A Broken Vessel: A Mystery Featuring Julian Kestrel by Kate Ross

               Just as what happened with the first book in this series, I had a hard time getting into this book.  I think this time it wasn’t the writing, but the character Sally that got on my nerves.  When she was on her own she was fine.  It was when she would interact with Julian that her behavior bothered me.  Thankfully, through most of the book Sally was on her own and the annoying behavior would come to a stop.  At least it did for the most part. 

                Sally Stokes is a prostitute.  A prostitute who has the habit of stealing the handkerchiefs of the men she is with.  One night, Sally finds she has also pick-pocketed a letter with one of the handkerchiefs.  With three men as the possible owner, Sally turns to her brother Dipper and his employer Julian Kestrel for help.

                The letter is from a distressed young woman whose identity is unknown.  Based upon the information they can pull from the letter, Julian figures out the woman must be from the Reclamation Society, a reform society where “fallen” women go in order to change and reform themselves into “suitable” people of society.  With strict rules in place, the matron of the reform society refuses to let Julian talk to any of the women.  Knowing they must get in to help the letter writer somehow, Sally agrees to go in undercover.  She will pretend she is someone seeking reform, figure out who the letter writer is, and see how she can help.

                Unfortunately, on the day Sally goes to join the Reclamation Society, a young woman in the refuge is found dead.  It does not take long for Sally and the others to figure out that the young woman who died, Mary, is the one who wrote the letter.  While the reform society declares that Mary has committed suicide, Sally, Julian, and Dipper suspect otherwise.  Wanting to know the truth of the matter, the only way they can do this is for Sally to go in undercover as planned, despite the danger that may await.

                While Sally is busy on the inside, and Dipper doing what he can with the investigation on the outside, Julian comes across a new mystery.  This time it involves a young woman named Megan.  Julian finds her outside the home of one of his suspects, an aristocrat who goes by the name of Avondale.  Megan tells Julian to ask Avondale about Rosemary, leading Julian on an entirely different mystery about who Rosemary could possibly be. 

                With so many dark dealings uncovered in this book, and all the attention Julian gets from it, it’s no wonder that Julian feels the need for a vacation by the end. I am torn about the surprise Julian comes across when he returns from his time away, though. I won’t tell you what that surprise is so as to not ruin the ending, but I truly am torn. That’s because I don’t like to see Julian sad. However, I feel that what happened may have been for the best. With only two more books in the series to go, I don’t know whether or not we will find out if that is true. All I can do is read and see what happens.