Murder in Montague Place by Martyn Beardsley
| Murder in Montague Place by Martyn Beardsley | |
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| Category: Crime (Historical) | |
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Reviewer: Sue Magee
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| Summary: An excellent evocation of mid-ninteenth century London and a plot which caught me napping is slightly let down by the characters but it's still a good read. | |
| Buy? Maybe | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 224 | Date: December 2012 |
| Publisher: Robert Hale | |
| ISBN: 978-0719807046 | |
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In the middle of the nineteenth century the idea of having a group of policemen who would be known as detectives was still regarded as rather revolutionary. Some people thought of them as spies, but the beautiful Mrs Eleanora Scambles was convinced that they could help her. She claimed that her husband had been wrongly accused of the murder of Edward Mizzentoft and was likely to hang for a crime which she knew that he hadn't committed. The case was in the hands of Inspector Bucket's colleague who had no doubts about Scambles' guilt, but Bucket and his assistant, Sergeant Gordon attempted to look at the case without breaching professional etiquette.
Firstly - atmosphere. This book has it in spades. There were occasions when I looked up from the book and was rather surprised that I wasn't in nineteenth century London. I swear that there were times when I heard police rattles. It's well done too, with little in the way of exposition and you're left with the feeling that the author knows far more about the subject than he's telling you. I was a little disappointed in the characters who were rather two dimensional, but this was offset by a plot which kept me guessing right up the end and I still hadn't worked out what had happened. It was an engaging and enjoyable read.
I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.
If you're interested in nineteenth-century crime then we can recommend The Autobiography of Jack the Ripper by James Carnac and The Silver Thread by Kylie Fitzpatrick. We also enjoyed Fell the Angels by John Kerr, a fictionalised reworking of the Charles Bravo case. You might also like The Lovegrove Hermit by Rosemary Craddock. From the same stable, we have a review of The Calton Papers by Norman Russell.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Murder in Montague Place by Martyn Beardsley at Amazon.com.
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