«The Circle» by M.J.Trow

Intrepid 19th-century enquiry agents American Matthew Grand and Englishman James Batchelor bring their investigation skills to Washington DC. July, 1868. On receiving a commission from Matthew’s cousin Luther to look into the suspicious death of Lafayette Baker, Head of the US National Detective Police, private investigators Matthew Grand and his business partner James Batchelor leave London for Washington DC. They find a country still scarred by the bitter legacy of the Civil War and even in death Lafayette Baker remains one of the most hated men north or south of the Potomac.The newly-created Ku Klux Klan wanted him dead. So did the Washington brothel-keepers, bar-owners, and gamblers whom Baker had closed down. What does beautiful former spy Miss Belle Boyd know that she’s not telling them? And could the President himself be involved?Matthew Grand finds he has come home to a mixed reception, while Batchelor struggles as an Englishman abroad. Will either of them survive long enough to uncover the truth?“Trow’s absorbing historical will please Civil War buffs as well as readers who relish the mysteries of Will Thomas and Charles Finch” ―Library Journal“A plot packed with skulduggery . . . sometimes dangerous, sometimes comic, sometimes bizarre adventures.”―Booklist