The Bellova Devil

"Her husband was buried alive, but returned to do murder."

Writer: Alan Barnes

Format: Audio

Released: June 2010

Series: Jago & Litefoot 1.02

Featuring: Jago, Litefoot

Synopsis

A body is found on the Circle Line, wearing full dress uniform. It is identified as Reginald Coalville – a ma who was certified dead some six weeks ago! In an attempt to solve the mystery Jago and Litefoot become unwilling bodysnatchers... And thus begins a chain of events that will pit them against killer Bulgars and the mysterious machinations of the Far-Off Travellers Club...

Verdict

The Bellova Devil was a decent episode to continue the first series of Jago & Litefoot! I enjoyed the theme of death in this one but given the emotional ending of the end of The Bloodless Soldier, I thought the continuity with Ellie was severely lacking and that was something that really ought to have been explored in more detail than a quick check in at the pub. She was working to keep busy and I really felt dealing with the aftermath should have been the focus. But alas, things move quickly in Victorian London and Professor Litefoot was enlisted for more postmortems and this time he was identifying the death of someone already certified as such for six weeks prior! That was really fun and I did like the mystery that spread throughout the episode. It had a strong feeling of a whodunnit which worked pretty well and whilst not all of the loose ends were tied up, there was certainly enough to keep my interest. One of the story's highlights was the humour that came from Jago putting on numerous acts as a supposed use of his theatre background but he was far from convincing in the absolute best way. Litefoot's reaction to his arrival was tremendous. I thought their relationship was very strong once again and I liked how there wasn't too much involvement from the supporting cast. It had a feeling like The Mahogany Murderers with Jago and Litefoot recalling certain events to each other, and the continuity from that and the previous episode with Dr Tulp up to no good again was nicely done. Jago's fear of the Manchester Mangler was very good stuff and the way he made that man sound worse just by name alone and the way he said was testament to his character. I thought this was a strong episode for both lead characters. I liked that Litefoot got to shine towards the end of the episode as we lead into the rest of the series to come with him deducing events in brilliant detective style, but I think there was perhaps a little too much dialogue and forced explanation there for a conclusion. I thought the death of Coalville and the connection with his sun was decent but there was a little confusion going on for sure, which may have been the intention. The use of a Turkish scabbard as a weapon was good and I liked the urgency in Litefoot warning the Foreign Office to catch two individuals headed for Constantinople. The Bellova Club was another fine institution as part of the Victorian era and having a secretary as a character was pretty good. I liked how the Club was clearly up to no good. Litefoot actually suffering from cyanide poison was quite gruesome and a good injection of reality of the era. Whilst I did enjoy the episode as my rating reflects, I thought the ending was just a bit unsatisfying as the best way to sum it up and I know that this could be rectified in the next two episodes, but for now I have to judge this on its own merits. The Far-Off Travellers as the lead organisation were good but I think they needed a bit more fleshing out to fully establish themselves as strong enemies. Regardless, this was still an enjoyable listen! 

Rating: 7/10