The prince on the case

British mystery writer Peter Lovesey is best known for his long Peter Diamond series of novels and, to a lesser extent, his initial series of mysteries featuring Sergeant Cribb. In between, however, he wrote a brief but delightful series of Victorian mysteries with Albert (or just Bertie) the Prince of Wales as his protagonist.

The first of the three books, Bertie and the Tinman (1987), explains in Bertie's words that he has a talent for solving mysteries but because of his royal position he cannot expose himself to the publicity. His mother, Queen Victoria, would certainly not approve. Thus his account of his first case will be sealed away for 100 years, or until 1987.

Because no one will read it until long after his death, not to mention his mother's death, he feels free to speak freely about his exploits, not just those about solving crimes but also those about romancing women other than his wife.

The death that turns a prince into a detective is that of his favorite jockey, Fred Archer, nicknamed the Tinman. Archer has committed suicide, and it is in fact a suicide. Still the official explanation seems suspicious to Bertie. There must be more to the story than just temporary madness. His investigation leads to an actual murder and a serious threat to his own life. How he solves the case, while keeping his name out of the papers and preventing his mother, not to mention his wife, learning his secrets, make for an enjoyable  reading experience. The other two books in the series — Bertie and the Seven Bodies and Bertie and the Crime of Passion — are no less entertaining.