Dickinson, David

PERSONAL:

Born in Dublin, Ireland. Education: Graduated from Cambridge University (first class honors).

ADDRESSES:

Home—London, England.

CAREER:

British Broadcasting Corp., London, England, scriptwriter, producer, and editor, 1969-98, working on various programs, including Nationwide, Newsnight, Panorama, and Monarchy. Writer, 1998—.

WRITINGS:

"LORD FRANCIS POWERSCOURT" SERIES; MYSTERY NOVELS

Goodnight Sweet Prince, Carroll & Graf (New York, NY), 2002.

Death and the Jubilee, Carroll & Graf (New York, NY), 2003.

Death of an Old Master, Carroll & Graf (New York, NY), 2004.

Death of a Chancellor, Carroll & Graf (New York, NY), 2005.

Death Called to the Bar, Carroll & Graf (New York, NY), 2005.

Death on the Nevskii Prospekt, Carroll & Graf (New York, NY), 2007.

Death on the Holy Mountain, Constable (London, England), 2008.

SIDELIGHTS:

David Dickinson followed his thirty-year British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) career with a new career as the author of mystery novels featuring Lord Francis Powerscourt, a military intelligence officer working in England during the late-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The books have gained Dickinson a reputation as "one of the better current historical mystery writers," a Publishers Weekly critic attested in a review of Death of a Chancellor. The plots find Powerscourt investigating the various intrigues of British royals, as well as those of princes of the Church of England and lords of the underworld. Drawing on his experience as series editor of a three-part BBC program on the British monarchy, the author sets his stories against a background that some reviewers have praised for its wealth of historical detail.

Members of the royal family are at the center of Goodnight Sweet Prince, Dickinson's first novel. Set in 1892, the story finds Powerscourt tracking the murderer of Queen Victoria's twenty-eight-year-old grandson, Prince Albert Victor, nicknamed "Prince Eddy," and protecting the family from extortionists. In real life, Prince Eddy died of natural causes, but in Dickinson's account, that is actually a story put out to cover up the murder, which is tied to a blackmail scheme arising from the young prince's connections with male prostitutes. Powerscourt must investigate the murder without admitting that a murder has occurred. In the process, he encounters both aristocrats and demimondaines. "Dickinson textures his canvas with historical detail as thick as the oil paint on one of his favorite paintings by Turner," commented a Kirkus Reviews contributor, who nevertheless found Dickinson's writing style "cumbersome" and the novel unsatisfactory. A Publishers Weekly reviewer, however, thought the work "excellent," filled with "appealing characters" in settings "rendered with fascinating verisimilitude." Library Journal critic Rex. E. Klett praised the novel, as well, citing its "fine prose" and "complex plot."

Death and the Jubilee has Powerscourt seeking out insurgents who are planning to launch violent attacks during Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee celebration in 1897, the sixtieth anniversary of her accession to the throne. Powerscourt, an Irishman, must look for anti-British plotters in his native land; meanwhile, he also investigates a prominent banker's murder, with assistance from his wife, Lady Lucy Powerscourt. Lord Francis emerges as "a quick-witted and empathetic detective" as well as a loving family man, remarked a Publishers Weekly commentator. Lady Lucy again figures prominently in Death of an Old Master, in which one of her cousins, art critic Christopher Montague, is murdered. She helps her husband unravel a plot involving adultery, art forgery, and another murder. "Dickinson nicely blends action and dogged sleuthing, and his husband-wife pair of detectives is both more personable and believable than similar Victorian duos," related a Publishers Weekly reviewer. Booklist critic Barbara Bibel thought that Dickinson "vividly re-creates" Victorian London, while Klett, again writing in Library Journal, described the book as having "a great story, interesting tidbits about various Victorian painters, and a most engaging protagonist."

With Death of a Chancellor the series enters a new century. In 1901, when Compton Cathedral is about to observe its thousand-year anniversary, its chancellor dies under questionable circumstances, and his sister hires Powerscourt to investigate. The succeeding drama involves competing wills, church politics, and a plot to kill Lord Francis and Lady Lucy. Library Journal contributor Klett dubbed the novel "solidly entertaining," while a Publishers Weekly contributor praised its "vivid turn-of-the-[twentieth-]century setting and absorbing look at Anglican religious schisms."

Dickinson followed this up with Death Called to the Bar. Powerscourt grudgingly comes to investigate the poisoning of a barrister at London's Inns of Court. Political rivals, the widow, and even the deceased man's doctor are all suspects, but Dickinson reveals few clues to alert the reader throughout the novel. Reviews were mostly positive. A reviewer in Publishers Weekly commented that "the rich cultural background … will please Anglophiles." A critic writing in Kirkus Reviews added that the author "charmingly explains teatime, … punting on the Thames, and the drawing up of wills, all within the confines of a classic Victorian whodunit." Writing a review on MyShelf.com, Rachel A. Hyde was concerned that "there is less humor here and less of the extravaganza than in others of the series."

Dickinson published Death on the Nevskii Prospekt in 2007. Here Lord Powerscourt is persuaded by Lady Lucy into investigative retirement while recovering from a bullet wound. It does not last long, however, as he is rushed off to Russia to figure out the events surrounding the death of a secret British diplomat. The Russian secret police and Powerscourt's own government are wary of his investigating as the secret this man held is highly prized. A contributor to Kirkus Reviews remarked that Death on the Nevskii Prospekt "shows wit, panache and a lively sense of history, and is presented with immediacy and authority." A reviewer in Publishers Weekly, however, concluded that the novel "suffers from the diminished role of Lucy, who's usually more involved as a sleuthing partner." Janet Overmyer wrote positively of the novel in her review for the I Love a Mystery Newsletter Web site. Overmyer stated: "This is one of the very best combinations of actual history and its people and a fictitious plot. The style is intelligent. The people are real. This is a believable, exciting tale with likeable people."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, January 1, 2004, Barbara Bibel, review of Death of an Old Master, p. 830.

Kirkus Reviews, November 1, 2001, review of Goodnight Sweet Prince, p. 1518; December 15, 2002, review of Death and the Jubilee, p. 1806; December 15, 2003, review of Death of an Old Master, p. 1425; December 1, 2004, review of Death of a Chancellor, p. 1119; January 15, 2006, review of Death Called to the Bar, p. 63; December 1, 2006, review of Death on the Nevskii Prospekt, p. 1199.

Library Journal, December, 2001, Rex E. Klett, review of Goodnight Sweet Prince, p. 178; March 1, 2004, Rex E. Klett, review of Death of an Old Master, p. 110; January 1, 2005, Rex E. Klett, review of Death of a Chancellor, p. 84.

Publishers Weekly, December 10, 2001, review of Goodnight Sweet Prince, p. 54; January 6, 2003, review of Death and the Jubilee, p. 42; December 8, 2003, review of Death of an Old Master, p. 49; December 13, 2004, review of Death of a Chancellor, p. 49; January 9, 2006, review of Death Called to the Bar, p. 35; December 4, 2006, review of Death on the Nevskii Prospekt, p. 38.

ONLINE

David Dickinson Home Page,http://www.daviddickinson.net (July 12, 2007).

I Love a Mystery Newsletter,http://www.iloveamysterynewsletter.com/ (July 12, 2007), Devorah Stone, review of Death Called to the Bar; Janet Overmyer, review of Death on the Nevskii Prospekt.

MyShelf.com,http://www.myshelf.com/ (July 12, 2007), Rachel A. Hyde, review of Death Called to the Bar.

Spinetingler,http://www.spinetinglermag.com/ (January 31, 2007), Theodore Feit, review of Death on the Nevskii Prospekt.