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em_da5h's review against another edition
3.0
Enjoyable for a quick and easy read, but wouldn't recommend it. I liked the main character, but the plot was underdeveloped and had some gaps. At times I would wonder, "Wait... how did that happen? When did she learn to do that?"
That being said, it was a good book for me to knock out quickly and get back in the swing of things. Definitely a "beach read."
That being said, it was a good book for me to knock out quickly and get back in the swing of things. Definitely a "beach read."
kate_can's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Marketed in some territories as The Companion, this is the first novel in what becomes a historical crime series set in Victorian London. After her father’s death in 1864, the penniless Elizabeth (Lizzie) Martin takes up a position as companion to Mrs Parry, her god-father’s wealthy widow, only to find that her predecessor, Madeleine Hexham, who had supposedly run off with an unknown man, is dead (and pregnant). Madeleine’s body is discovered in the recently-demolished slums around the prestigious new railway station at St Pancras, and Inspector Benjamin Ross is in charge of the investigation. Lizzie realises that she knows Ross from her childhood (her father sponsored his education) and that ‘Aunt’ Parry, as she is encouraged to call her, was a landlord for the housing development, causing several elements to build up into a classic detective mystery.
Through the use of alternating chapters between Lizzie and Ross, we are drip-fed information about the developments and social mores of the times, ranging from scientific progress to insights into the working of and attitudes to the police force, and personal relationships.
London is changing and the era is one of rapid development: the capitalist society dictates the rich will get richer while the poor are further oppressed. Mr Fletcher runs the construction company which is building the station on the grounds of the housing Mrs Parry sold to the railway for development. He doesn’t want the police involved on his worksite, because people are fascinated when a body is found. Mrs Parry is equally uncomfortable. “No one wants to be known as a slum landlord and after Madeleine’s body was found there, she liked even less the idea that people would associate her with the place.”
Morals and attitudes to women are also questioned. The supposedly religious and upstanding Dr Tibbett expresses his conservative reactionary views to Lizzie in a manner that demonstrates the constraints within which she must work. “I am sorry to say I find increasingly that there is a type of modern young woman who fancies she may speak as freely as a man. I am an old-fashioned fellow who believes that woman is the greatest ornament to her sex when she realises the boundaries Nature has set for her.” He, and others, blame female victims when they are exploited and abused. “We did not know the circumstances of Madeleine’s death. Whatever Tibbett had to say it would amount to declaring that it was all her own fault.”
This is a world in which class distinctions are rife and supremely hierarchical. Inspector Ross comes from mining stock and has risen through the ranks; his superiors dislike him because he is working class. He notes that the social strata extends to the upstairs/ downstairs milieu of the masters and servants. “I reflected that below stairs there existed a world which, in true Darwinian fashion, had evolved quite differently to society above. Had the great naturalist set himself to study it, he might have found as much of interest there as he had in Terra del Fuego.” Although this is the first in the series about Benjamin Ross and Elizabeth Martin, it is evident that there will be more, and that Lizzie and Ben will end up together; they are both honest and self-aware with a strong moral backbone.
The novel is full of the classic features of the Victorian detective drama. The dim-witted Dunn (Ross’s superior officer) struggles to solve the mystery, announcing, “This is turning into a dashed complicated business, regular cat’s-cradle of possible motives.” There is a dressing table with a hidden drawer in which Lizzie conveniently finds a diary written by the dead woman. Thick Victorian fogs made of coal fire smoke and freezing atmospheric conditions add to the ambience and there is even a standard chase through the pea-souper. It is satisfying without being too demanding and a thoroughly enjoyable addition to the genre.
izabrekilien's review
3.0
Reviewed for Books and livres
OK, I'm not that lazy, here's my review :
So, I started it yesterday, to cleanse my palate after reading Mansfield Park and before moving on to Northanger abbey. I wanted something light, fun and victorian if possible.
My first impression of the novel was that it was to be a 3 stars read. It's obvious the author has made her researches about that era (circa 1864 and the following years), but I felt the bare facts were fed to us through fiction : the fiction wasn't the main point, the details were, and they were coated with fiction to have us swallow them. The flashbacks and presentation of the present felt gauche.
Then, the coincidences : one coincidence : why not ; two coincidences : mmmm... ; three or more : nah. As I found on line : "The last half of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth saw continued strong growth, in some ways replicating and reinforcing the pattern set in preceding decades. The over three million people living in Greater London in 1861 more than doubled to become over seven million by the 1910s". So, one person meeting other people related in some way to her in that much populated an area ? Nah. I read it some time ago in another novel ("H" by Sarah Burton) and don't care much about several coincidences.
Then I kept reading anyway and even if I found the point of view to be very XXth, XXIst century centered (what I mean is post XIXth century, a novelist of that era wouldn't have necessarily written that) on social and/or feminist subjects, it was still enjoyable, the more I read, the more I liked. I didn't care much about the mystery itself, yet I liked reading about Lizzie and her adventures. There was a teensy itsy bit of romance, but I think it's to be expected in that kind of books ? Yet it wasn't the major part. So, the more I read, the more I dived in the story.
This is the first instalment of the series. I never read Ann Granger before, but I heard much good about her. Am I eager to read the next book ? Not that in a hurry. Am I dismissing reading the next book ? No. I'll probably like it. If I need an easy, light, comforting read about Victorian era in between classics, I'll certainly read the next (the series might get even better ?), which is why I rated it 3.5 stars and not 3 stars. 3 stars = I won't probably read another one even if it was nice. 3.5 = I'll make the effort, and it won't be that much of an effort. So, not the best read, but an entertaining read.
If you want to read victorian novels, want to get acquainted with the way people lived back then, I think this is a very good way to start. I don't remember who recommended it to me (saw it on Booktube, but then I caught up recently on a whole month of videos, so I don't remember who), but thank you :)
OK, I'm not that lazy, here's my review :
So, I started it yesterday, to cleanse my palate after reading Mansfield Park and before moving on to Northanger abbey. I wanted something light, fun and victorian if possible.
My first impression of the novel was that it was to be a 3 stars read. It's obvious the author has made her researches about that era (circa 1864 and the following years), but I felt the bare facts were fed to us through fiction : the fiction wasn't the main point, the details were, and they were coated with fiction to have us swallow them. The flashbacks and presentation of the present felt gauche.
Then, the coincidences : one coincidence : why not ; two coincidences : mmmm... ; three or more : nah. As I found on line : "The last half of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth saw continued strong growth, in some ways replicating and reinforcing the pattern set in preceding decades. The over three million people living in Greater London in 1861 more than doubled to become over seven million by the 1910s". So, one person meeting other people related in some way to her in that much populated an area ? Nah. I read it some time ago in another novel ("H" by Sarah Burton) and don't care much about several coincidences.
Then I kept reading anyway and even if I found the point of view to be very XXth, XXIst century centered (what I mean is post XIXth century, a novelist of that era wouldn't have necessarily written that) on social and/or feminist subjects, it was still enjoyable, the more I read, the more I liked. I didn't care much about the mystery itself, yet I liked reading about Lizzie and her adventures. There was a teensy itsy bit of romance, but I think it's to be expected in that kind of books ? Yet it wasn't the major part. So, the more I read, the more I dived in the story.
This is the first instalment of the series. I never read Ann Granger before, but I heard much good about her. Am I eager to read the next book ? Not that in a hurry. Am I dismissing reading the next book ? No. I'll probably like it. If I need an easy, light, comforting read about Victorian era in between classics, I'll certainly read the next (the series might get even better ?), which is why I rated it 3.5 stars and not 3 stars. 3 stars = I won't probably read another one even if it was nice. 3.5 = I'll make the effort, and it won't be that much of an effort. So, not the best read, but an entertaining read.
If you want to read victorian novels, want to get acquainted with the way people lived back then, I think this is a very good way to start. I don't remember who recommended it to me (saw it on Booktube, but then I caught up recently on a whole month of videos, so I don't remember who), but thank you :)
smcleish's review
3.0
Originally published on my blog here in March 2007.
A Rare Interest in Corpses initially appears to be something of a departure for Granger. She is best known for her Mitchell and Markby series, and has also written several novels about amateur detective Fran Varady; both these series are contemporary crime fiction (in the sense that they are set in the modern world; the Mitchell and Markby novels are rather old fashioned in tone). Here we have her first historical crime novel, set in Victorian London - not as popular a time and place as might be expected, probably because it is so strongly associated with Sherlock Holmes. In fact, the writer I was reminded of by A Rare Interest in Corpses was not [a:Arthur Conan Doyle|2448|Arthur Conan Doyle|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1289836561p2/2448.jpg], but [a:Anne Perry|6331|Anne Perry|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1216671529p2/6331.jpg].
The central character, Lizzie Martin, is a doctor's daughter from the Derbyshire coalfields, forced to take a position as a companion to an older rich widow in London when her father's death leaves her penniless. When she arrives, she discovers that the woman who previously acted as companion to Mrs Parry went missing, apparently eloping with a lover, but, it now turns out, murdered and her body left in the huge building site that would become St Pancras station. Lizzie feels an obligation to a woman who had been in the same situation as she now finds herself to try to find the murderer - a task in which she is much aided by the reluctance of key witnesses to speak to the police.
I have in the past discussed an issue I have with a lot of crime fiction. The genre is very much dependent on plot construction, and in particular on the construction of plots where particular points remain obscure to the reader (though fairly presented) until the very end: the reader has all the clues, but should still be surprised by the revelation of the murderer. Constructing such a plot is quite hard, and a shortcut which is often used is to use a coincidence - an unlikely happening which is not justified by the rest of the plot (it is one thing for an mysterious lost cousin to turn up just at the time of the murder, but much more acceptable if the murderer lures that person there so they arrive on the scene in time to be implicated in a murder they would benefit from). Even when unmotivated coincidences are left in a plot - and it is true that coincidences really happen - they usually have some meaning in the plot itself, whether actually helping to point the way to the solution of a crime, or making it harder for the reader to see the real solution. Sometimes coincidences are used to promote the continuation of a series, as where a character finds a body in novel after novel. At the beginning of A Rare Interest in Corpses, there are two coincidences which really serve no purpose whatsoever. The first of these is that Lizzie, taking a cab from King's Cross station to her new home, is delayed by police removing a body from the half-demolished slums which were Agar Town and would become St Pancras (which is, for readers not familiar with London, immediately next door to King's Cross): this is the body of Madeline Hexham, her predecessor. The second is that the police inspector assigned to the case turns out to be someone she already knows, despite her belief that she is a stranger to everyone in London: he met her when he was a small boy working in a coalmine, where her father was helping with the aftermath of an accident; her father paid for his education, which he put to use in joining the Metropolitan Police. The second establishes a certain bond between Lizzie and the policeman, but not one which could not have been developed in other ways, while there seems to have been no motivation at all for the first.
I found these coincidences, which come very close together near the beginning of the novel, a big hindrance to enjoyment of a book by an author that usually I like a lot. Although I got more into it by the end, I still feel that A Rare Interest in Corpses is Granger's least involving novel. This is partly because the character of Lizzie Martin is not very different from either Meredith Mitchell or Fran Varady, though the forthright attitude they share is interesting in a Victorian pre-feminist context (though it is hardly original in historical crime fiction set in the nineteenth century: as well as characters in Anne Perry's novels, it is also shared by [a:Elizabeth Peters|16549|Elizabeth Peters|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1232144920p2/16549.jpg]' Amelia Peabody).
A competent historical crime novel, but by no means Ann Granger's best work.
A Rare Interest in Corpses initially appears to be something of a departure for Granger. She is best known for her Mitchell and Markby series, and has also written several novels about amateur detective Fran Varady; both these series are contemporary crime fiction (in the sense that they are set in the modern world; the Mitchell and Markby novels are rather old fashioned in tone). Here we have her first historical crime novel, set in Victorian London - not as popular a time and place as might be expected, probably because it is so strongly associated with Sherlock Holmes. In fact, the writer I was reminded of by A Rare Interest in Corpses was not [a:Arthur Conan Doyle|2448|Arthur Conan Doyle|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1289836561p2/2448.jpg], but [a:Anne Perry|6331|Anne Perry|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1216671529p2/6331.jpg].
The central character, Lizzie Martin, is a doctor's daughter from the Derbyshire coalfields, forced to take a position as a companion to an older rich widow in London when her father's death leaves her penniless. When she arrives, she discovers that the woman who previously acted as companion to Mrs Parry went missing, apparently eloping with a lover, but, it now turns out, murdered and her body left in the huge building site that would become St Pancras station. Lizzie feels an obligation to a woman who had been in the same situation as she now finds herself to try to find the murderer - a task in which she is much aided by the reluctance of key witnesses to speak to the police.
I have in the past discussed an issue I have with a lot of crime fiction. The genre is very much dependent on plot construction, and in particular on the construction of plots where particular points remain obscure to the reader (though fairly presented) until the very end: the reader has all the clues, but should still be surprised by the revelation of the murderer. Constructing such a plot is quite hard, and a shortcut which is often used is to use a coincidence - an unlikely happening which is not justified by the rest of the plot (it is one thing for an mysterious lost cousin to turn up just at the time of the murder, but much more acceptable if the murderer lures that person there so they arrive on the scene in time to be implicated in a murder they would benefit from). Even when unmotivated coincidences are left in a plot - and it is true that coincidences really happen - they usually have some meaning in the plot itself, whether actually helping to point the way to the solution of a crime, or making it harder for the reader to see the real solution. Sometimes coincidences are used to promote the continuation of a series, as where a character finds a body in novel after novel. At the beginning of A Rare Interest in Corpses, there are two coincidences which really serve no purpose whatsoever. The first of these is that Lizzie, taking a cab from King's Cross station to her new home, is delayed by police removing a body from the half-demolished slums which were Agar Town and would become St Pancras (which is, for readers not familiar with London, immediately next door to King's Cross): this is the body of Madeline Hexham, her predecessor. The second is that the police inspector assigned to the case turns out to be someone she already knows, despite her belief that she is a stranger to everyone in London: he met her when he was a small boy working in a coalmine, where her father was helping with the aftermath of an accident; her father paid for his education, which he put to use in joining the Metropolitan Police. The second establishes a certain bond between Lizzie and the policeman, but not one which could not have been developed in other ways, while there seems to have been no motivation at all for the first.
I found these coincidences, which come very close together near the beginning of the novel, a big hindrance to enjoyment of a book by an author that usually I like a lot. Although I got more into it by the end, I still feel that A Rare Interest in Corpses is Granger's least involving novel. This is partly because the character of Lizzie Martin is not very different from either Meredith Mitchell or Fran Varady, though the forthright attitude they share is interesting in a Victorian pre-feminist context (though it is hardly original in historical crime fiction set in the nineteenth century: as well as characters in Anne Perry's novels, it is also shared by [a:Elizabeth Peters|16549|Elizabeth Peters|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1232144920p2/16549.jpg]' Amelia Peabody).
A competent historical crime novel, but by no means Ann Granger's best work.
julieputty's review against another edition
4.0
Well done historical in Victorian England. The characters are distinct and real, with strong motivations, and Granger gives hints throughout the text for the mystery. A good read.
stellar_raven's review against another edition
3.0
I had the hardest time getting into this book, and I can't quite place my finger on why. I guess one reason would be that I didn't really feel an emotional connection to the main character, Lizzie Martin. I didn't dislike her or anything, but I didn't really like her either. I liked the main male character, Ben Ross, quite a bit, however. I often found myself wishing that more of the book was written from his perspective. The mystery itself was engaging enough, even if it moved a bit slowly at times.
I thought having the story told via switching back and forth between the two main characters was interesting for the most part.
I have the second book in the Lizzie Martin series, I'm hoping I'll enjoy that one a bit more than this one.
I thought having the story told via switching back and forth between the two main characters was interesting for the most part.
I have the second book in the Lizzie Martin series, I'm hoping I'll enjoy that one a bit more than this one.
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