📖 Book Review ~ Whipster by Susan Grossey

31 October 2025
Cambridge Hardiman Mysteries #3

Thank you to the author for the copy of this book

 

With the University preparing for Michaelmas term in 1827, Cambridge is alive with promises of fortunes to be made. University constable Gregory Hardiman has neither the appetite nor the funds to invest, but many others are tempted by the gleam of Bolivian silver. On patrol one evening Gregory is called to a violent incident at an inn, and before long his enquiries lead him to several of the town’s best-known figures – including the Master of St Clement’s College.

Struggling to make sense of what he has learned, Gregory himself is targeted as someone threatens to blackmail him. And with a chance of happiness once again within his grasp, can he risk losing it all if his past is revealed?

📖My Review..

Cambridge 1827 and as the town readies itself for a new term Gregory Hardiman continues to combine his duties as ostler at the Hoop inn together with the role of university Constable. On one of his nightly patrols Hardiman is called to an inn in town where he witnesses the results a violent crime and is dismayed to discover he recognises one of the victims. However, it would seem that whilst seeking out the evil within his midst he upsets someone who has the power to shatter Hardiman’s well guarded secrets. With his usual keen eye for sleuthing Hardiman sets about discovering who was responsible for this heinous crime and in doing so he  uncovers a a sorry tale of blackmail, corruption and deceit.

It’s been a real pleasure to be back in company with Hardiman, he’s such a steadfast man, filled with a genuine need to help others and has a keen eye for seeking out the truth. He cleverly spots charlatans and miscreants and does his utmost to bring them to justice but is always aware of the fickleness of human nature. There is such a strong sense of historical authenticity that whilst reading I feel as if I am whisked away to walk the dark streets with Hardiman as he maintains his role as university Constable finding trouble in the shadows and hidden passageways of Georgian Cambridge.

The eponymous Whipster on whom the story revolves is written with a fine eye for historical detail and an uncanny knack of bringing the smallest detail to life. I must admit to sneaking to the back of the book to the excellent glossary in order to look up the meaning of the word and it fits the story perfectly.

☕️ Best Read with: A strong coffee and a couple of generous slices of damson loaf

About the Author

Susan Grossey is the author of the successful Constable Sam Plank series of historical novels set in the early part of the nineteenth century. Sizar is the second novel in the Cambridge Hardiman Mysteries, set in Cambridge in the 1820s and narrated by a university constable called Gregory Hardiman.

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