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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
4 stars
Huge thanks to Oscar de Muriel, Penguin UK, Michael Joseph and NetGalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review.
This is the first book I've read that's set in the 1800's and, although I wasn't sure about it to begin with, I really did enjoy it!
I was drawn in by the words 'insane asylum' and pulled in even further when witches were mentioned. A fast paced and fun read, I love Nine-Nails as a character and got a little annoyed by Frey as he seemed a little whiny.
Very good story though and one I'd highly recommend.
Huge thanks to Oscar de Muriel, Penguin UK, Michael Joseph and NetGalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review.
This is the first book I've read that's set in the 1800's and, although I wasn't sure about it to begin with, I really did enjoy it!
I was drawn in by the words 'insane asylum' and pulled in even further when witches were mentioned. A fast paced and fun read, I love Nine-Nails as a character and got a little annoyed by Frey as he seemed a little whiny.
Very good story though and one I'd highly recommend.
adventurous
dark
funny
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
See my other reviews at Never Enough Books
New Years’ Day – 1889.
In Edinburgh’s lunatic asylum, a patient escapes and a nurse lays dying. Before his escape he was supposedly heard speaking with a fellow patient – a young woman who hasn’t uttered a word in years. Why she spoke and what she said are only two small parts of a greater mystery.
Leading the investigation are local officer Detective ‘Nine Nails’ McGray and Inspector Ian Frey. From Edinburgh, the two track a devious madman far beyond their jurisdiction. While the worst storm in history swirls around them, it brings more than snow and cold – it brings danger neither man could dare imagine.
Coming in to the middle of a series – regardless of the format – can often be a bit difficult. Characters have already been introduced and set up, their motives already established. Mentions of previous adventures, previous conversations, can be made and will either make perfect sense or be utterly confusing.
This is unfortunately true with A Fever of the Blood. It is the second book of a series that looks to be promising but really should be read from the first book. Numerous references are made to events in the first book and at times I found it a bit confusing.
On the whole, A Fever of the Blood was quite enjoyable. While it was a little slow in the beginning, once the action picked up it continued at a fast and furious speed. Despite my occasional confusion I still found myself entranced and held rapt by the story.
Readers should likely seek out the first book The Strings of Murder before trying to read A Fever of the Blood. While on its own it is enjoyable, knowing more about the characters and the backstory will likely make it more so.
New Years’ Day – 1889.
In Edinburgh’s lunatic asylum, a patient escapes and a nurse lays dying. Before his escape he was supposedly heard speaking with a fellow patient – a young woman who hasn’t uttered a word in years. Why she spoke and what she said are only two small parts of a greater mystery.
Leading the investigation are local officer Detective ‘Nine Nails’ McGray and Inspector Ian Frey. From Edinburgh, the two track a devious madman far beyond their jurisdiction. While the worst storm in history swirls around them, it brings more than snow and cold – it brings danger neither man could dare imagine.
Coming in to the middle of a series – regardless of the format – can often be a bit difficult. Characters have already been introduced and set up, their motives already established. Mentions of previous adventures, previous conversations, can be made and will either make perfect sense or be utterly confusing.
This is unfortunately true with A Fever of the Blood. It is the second book of a series that looks to be promising but really should be read from the first book. Numerous references are made to events in the first book and at times I found it a bit confusing.
On the whole, A Fever of the Blood was quite enjoyable. While it was a little slow in the beginning, once the action picked up it continued at a fast and furious speed. Despite my occasional confusion I still found myself entranced and held rapt by the story.
Readers should likely seek out the first book The Strings of Murder before trying to read A Fever of the Blood. While on its own it is enjoyable, knowing more about the characters and the backstory will likely make it more so.
Dieser zweite Band um Frey und McGray im Schottland des späten 19. Jahrhunderts ist eine ebenso tolle Geschichte wie sein Vorgänger - den Stern weniger gibt es nur, weil der Wechsel der Szenerie nicht so mein Fall ist - aber das wird beim nächsten Buch bestimmt wieder besser..
I didn’t realize that this was book two and it probably would have had helped to figure out how this odd couple got together. The best way to describe Frey and McGray is an English and Scottish Scully and Mulder respectively set in Victorian Edinburgh. Frey is a wealthy Londoner who decided to go into policing and ended up sent to Scotland for reasons I’m not entirely sure (probably in book one) but being embarrassed by his fiancée running off with his brother was part of it. McGray known as Nine Nails because his insane sister slaughtered his family and cut off one of his fingers in the process, is a Scottish detective.
The things that grated on me was the anti-English sentiment (which yes was real then and fairly deservedly but this harped on and on about it) and McGray constantly making the equivalent of dandy/gay jokes about Frey all the time left me with a bad taste in my mouth. There was an uneven pacing to some of it as well.
But there was good too. A man has escaped from the same asylum McGray’s sister is in and in fact she spoke to him, the first words she had spoken since her incarceration there. Ardglass is the son of a wealthy aristocratic alcoholic nicknamed Lady Glass because of her drinking issues. Ardglass is supposedly dead which was less embarrassing than he’s insane but is he? Ardglass is on the loose killing everyone who helped to put him away.
However, are the witches helping him or out to kill him? McGray, Mulder-like, believes in supernatural things like magic and is convinced they are real witches (in fact that’s all their division does, hunt down supernatural crimes). Frey, our Scully clone, doesn’t believe in it at all and is horrified most of the time to be partnered with McGray. Both of them are sort of whining and nasty to each other so it was hard to like either of them.
Is it really magic or is that magic science? The book is written so you can take it either way. As a mystery it is interesting and holds your attention, but it could had been tightened up. Just cutting out some of the nasty barbed banter would have shortened this fifty pages at least. Will I read another? Probably but this one is iffy for me.
The things that grated on me was the anti-English sentiment (which yes was real then and fairly deservedly but this harped on and on about it) and McGray constantly making the equivalent of dandy/gay jokes about Frey all the time left me with a bad taste in my mouth. There was an uneven pacing to some of it as well.
But there was good too. A man has escaped from the same asylum McGray’s sister is in and in fact she spoke to him, the first words she had spoken since her incarceration there. Ardglass is the son of a wealthy aristocratic alcoholic nicknamed Lady Glass because of her drinking issues. Ardglass is supposedly dead which was less embarrassing than he’s insane but is he? Ardglass is on the loose killing everyone who helped to put him away.
However, are the witches helping him or out to kill him? McGray, Mulder-like, believes in supernatural things like magic and is convinced they are real witches (in fact that’s all their division does, hunt down supernatural crimes). Frey, our Scully clone, doesn’t believe in it at all and is horrified most of the time to be partnered with McGray. Both of them are sort of whining and nasty to each other so it was hard to like either of them.
Is it really magic or is that magic science? The book is written so you can take it either way. As a mystery it is interesting and holds your attention, but it could had been tightened up. Just cutting out some of the nasty barbed banter would have shortened this fifty pages at least. Will I read another? Probably but this one is iffy for me.