• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About the writer and her website
  • References
  • Archives
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Contact Page

Defrosting Cold Cases

Research website by Alice de Sturler

  • Cold Case Research Methods
  • How to search for cases
  • Case of the Month: Charles Lee Snowden
  • Book Reviews
  • Cold Case Database
    • Index
      • Cases Index A-G
      • Cases Index H-N
      • Cases Index O-Z
    • Summaries
      • Case Summaries A-G
      • Case Summaries H-N
      • Case Summaries O-Z
You are here: Home / Book Reviews / The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

March 10, 2022 By Alice

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah PennerI learned about this book from one of my friends’ book clubs. I heard the words apothecary, London, poison, possible female serial killer, so naturally, I was interested.

The book cover had praising references about this debut novel with words like ‘convincingly’ and ‘clever.’ So, naturally, I bought the book. I finished reading it this morning and I have mixed feelings.

My first reaction upon learning Eliza’s fate, one of the three female characters, was positive. Will not say anything more because that would spoil the ending.

I am conflicted about Nella but I am even more conflicted about Caroline.

Let’s start at the beginning.

We have a present day storyline about Caroline Parcewell. She lives with husband James in Ohio, USA. And, we have a storyline set in 1791, London, UK. There, we visit the apothecary of Nella Clavinger and meet twelve-year-old housemaid Eliza Fanning.

Eliza’s employer Lady Clarence, sends her to Nella to get a poison to kill her husband’s mistress. Nella, having taken over her mother’s apothecary, does not just have solutions for the average aches and pains, she has an arsenal of options if you want more permanent solutions for your problems. It is a word-of-mouth and women-only business.

The 1791 part of the book gives you the feeling that Penner dug into her research and made a good effort. But the present day story? Not so much.

From the very beginning, Caroline Parcewell comes across as the kind of person you’d like to grab hold off to wake them up by dumping an ice bucket over their head. The complete nonsense ranges from swearing off books and not continuing her education to do a farm’s finances as a once aspiring historian who wants to go to Cambridge.

She has an undergraduate degree in history but could not find that superhigh paying job because those require an advanced degree. She keeps looking though for a decade and it never once occurs to her that the state of Ohio has a very well-established education system where people can get their Ph.D.

So, she doesn’t try to get into Ohio State University but thinks that her husband, James, who will irritate you from the first time that he is mentioned, will gladly emigrate from the USA to the UK without a job lined up for him.

Aside from this, there are several reasons why I think that Penner didn’t research the present day storyline with the same eye for detail as the 1791 one. For example, in the middle of London, prime real estate, is a back alley. I get that, having been in London, there are many. I can also see how some areas are more abandoned than others. What I cannot see is that Caroline finds a door to a long forgotten, lost apothecary that nobody found before, that has not been looted, vandalized, or is marked for demolition to be turned into a modern building. Everything is intact and despite having a degree, she touches old documents not wondering for a minute what sweat can do to old parchment.

As you know, I also dig a lot into archives. So imagine my surprise when Caroline enters a name or a keyword into a search engine and gets immediate results. I get it that you have to move the story along but it would have made it more realistic for the reader to read about the struggle to find accurate information. Which brings me to Gaynor at the Maps desk of the British Library.

Penner should have let Gaynor take over from Caroline as lead character. Gaynor could highlight the databases, the work done at the library, and the efforts needed to search for information from 1791 while Caroline could be left in her hotel trying to figure out whether she should stand up for herself or not.

I will not even go into her arrest but if you read it, let me know what your thoughts are about that scene.

The book has an interesting premise and that is to explore several storylines with themes such as revenge, betrayal, infidelity, and murder. As a debut, it is not bad but it definitely is not good. There are too many gaps, too many flaws, and too many moments where you want to skip the chapters about Caroline so you can keep reading about Eliza and Nella.

The pace is slow, there are no good reasons not to divulge information between the modern day characters as there’s no active crime going on, and there are even less reasons to include the marriage problems. They do not add to the mystery and do not change the plot. They don’t even seem to change the ending.

My other book reviews are here.

Thank you for sharing!

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Book Reviews Tagged With: Book Reviews, Sarah Penner

Primary Sidebar

Dina Fort

Author Notes

On my website, I write about old, unsolved cases. Most are from the pre-DNA era and need renewed media attention. I only do research and leave active investigation of these cases to the professionals.

My posts are about homicides, missing and unidentified people, wrongful convictions, and forensics as related to these cases.

On book reviews: I only review select works of true crime, crime fiction, and historical fiction/mysteries. The stories have to fit my website's theme and research. It remains my prerogative to not review a book. Please check the FAQ page for more!

My database has hundreds of cases listed by the victim’s last name. You will find a brief description there as well. The database is free to the public.

All writing suggestions for cases that come in by email are added to my to-do list in the order in which they were received. Please be patient. My to-do list is very long but no case gets dropped and I will get back in touch.

If you have any questions about my website please check the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page, the about page, and the tabs in both menu bars. If you still cannot find the answer there, please contact me.

Thank you,

Alice de Sturler

Copyright

If you use my work, please add a link back. Let your readers know where you found your information. I do the same for you. Thank you!

Protected by Copyscape

Categories

Top Posts & Pages

  • Cold Case Database
  • Archive
  • Missing: Joanna Lopez
  • Remembering Charles Lee Snowden
  • How to search for cases

Subscribe to DCC by email

Enter your email address to get new posts notifications in your inbox

Recent Posts

  • Assassin’s Lullaby by Mark Rubinstein
  • Remembering Charles Lee Snowden
  • The Harvest Man by Alex Grecian
  • Guilty Verdict for Patricia Louise Smith
  • Murder by Milkshake from Eve Lazarus

William Thomas Zeigler

Category: ALL POSTS

On March 31, 2016, an evidentiary hearing was held to request touch DNA testing. On July 18, 2016, Judge Whitehead denied that request.

On November 23, 2016, an appeal was filed with the Florida Supreme Court. On April 21, 2017, the Florida Supreme Court denied the request for touch DNA analysis.

On May 8, 2017 a motion for a rehearing with the US Supreme Court was filed. It was denied November 13, 2017.

In the summer of 2019, the appeal for DNA testing to the Florida Conviction Integrity Unit was denied.

Richard Lapointe

Category: ALL POSTS

In March 2015, the Connecticut State Supreme Court ordered a new trial for Richard lapointe. On Oct 2, 2015, International Wrongful Conviction Day, Richard was set free. The judge ruled that he cannot be retried for the 1987 rape-murder of Mrs. Bernice Martin. Richard Lapointe died on Aug 4, 2020 of Covid19 complications.

In 1987, someone killed Bernice Martin. I hope that she will not become a forgotten file.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Copyright: Please add a link back if you use my work. Let your readers know where you found your information. I do the same for you. If you need help with this, just contact me. Thank you, Alice de Sturler

Copyright © 2022 ·News Pro · Genesis Framework by StudioPress · WordPress

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.