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jamesbeth 's review for:
31 Bond Street
by Ellen Horan
I’m disappointed I didn’t write a review for this more quickly after finishing it—they’re usually better that way. None the less, better late than never, I know.
I love mysteries and I love Victorian novels, so what’s not to like? Turns out, a couple of things, but all in all this truly was a wonderful book. My gut tells me it has to be incredibly difficult to write a period mystery—in addition to the issues involved with just writing a mystery in general, all those bits and pieces you could easily forget you ever threw in there, you also have to remember accuracy. And, in the case of this book, which is based on actual newspaper accounts from the period on a real murder at 31 Bond Street, making a fantastical murder fit into the mold of a real crime would be even more difficult. That author does a bang up job—really she does.
A few things are done expertly: the character of Emma, our accused, is top-notch. She’s believable, likeable but also questionable and it’s easy to hone in on her chief concern in life: desperation. Emma is desperate and this propels her story and makes it understandable that she is involved with Dr. Burdell.
Burdell is also more or less done well, though sometimes I found him to be too flat of a “terrible character,” but he is saved by the dimentionality of his strangeness. He’s a weird mean guy, and you don’t feel badly he died, but you do think that perhaps you can see why he would have SOME access to nice people. This is important to keep a story afloat.
The house is basically a character in itself, as are Victorian ideals, manners and expectations. New York is vibrant and the supporting defense characters are great, too, as are the members of the house hold staff.
So, who, you ask, didn’t work? Emma’s daughters, Augusta and Helen are flat and useless, so it was no surprise they were added, more or less, by the author. A strange Indian character actually becomes the ONE aspect of this book (but a big aspect) that truly damaged it—surprise, he wasn’t real either, and I’m not sure what was going on with the idea to add him in. While he didn’t “ruin” the book, I didn’t buy him and he was majorly distracting.
The addition of secret passage ways, loving a Victorian New York, gender roles and a court room drama keep this story going, despite a pesky character or two that just didn’t do the job. It’s absolutely worth the read (and the WHOLE book is enshrouded in mystery, so I can’t say much without spoilers, so I’ll stick to structure and tactics), but watch out for that rouge Indian….
I love mysteries and I love Victorian novels, so what’s not to like? Turns out, a couple of things, but all in all this truly was a wonderful book. My gut tells me it has to be incredibly difficult to write a period mystery—in addition to the issues involved with just writing a mystery in general, all those bits and pieces you could easily forget you ever threw in there, you also have to remember accuracy. And, in the case of this book, which is based on actual newspaper accounts from the period on a real murder at 31 Bond Street, making a fantastical murder fit into the mold of a real crime would be even more difficult. That author does a bang up job—really she does.
A few things are done expertly: the character of Emma, our accused, is top-notch. She’s believable, likeable but also questionable and it’s easy to hone in on her chief concern in life: desperation. Emma is desperate and this propels her story and makes it understandable that she is involved with Dr. Burdell.
Burdell is also more or less done well, though sometimes I found him to be too flat of a “terrible character,” but he is saved by the dimentionality of his strangeness. He’s a weird mean guy, and you don’t feel badly he died, but you do think that perhaps you can see why he would have SOME access to nice people. This is important to keep a story afloat.
The house is basically a character in itself, as are Victorian ideals, manners and expectations. New York is vibrant and the supporting defense characters are great, too, as are the members of the house hold staff.
So, who, you ask, didn’t work? Emma’s daughters, Augusta and Helen are flat and useless, so it was no surprise they were added, more or less, by the author. A strange Indian character actually becomes the ONE aspect of this book (but a big aspect) that truly damaged it—surprise, he wasn’t real either, and I’m not sure what was going on with the idea to add him in. While he didn’t “ruin” the book, I didn’t buy him and he was majorly distracting.
The addition of secret passage ways, loving a Victorian New York, gender roles and a court room drama keep this story going, despite a pesky character or two that just didn’t do the job. It’s absolutely worth the read (and the WHOLE book is enshrouded in mystery, so I can’t say much without spoilers, so I’ll stick to structure and tactics), but watch out for that rouge Indian….