It is 1837 and the city streets teem with life, atmosphere and the stench of London. Sarah Gale, a seamstress and mother, has been sentenced to hang for her role in the murder of Hannah Brown on the eve of her wedding. Edmund Fleetwood, an idealistic lawyer, is appointed to investigate Sarah’s petition for mercy and consider whether justice has been done. Struggling with his own demons, he is determined to seek out the truth, yet Sarah refuses to help him. Edmund knows she’s hiding something, but needs to discover just why she’s maintaining her silence. For how can it be that someone with a child would go willingly to their own death? Over the last few years, I’ve been reading more and more crime fiction. The crime novels I’ve enjoyed most have been those that blend history and crime together. The latest addition to this list is The Unseeing by Anna Mazzola. The first narrative thread follows the young lawyer assigned to check the validity of the court’s ruling. Edmund Fleetwood is a rarest of men in Victorian society. He is entirely driven by the need for fairness and a sense of justice. One of the most interesting elements...