Scan barcode
A review by weaselweader
Murder in Grub Street by Bruce Alexander
4.0
Recreates the 18th century in full colour and sound!
Recently orphaned Jeremy Proctor, "adopted" by blind magistrate Sir John Fielding and dutifully installed in the position of his assistant, protégé, jack-of-all-trades and utilitarian gopher, narrates a thoroughly entertaining tale of their continuing life together in MURDER IN GRUB STREET. Mere hours before Proctor is to report to a publishing house to begin his apprenticeship, Ezekiel Crabb, the owner, his entire family and two of their staff are found brutally axe murdered. John Clayton, a disgruntled poet fresh from a heated disagreement with Crabb is found wandering in the house, dazed and bewildered, clutching the murder weapon and the constabulary are immediately convinced the murder has solved itself! Fielding, of course, remains unconvinced by the evidence and looks elsewhere concerned that failure to find the real culprit might result in the conviction and execution of an innocent man.
Not to insult any reader's intelligence, least of all my own, but when other apparently unrelated murders and an arson in a nearby synagogue point Fielding's sleuthing in the direction of an outrageous sect of American zealots styling themselves Brethren of the Spirit who would forcibly convert any Jews to Christianity - well, it doesn't take a heavyweight literary analyst to realize the two cases will come together at some point! The plotting is quite transparent and the culprit is easily predicted at little more than the halfway point of the novel.
But the real strength of this novel lies elsewhere - extraordinary characterization and atmospheric embellishment that brings people, time and place to life with a sparkling vitality and a sense of realism that can hardly be rivaled - the slums, the prisons, the docks, pubs, theater, outdoor markets, upstairs, downstairs, Grub Street and the publishing business, of course, courts, gaming houses, bordellos, street walkers, pickpockets, scamps, cut purses and thieves. Jimmie Bunkins, a ne'er do well street urchin that begs to be compared to Dickens's The Artful Dodger and Corrie Swanson, the bright but rebellious teen Goth from STILL LIFE WITH CROWS, describes Sir John's wisdom, kindness and leadership ability, in a hilarious stream of street lingo that nearly defies understanding:
"What a rum cove he is! I ain't never met such a joe and I don't never hope to. I could be sent to crap by such as him and thank him for it."
(Now that would be an interesting and amusing English essay question for further research ... "Compare and contrast the characters of Jimmie Bunkins, The Artful Dodger and Corrie Swanson with reference to the roles of Sir John Fielding, Fagan and Aloysius Pendergast as their benefactors, teachers and mentors!")
A much more graphic and grittier novel than its predecessor BLIND JUSTICE, Alexander has used this novel to present a mystery - not a great one but a darned good one - that brings Georgian England to life in full sound and Technicolor. Thoroughly enjoyable!
Paul Weiss
Recently orphaned Jeremy Proctor, "adopted" by blind magistrate Sir John Fielding and dutifully installed in the position of his assistant, protégé, jack-of-all-trades and utilitarian gopher, narrates a thoroughly entertaining tale of their continuing life together in MURDER IN GRUB STREET. Mere hours before Proctor is to report to a publishing house to begin his apprenticeship, Ezekiel Crabb, the owner, his entire family and two of their staff are found brutally axe murdered. John Clayton, a disgruntled poet fresh from a heated disagreement with Crabb is found wandering in the house, dazed and bewildered, clutching the murder weapon and the constabulary are immediately convinced the murder has solved itself! Fielding, of course, remains unconvinced by the evidence and looks elsewhere concerned that failure to find the real culprit might result in the conviction and execution of an innocent man.
Not to insult any reader's intelligence, least of all my own, but when other apparently unrelated murders and an arson in a nearby synagogue point Fielding's sleuthing in the direction of an outrageous sect of American zealots styling themselves Brethren of the Spirit who would forcibly convert any Jews to Christianity - well, it doesn't take a heavyweight literary analyst to realize the two cases will come together at some point! The plotting is quite transparent and the culprit is easily predicted at little more than the halfway point of the novel.
But the real strength of this novel lies elsewhere - extraordinary characterization and atmospheric embellishment that brings people, time and place to life with a sparkling vitality and a sense of realism that can hardly be rivaled - the slums, the prisons, the docks, pubs, theater, outdoor markets, upstairs, downstairs, Grub Street and the publishing business, of course, courts, gaming houses, bordellos, street walkers, pickpockets, scamps, cut purses and thieves. Jimmie Bunkins, a ne'er do well street urchin that begs to be compared to Dickens's The Artful Dodger and Corrie Swanson, the bright but rebellious teen Goth from STILL LIFE WITH CROWS, describes Sir John's wisdom, kindness and leadership ability, in a hilarious stream of street lingo that nearly defies understanding:
"What a rum cove he is! I ain't never met such a joe and I don't never hope to. I could be sent to crap by such as him and thank him for it."
(Now that would be an interesting and amusing English essay question for further research ... "Compare and contrast the characters of Jimmie Bunkins, The Artful Dodger and Corrie Swanson with reference to the roles of Sir John Fielding, Fagan and Aloysius Pendergast as their benefactors, teachers and mentors!")
A much more graphic and grittier novel than its predecessor BLIND JUSTICE, Alexander has used this novel to present a mystery - not a great one but a darned good one - that brings Georgian England to life in full sound and Technicolor. Thoroughly enjoyable!
Paul Weiss