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A review by cornerofmadness
The Murder Pit by Mick Finlay
3.0
I received this from a Goodreads giveaway which did not influence my review. Honestly I was late in reviewing this ARC and wasn't sure what to put on it. I generally put two stars on ones that I think have problems structurally and I can't say that with this one. It's well written but it's simply not for me. Now I didn't read book one which did impact this read (a little unusual for mystery series) because I was missing how Arrowood and Barnett began their partnership and I needed that because they didn't seem to really like each other.
Apparently the first one was funny and I see a lot of reviews saying this one wasn't and boy wasn't it. It's downright dismal. It has at its heart the treatment of the mentally ill and people with birth defects (Down's syndrome in particular) at the height of the Victorian era, something I already know quite a bit about. It's ugly stuff, especially when you realize that not only did Downs (who the syndrome was named for. They were called Mongoliod Idiots at this time period which the author does use (and explains in an author note) think that those with Downs were a racial regression but also that meant they considered Asians to be inferior to Whites and stupid on top of it. That's some ugly stuff (true to the time period but damn ugly).
There is nothing funny about this book (not that it needs to be. I don't read mysteries for the laughs) but there is something annoying about it. Apparently Arrowood is fat and Barnett tells us this constantly. Okay we get it. the constant fat shaming (which yes would never have been considered an issue back then) grated on me as Arrowood burps, farts and diarrheas his way through this story.
I thought it might be interesting to see him in regards to Holmes because it's marketed as he's the antithesis of Sherlock Holmes but all we get is him bitching how Holmes gets all the attention and he gets none. That I could handle but then we get a newspaper campaign denigrating Arrowood and that's threaded thru the novel and if I hadn't agreed to review this I probably would have stopped because of this (and his constant bellyaching)
They have a case, Birdie Barclay's parents want her back after she's been married off to a farming family who they claim is abusing her and not letting her see them. Birdie has Down's syndrome. This quickly leads them to a) realize the Barclays are lying b) the farm family is downright abusive and c) there is something hinky with the asylum that moves inmates out to that farm as workers.
This isn't a bad book and the mystery is interesting BUT it goes on way too long. This book felt 100 pages longer than it needed to be. It felt like it was spinning its wheels, just wallowing in its misery and with literally everyone against Arrowood from cops, to politicians to the newspaper I can't see how he can be effective. It felt like far too much.
There is one thing he does which was technically a crime (without being too spoilery, he breaks into the asylum after evidence) which gets reported in the paper but never even touched by the cops. Seeing as they hate Arrowood that made no sense to me. At the end of the day this wasn't a book for me. I gave it three stars because it's well written but I'm not into things this dreary. I didn't like the characters. It was a two star read for me at best and I don't see me continuing the series.
Apparently the first one was funny and I see a lot of reviews saying this one wasn't and boy wasn't it. It's downright dismal. It has at its heart the treatment of the mentally ill and people with birth defects (Down's syndrome in particular) at the height of the Victorian era, something I already know quite a bit about. It's ugly stuff, especially when you realize that not only did Downs (who the syndrome was named for. They were called Mongoliod Idiots at this time period which the author does use (and explains in an author note) think that those with Downs were a racial regression but also that meant they considered Asians to be inferior to Whites and stupid on top of it. That's some ugly stuff (true to the time period but damn ugly).
There is nothing funny about this book (not that it needs to be. I don't read mysteries for the laughs) but there is something annoying about it. Apparently Arrowood is fat and Barnett tells us this constantly. Okay we get it. the constant fat shaming (which yes would never have been considered an issue back then) grated on me as Arrowood burps, farts and diarrheas his way through this story.
I thought it might be interesting to see him in regards to Holmes because it's marketed as he's the antithesis of Sherlock Holmes but all we get is him bitching how Holmes gets all the attention and he gets none. That I could handle but then we get a newspaper campaign denigrating Arrowood and that's threaded thru the novel and if I hadn't agreed to review this I probably would have stopped because of this (and his constant bellyaching)
They have a case, Birdie Barclay's parents want her back after she's been married off to a farming family who they claim is abusing her and not letting her see them. Birdie has Down's syndrome. This quickly leads them to a) realize the Barclays are lying b) the farm family is downright abusive and c) there is something hinky with the asylum that moves inmates out to that farm as workers.
This isn't a bad book and the mystery is interesting BUT it goes on way too long. This book felt 100 pages longer than it needed to be. It felt like it was spinning its wheels, just wallowing in its misery and with literally everyone against Arrowood from cops, to politicians to the newspaper I can't see how he can be effective. It felt like far too much.
There is one thing he does which was technically a crime (without being too spoilery, he breaks into the asylum after evidence) which gets reported in the paper but never even touched by the cops. Seeing as they hate Arrowood that made no sense to me. At the end of the day this wasn't a book for me. I gave it three stars because it's well written but I'm not into things this dreary. I didn't like the characters. It was a two star read for me at best and I don't see me continuing the series.