Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.0 AVERAGE
3.0 AVERAGE
Fletcher Rigge is in debtors prison in York. His father gambled away his estates and then committed suicide, Fletcher is clever but without money or support. Then a mysterious proposition is made. Fletcher will be released from gaol, his debts paid for one month, he must solve a murder and if he does so his debts will disappear forever. This benefactor is Captain Harvey son of the late victim, an artist who specialised in silhouettes, or shades as they are known. Fletcher realises that the clues to the orders identity lie in the last set of shades that Harvey created and so he is thrown into society in York and latterly London.
This is a clever book, written in the form of different notes or papers and with a number of different narrators. All of this means that the plot is not quite as clear cut as it could have been with a more straightforward single narrator. However, this is to the book's benefit, as one of the strengths is the complexity of the plot and the way that no single narrator is completely truthful, different perspectives of the same events are interpreted in different ways. In this way the metaphor about shades continues through the story. I loved the descriptions of life in Georgian York and the little details about the different characters added such a depth to the novel.
This is a clever book, written in the form of different notes or papers and with a number of different narrators. All of this means that the plot is not quite as clear cut as it could have been with a more straightforward single narrator. However, this is to the book's benefit, as one of the strengths is the complexity of the plot and the way that no single narrator is completely truthful, different perspectives of the same events are interpreted in different ways. In this way the metaphor about shades continues through the story. I loved the descriptions of life in Georgian York and the little details about the different characters added such a depth to the novel.
adventurous
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
4.5* Thoroughly enjoyable read! Would highly recommend.
What a surprising disappointment. There was so much potential with this story. I loved the idea of it - a man named Matthew Harvey who's occupation is 'cutter of shades' is murdered with a pair of scissors. There don't seem to be any suspects, but then Matthew's son decides to release a man from debtor's prison named Fletcher Rigge, and gives him a limited amount of time to find his father's murder. He must do so by tracing the last 6 sitters that interacted with him. His forfeit is that he will be sent back to the prison and not released.
What a great idea!! But in fact it's pretty dull, the characters all seem to merge into one, and the story goes on for (in my opinion) double the amount of time I think it should. When the end came I couldn't understand it, I didn't understand (even then) who had committed the crime - I must've been suffering with amnesia. The perks of the book however, were that the pages were smudged with (what was supposed to be) soot, and the cover is pretty cool.
What a great idea!! But in fact it's pretty dull, the characters all seem to merge into one, and the story goes on for (in my opinion) double the amount of time I think it should. When the end came I couldn't understand it, I didn't understand (even then) who had committed the crime - I must've been suffering with amnesia. The perks of the book however, were that the pages were smudged with (what was supposed to be) soot, and the cover is pretty cool.
An unusual plot in that Fletcher Rigge in order to be released from a York debtor prison has a month to solve a murder.
Told from various view points through, letters, testimonials and diaries we follow the investigation that becomes tedious and with no real jeopardy involved.
There are some humorous moments which might have come from a Carry On film and the ending as we find the killer's identity was more like a shrug of the shoulders.
I liked the scenes within a York theatre, Martin managed to create some atmosphere, not enough however to increase my liking for this novel. Should have been so much better.
Told from various view points through, letters, testimonials and diaries we follow the investigation that becomes tedious and with no real jeopardy involved.
There are some humorous moments which might have come from a Carry On film and the ending as we find the killer's identity was more like a shrug of the shoulders.
I liked the scenes within a York theatre, Martin managed to create some atmosphere, not enough however to increase my liking for this novel. Should have been so much better.
The multiple forms intrigued me when picking up this book and they did not disappoint. Overall the story was interesting and undeniably reminiscent of 18th century England as was the intention. My only qualm, however, is that I found it difficult to pick up. I am not sure whether this is down to a lack of time management on my part or if the plot itself was persuading me against wanting to read. The ending seemed lack lustre for me as I was looking forward to a finale of great triumph and climax, where instead there was more of a slow droll and fizzle.
I would however recommend this book to someone looking to get into historical crime novels or even someone well versed in the genre.
I would however recommend this book to someone looking to get into historical crime novels or even someone well versed in the genre.
Set in York at the end of the eighteenth century, Soot features an unlikely amateur sleuth in Fletcher Rigge. Plucked from the debtor’s prison by a questionable benefactor from the wrong part of town, he’s given a month to investigate the murder of Captain Harvey’s father, one of York’s silhouette artists. The suspects are his last sitters, with only their duplicate shades to identify them. The art of the silhouette maker appears to capture the essence of each character and it’s illuminating how much Fletcher Rigge is able to take from these deceptively simple shades of people. They represent the impression we leave behind and it’s for Rigge to fill in the detail, as he attempts to identify each sitter inside a month. In this, Rigge is the happy beneficiary of coincidence while pursuing his investigations but I can forgive him that in a York of this period. He also shows scant regard for his own safety or wellbeing. Maybe he thinks he has little left to lose, despite being drawn into a dangerous game where a murderer is still at large. Will Rigge prove to be a willing pawn or more skilled and capable of outwitting practised confidence artists and other undesirables than we expect? And why does he seem set on undoing all the good work he and others are doing on his behalf?
Soot held my attention from its first page when Mr Erskine, a lawyer, sends the York magistrate a bundle of documents concerning the violent death of Matthew Harvey. I tumbled headlong into the (rather aptly) shadowy world of this city at the close of the eighteenth century. Reading this collection of letters, diary entries and witness statements (complete with the lawyer’s annotations), the lawyer in me loved trying to piece together this whodunit/whydunit from all the material provided. If you enjoy puzzles, you’ll love this literary jigsaw of a mystery with characters as fascinating and fluid as Rigge’s roaming over the snowy northern city. Just as ink and soot smudge and snow soon turns to sludge, part of the fun of Soot is how nothing is ever black or white: the lines between good and bad blur and fudge and its people are neither one thing nor the other. What they are throughout is darkly amusing and interesting companions. Here’s the grieving son on his father’s search for the right shade: “He was always looking for what he called a dead black,” said Captain Harvey, smiling sardonically. “I reckon he’s found it now.”
I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the shadows, smudged in Soot; it’s historical crime with a difference, laced with dark humour and told with flair. I’ll miss its unusual and unlikely but likeable protagonist Fletcher Rigge and hope we meet again in the ink-tipped pages of another book. In the meantime, treat yourself to the gorgeous hardback of this beauty… before the lawyers get their hands on it, too.
Soot held my attention from its first page when Mr Erskine, a lawyer, sends the York magistrate a bundle of documents concerning the violent death of Matthew Harvey. I tumbled headlong into the (rather aptly) shadowy world of this city at the close of the eighteenth century. Reading this collection of letters, diary entries and witness statements (complete with the lawyer’s annotations), the lawyer in me loved trying to piece together this whodunit/whydunit from all the material provided. If you enjoy puzzles, you’ll love this literary jigsaw of a mystery with characters as fascinating and fluid as Rigge’s roaming over the snowy northern city. Just as ink and soot smudge and snow soon turns to sludge, part of the fun of Soot is how nothing is ever black or white: the lines between good and bad blur and fudge and its people are neither one thing nor the other. What they are throughout is darkly amusing and interesting companions. Here’s the grieving son on his father’s search for the right shade: “He was always looking for what he called a dead black,” said Captain Harvey, smiling sardonically. “I reckon he’s found it now.”
I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the shadows, smudged in Soot; it’s historical crime with a difference, laced with dark humour and told with flair. I’ll miss its unusual and unlikely but likeable protagonist Fletcher Rigge and hope we meet again in the ink-tipped pages of another book. In the meantime, treat yourself to the gorgeous hardback of this beauty… before the lawyers get their hands on it, too.
In terms of novels, I (almost) exclusively read SF and fantasy, so why did I pick this book up? Well, it first caught my eye because of the cover, which featured an instantly recognisable picture of York Minster.
York is my hometown and the place I have lived all my life (so far) and, being honest, I have yet to read a decent book set in the city, or its nearby environs. (Being honest I can only remember one book actually set in the city.)
"Literary" put me off - both when the bookseller mentioned the word, as I handed over my credit card, and the quote on the cover. I like my books to be relatively easy reads and that word, to me, suggests highbrow. However, I needn't have worried, this is am incredibly easy, and yet layered, read. It makes you think, you wonder what's going on. It made me laugh and it made me cringe. It also made me feel like in was in my city, two hundred years in the past. It's a fairly immersive novel, with a very acceptable ending.
And yes, it portrayed my city brilliantly, and even made me research (albeit briefly) some of the history. That other book had made a glaring error - to anybody who lives here - of street geography. This one seemed to have, until I checked whether there had in fact been a Black Swan inn that you could walk out of into Coney Street. (There indeed was, and not the one I'm more familiar with, which is in a slightly different part of the city.) I looked up other locations and worked out where they would have been or, indeed, still are. I still can't square Micklegate having a Spread Eagle pub but, you know what? I trust the author did his research more fully than I have done.
Finally! A book that pays its respect to York. Loved it.
York is my hometown and the place I have lived all my life (so far) and, being honest, I have yet to read a decent book set in the city, or its nearby environs. (Being honest I can only remember one book actually set in the city.)
"Literary" put me off - both when the bookseller mentioned the word, as I handed over my credit card, and the quote on the cover. I like my books to be relatively easy reads and that word, to me, suggests highbrow. However, I needn't have worried, this is am incredibly easy, and yet layered, read. It makes you think, you wonder what's going on. It made me laugh and it made me cringe. It also made me feel like in was in my city, two hundred years in the past. It's a fairly immersive novel, with a very acceptable ending.
And yes, it portrayed my city brilliantly, and even made me research (albeit briefly) some of the history. That other book had made a glaring error - to anybody who lives here - of street geography. This one seemed to have, until I checked whether there had in fact been a Black Swan inn that you could walk out of into Coney Street. (There indeed was, and not the one I'm more familiar with, which is in a slightly different part of the city.) I looked up other locations and worked out where they would have been or, indeed, still are. I still can't square Micklegate having a Spread Eagle pub but, you know what? I trust the author did his research more fully than I have done.
Finally! A book that pays its respect to York. Loved it.
Told entirely through written reports - diary entries, letters, memoranda and notes, Soot cleverly uses the epistolary form, utilising different voices and occasionally unreliable narration to explain how Fletcher Rigge finds himself charged with investigating the murder of Matthew Hardy, and what his investigation reveals.
There's a real authenticity about the proceedings, it felt less like a book set in 1799 than a collection of documents written at the time. From the colloquial, witty and occasionally bawdy diary entries through to the more formal exchange of letters, to the legal postscripts; the different voices of the chapters are distinctive and believable. The city of York, just starting to become industrialised is brought atmospherically to life; the almost constant snowfall a contrast to the grime of the early coal trade already resulting in a 'befoulment of the air.' The soot of the title refers not only to the coal sold by the deceased man's son, Captain Robin Harvey but also to the shades, or silhouettes the dead man was renowned for before his untimely demise. There are few clues as to the identity of his murderer but it seems the perpetrator must have been one of the last six people to sit for one of his shades.
Fletcher Rigge's diary entries, backed up by the reports of others, show him to be a serious, principled man, given to melancholy and guilty perhaps of a stubborn nostalgia. He is sent to debtor's prison following the suicide of his father who lost his entire estate through gambling. Determined to honour his father's commitments to his estate Rigge's sizeable debt was accrued due to the expense of repairing some of the labourer's cottages. He is freed from his debt by Captain Hardy but only if he can discover the identity of the killer within the month. A clever man, he is soon able to identify the six key suspects and it's here Andrew Martin really had fun with his characters, each vie for most colourful and while all have something of the grotesque about them - these are ordinary people with their flaws and idiosyncrasies writ large - each is written about with a certain affection, Andrew Martin is sharp but not cruel about his cast.
Although the droll characterisation and black humour are the most memorable features, it is also an intriguing and cleverly plotted mystery, the truth is gradually revealed and the blackness of the silhouettes is matched by the souls of certain participants. What a pleasure it was to read Soot with its fresh take on the classic murder mystery tale, I really enjoyed this intelligent and spirited book and recommend it to both crime and historical fiction lovers.
My thanks to the publishers for my copy, received through Netgalley in return for my honest review.
There's a real authenticity about the proceedings, it felt less like a book set in 1799 than a collection of documents written at the time. From the colloquial, witty and occasionally bawdy diary entries through to the more formal exchange of letters, to the legal postscripts; the different voices of the chapters are distinctive and believable. The city of York, just starting to become industrialised is brought atmospherically to life; the almost constant snowfall a contrast to the grime of the early coal trade already resulting in a 'befoulment of the air.' The soot of the title refers not only to the coal sold by the deceased man's son, Captain Robin Harvey but also to the shades, or silhouettes the dead man was renowned for before his untimely demise. There are few clues as to the identity of his murderer but it seems the perpetrator must have been one of the last six people to sit for one of his shades.
Fletcher Rigge's diary entries, backed up by the reports of others, show him to be a serious, principled man, given to melancholy and guilty perhaps of a stubborn nostalgia. He is sent to debtor's prison following the suicide of his father who lost his entire estate through gambling. Determined to honour his father's commitments to his estate Rigge's sizeable debt was accrued due to the expense of repairing some of the labourer's cottages. He is freed from his debt by Captain Hardy but only if he can discover the identity of the killer within the month. A clever man, he is soon able to identify the six key suspects and it's here Andrew Martin really had fun with his characters, each vie for most colourful and while all have something of the grotesque about them - these are ordinary people with their flaws and idiosyncrasies writ large - each is written about with a certain affection, Andrew Martin is sharp but not cruel about his cast.
Although the droll characterisation and black humour are the most memorable features, it is also an intriguing and cleverly plotted mystery, the truth is gradually revealed and the blackness of the silhouettes is matched by the souls of certain participants. What a pleasure it was to read Soot with its fresh take on the classic murder mystery tale, I really enjoyed this intelligent and spirited book and recommend it to both crime and historical fiction lovers.
My thanks to the publishers for my copy, received through Netgalley in return for my honest review.
I’d like to start this review by saying – Mr Rigge is a wonderful character and I loved his humour. In fact, this novel has very interesting characters indeed. On Rigge’s journey to discover who the people behind the shade paintings are, he travels from York to London, from the theatre to seedy gaming dens – it all made for enjoyable reading.
There’s no straight forward narrative here, several different documents from several of the characters tells this story – diary entries, letters and memorandums, to name a few – these documents have been put together by Mr Erskine, a lawyer, who is sending them to the Chief Magistrate of York. A few times in the novel, we are given a document, Mr Erskine then briefly comments that he will not share the other document by a different person as they say a similar thing. This tactic creates unreliable narration as, without both accounts, you’re not entirely sure what to believe.
In all honestly, I struggled with this book, I was able to follow the story but I think I missed certain things – I say that because, on reading other reviews for this title, I wonder if I read the same book because it appears I missed so much. This book is set in 18th century England and the language reflects that time period so to enjoy this novel, you must get on board with that fact – I read this book on my kindle and there were a few times I used the dictionary assistance to find the meaning of words. This didn’t hinder my enjoyment, most times you can infer the meaning of the words from the context in which they’re used, but I just wanted to make certain. I mention this because while Martin used this language in a way that created a delightfully dark atmosphere, it, along with the formatting of the story, may have been the cause of me not fully grasping all that occurred in the novel.
This is not a criticism in anyway, more the novel was too cleverly structured for my basic brain. Regardless, what I took from this novel, I enjoyed – especially the dark humour and the character of Mr Fletcher Rigge.
*My thanks to Corsair for granting me access to a digital copy of this book via Netgalley*
There’s no straight forward narrative here, several different documents from several of the characters tells this story – diary entries, letters and memorandums, to name a few – these documents have been put together by Mr Erskine, a lawyer, who is sending them to the Chief Magistrate of York. A few times in the novel, we are given a document, Mr Erskine then briefly comments that he will not share the other document by a different person as they say a similar thing. This tactic creates unreliable narration as, without both accounts, you’re not entirely sure what to believe.
In all honestly, I struggled with this book, I was able to follow the story but I think I missed certain things – I say that because, on reading other reviews for this title, I wonder if I read the same book because it appears I missed so much. This book is set in 18th century England and the language reflects that time period so to enjoy this novel, you must get on board with that fact – I read this book on my kindle and there were a few times I used the dictionary assistance to find the meaning of words. This didn’t hinder my enjoyment, most times you can infer the meaning of the words from the context in which they’re used, but I just wanted to make certain. I mention this because while Martin used this language in a way that created a delightfully dark atmosphere, it, along with the formatting of the story, may have been the cause of me not fully grasping all that occurred in the novel.
This is not a criticism in anyway, more the novel was too cleverly structured for my basic brain. Regardless, what I took from this novel, I enjoyed – especially the dark humour and the character of Mr Fletcher Rigge.
*My thanks to Corsair for granting me access to a digital copy of this book via Netgalley*