The Outcast Dead features a fictional baby-farmer, made more gruesome by the addition of a hook to replace her missing hand. Mother Hook as she was known after her death was tried, found guilty and executed for killing children in her care so the discovery of a body, which could be this infamous woman, real name Jemima Green during a dig at Norwich Castle prompts the TV series Women Who Kill to turn up to film ‘the discovery.’ Phil, Ruth’s boss at the University is keen to take part as the archaeology team work on identification of the remains.
Norwich Castle
Meanwhile DCI Nelson is plunged into the worst kind of investigation, an investigation into a mother whose third child has just died. Nelson is cautious of her innocence but equally anxious not to upset the bereaved mother when he is plunged into the disappearance of a young child and he race against time to find her before it is too late.
I have only read the first in this series (The Crossing Places) featuring Ruth Galloway, something I must rectify as I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed reading about Ellie Griffith’s unglamorous forensic archaeologist, so fortunately I got the references to the death of Scarlet Henderson which still haunts Nelson but this was easy to read as a stand-alone in its own right. Ruth is a real woman who clearly adores her daughter but also loves her job and is passionate about recording all that she can discover of the bones that she discovers. She is pragmatic about her Phil’s vanity and there are some delightfully catty asides aimed at him. She is delighted to explain her work to a wider audience whilst not enjoying being the focus of attention during filming.
Although the writing style (in the present tense) does take some getting used to I soon managed to immerse myself in this book, the wonderful imagery, tense relationships and a genuinely gripping plot which is fast paced. The reason why these books work for me is that there are a myriad of relationships that underpin the crimes being investigated.
Quercus were kind enough to allow me an ARC in return for this review which has paid off for them as I have already purchased Dying Fall to listen to on audio! The Outcast Dead was published on 6 February 2014.
Girls who got pregnant in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century had few options if marriage wasn’t an option, particularly if they weren’t living in rural areas where the children could be passed to members of the immediate or extended family. One of the more favourable options was to give their child to one of the woman who were known disparagingly as baby-farmers. These women were paid to take care of the child. If the payment was made as a lump sum the less scrupulous in the profession weren’t averse to hastening an infant’s death, often using opiate based medicines which quietened the child at the same time, thereby making more room and another lump sum.
Read my reviews of some other books that feature baby-farmer’s here:
The Ghost of Lily Painter by Caitlin Davies a fictional account that features Amelia Sach who plied her trade in Finchley
The Woman Who Murdered Babies for Money by Alison Rattle is a non-fiction account of the baby-farmer Amelia Dyer
Caversham Lock by Michael Stewert Conway is a fictional account featuring Amelia Dyer
The Outcast Dead – Amazon UK
Myriad of relationships. ..you sold me right there. 🙂 Your book reviews are written so well.
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Oh thank you 🙂 it is a great read 😉
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See and I envy your writing style. So well thought out and you hold my attention. Which can be hard to achieve, actually.
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😆
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It’s the writing style that holds my attention most about these books. If you have the middle ones still to read be warned the fourth and fifth are rather under par. This was a welcome return to form.
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Thanks Alex, I will bear that in mind as I try to catch up before book seven is out as I really loved this one. 😉
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I’ve just read that and enjoyed it although, like you, I’d only read the first in the series, so felt there was a lot of catching up to do on the story of Ruth and her friendships/complicated family arrangements. Crisp characterisation and an excellent sense of atmosphere from what I’ve read so far of this series.
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I totally agree and I don’t know why these fell off my radar but Elly Griffiths is now firmly on I must read the whole series list now. I wish I’d pinched your excellent phrase for my review 😉
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This is an excellent review, thank you. Still on my TBR list, thanks to this blog post it climbed up in my list. 🙂
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Thank you for your kind words! I really thought this was an excellent read particularly as it combines history (which I love) and crime (which I love) 😆
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This sounds like such an intriguing novel. I like that it’s based in part on real things that occurred in the past.
Lauren from http://www.shootingstarsmag.blogspot.com
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I love books that have an historical element, especially when it is a subject I know something about. I have been to Norwich Castle (my son is at Uni there) so I knew the place too 🙂
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Glad you enjoyed it! I agree with Alex – the series fell away a bit in the last couple of books before this one, so good to see her back on form. Shame about the present tense though… 🙂
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Another good recommendation from you 🙂 I don’t mind adding to my TBR when I enjoy the read as much as I did this one. I got over the present tense after a while so forgave this aspect 😉
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