, but his mysterious companion Penelope may have more to offer the investigation.

## What makes it funny?

The voice has the lightness of a Restoration comedy of manners, even with plague victims and murder close at hand. Vicky Brewster's review singles out that sustained, unexpectedly playful tone as a reason the bleak humor works.

### The comedy at work

Death supplies the stakes; the comedy of manners supplies a less solemn way of moving through them. The amusement depends on keeping that light social tone in a city facing mass illness, rather than making the danger disappear.

### Try this if…

Readers who favor atmosphere, ghost stories and odd companions over an intricate murder puzzle have reasons to look here. Brewster found Penelope's story more compelling than the question of the killer's identity.

### Good to know

The medical mystery involves experiments on dying people, alongside deaths from plague. Its lighter voice comes with disturbing subject matter.

## What to expect

- Genre: Historical · Mystery
- On the shelf: Historical mystery
- Kind of humor: Dark comedy
- Format: Novel
- Length: 431 pages (ebook)
- Published: 2021

## A few distinguishing details

- A clergyman investigating medical experiments during London's 1665 plague
- Restoration comedy of manners beside a ghost story and murder mystery

## Sources & further reading

- Book information: [The Plague Letters by V.L. Valentine on Apple Books](https://books.apple.com/gb/book/the-plague-letters/id1527303789)
- Publisher: [Publisher](https://viperbooks.co.uk/work/the-plague-letters)
- Review: [Vicky Brewster review](https://vickybrewstereditor.com/book-reviews/2022/2/10/review-the-plague-letters-by-vl-valentine)