Set in the early twentieth century this series featuring the fictional character, Dr Dody McCleland, who works under the forensic scientist Bernard Spilsbury. The Insanity of Murder is set in 1913, with war already looming on the horizon and the cause for women to be allowed more say over their own lives, and most importantly to gain the right to vote were reported in the news.
This mystery starts with Dody’s sister Florence setting a bomb at the Necropolis railway station (something that I’d never heard of before) in London. This railway station was built in Waterloo to transport the dead to Kent for burial to ease the overcrowding of London’s cemeteries. Florence is working on behalf of the militant suffragettes as this faction worked hard to bring their cause to the attention of parliament. This method chosen did sound unnecessarily brutal, particularly as unsurprisingly innocent people got caught up in the inevitable blast. Dody is called to help out with checking the dead bodies which due to the nature of the station had to be examined to ensure that their death hadn’t been a result of the station.
Inspector Matthew Pike with whom Dody is having a romantic relationship with, is on the trail to find the perpetrators of the bombing and Dody quickly finds herself anxious to protect her sister from his detection despite the moral dilemma that causes her distress. Dody doesn’t want her sister to be subject to force-feeding (the authority’s response to the suffragette’s hunger strikes) after the nightmares it had caused the first time Florence was imprisoned.
The book gives the reader an excellent depiction of the lives of women in institutions, including asylums at the time which I find fascinating, especially as the author takes a fully rounded view of the time including the contemporary feelings of the time about the suffragettes. Another aspect of this story is the way it illustrates that the class you were born into defined the treatment that you received, in society as well as in institutions, should you be unfortunate enough to end up in one.
As interesting as all this is the story couldn’t exist without the mystery which is cleverly linked to characters impacted by the explosion. There is a missing woman, a suspected suicide and some shady goings on at a ‘rest-home’. With Dody and Florence’s help Pike’s investigation takes a sinister and dangerous turn, although of course the setting of the bomb was kept strictly between the two women.
I have really taken to the character development of both Dody and Pike which has occurred since the first book, both of whom come across as fully rounded people. The secondary characters provide the perfect backdrop to the mystery with a full-range of characters, some with good intentions, others less so. Some of the characters from this period make an appearance as do some of the events, the death of Emily Dickinson who was killed by Kind George V’s horse at the Derby whilst trying to disturb the race, probably by affixing a flag in the distinctive colours of the Women’s Political and Social Union to the horse’s bridle.
Sadly I haven’t yet got around to reading the second and third book in this series but this is something I am going to rectify without (hopefully) too much further delay because the mixture of historical facts and mystery are not only perfectly combined but incredibly well-balanced. There is never the feeling that the research has been dumped onto the page and in fact some aspects, including those about the necropolis railway station prompted me to do a little fact-finding of my own as it had piqued my interest.
I’d like to thank the publishers HarperCollins Australia who allowed me to have a copy of this book in return for my honest opinion. The Insanity of Murder was published on 1 August 2015.
Books in the Dr Dody McCleland Mysteries
The Anatomy of Death
Antidote to Murder
The Scent of Murder
The Insanity of Murder
More about Bernard Spilsbury, Dody’s boss can be read in The Magnificent Spilsbury and the Case of the Brides in the Bath by Jane Robbins
I am so glad you’re enjoying this series, Cleo! I think it’s a terrific series, myself, and that Young does a great job of depicting the era. As you say, the character development is well-done, and there are some interesting layers in this story.
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There are indeed and I have you to thank for the introduction – I have another in the series downloaded on my kindle to read!
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Sounds like something I would enjoy, HF and mystery. On my blog you mentioned The Good Neighbor. Read it soon, I started last night and couldn’t put it down. Lots of fun!
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It is a great combination executed really well. Good to know the Good Neighbor is worth the anticipation – thank you 🙂
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I want to read this series. Sounds like fun and I like the time period. I’m going to try the first one soon. My mystery book group is reading books set in Victorian age. I know this series has a little later time period, but I might just include it anyway. 🙂
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It’s only just outside – I think the first one was set in 1910 😉 I like the suffragette aspect to these, and it feels authentic.
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Sounds good – I’m sure I’ve read about the necropolis line in another book sometime in the last few years, but I can’t remember what book. I shall be scratching my head all day now…
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Oh I want to know which book now! I’d never heard of this before and I thought I knew all the gruesome stuff about London 🙂
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I keep thinking it might have been the Tim Weaver book Vanished, but I know you’re a fan of his so you’d have come across it too if it was that one… oh dear, I wish I could trade my memory in for a younger model!
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Yes I have read Vanished – and it was set on a railway but I’m fairly sure I’d have checked out the necropolis railway at the time but it is possible… haha!
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This sounds like a tempting book (and series); thanks for sharing.
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Thanks for stopping by 🙂
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I have a thing about people in asylums too. A weird connection.
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It just seemed to be a bit too easy to get people committed in the past…. perhaps it’s better for me that I was born too late 😉
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Have you ever seen;
Asylum
Shock Corridor (the Nympho ward scene has to be to be believed)
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No – will look out for it!
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I’m not much for historical fiction and not sure I would read this but think the suffragette elements sound interesting so maybe if it’s at the library I will pick it up.
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I have really enjoyed the two books in this series that I’ve read but then I do love my history (particularly this time period.
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The period does sound interesting. I guess I worry about getting misinformed when I don’t know enough and then taking it as fact.
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👏 on a good read. I intend to drip by the library tomorrow to pick up my requests, two of which are the first two books in this series!
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Oh excellent news! I’m looking out for the second, I have the third now but I need to make a trip to the library too.
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