Dead Centre – Joan Lock

Historical Fiction
3*s

This is the seventh outing for Inspector Best a kind-hearted and dedicated detective in Victorian England. When Dead Centre opens it is 1887, the year of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee but also a year of unrest with unemployment in England high when the only options for destitute people was the dreaded workhouse.

In Trafalgar Square the masses congregated, in the daytime for political speeches, at night to sleep sheltered by the walls and the fountain they bedded down for what must have been an uncomfortable rest. When one man finds his place taken by a dead body, Inspector Best is called to investigate the suspicious event. Taking his young protégé Albert with him they identify potential suspects, was it to do with the fact that the dead man had been a rising star in the Social Democratic Federation but has recently resigned or could it be connected to his job at the dockyards where he was a ‘caller-on’, a man who decided which men had work that day, and who didn’t. The latter role caused Albert to don a disguise and join the desperate men.

Parallel to this storyline is that of Albert’s fiancée, Florence a member of the Salvation Army who had witnessed a crime (in an earlier book) but the perpetrator Stark had disappeared but Best is sure he has seen him among the masses in Trafalgar Square. Protecting Florence is nigh on impossible though with her route of visits taking her to some of the worst alleys and hovels in London, rescuing the poor by introducing faith into the lives. Albert can’t do it, even when he is not working undercover at the dockyards he is on his feet for twelve hours plus a day, he barely gets to see Florence let alone keep her safe.

This is a very interesting book, clearly incredibly well-researched and although there is a mystery, the solving of it comes via public marches, gypsies, working-conditions, the Salvation Army and politics and to be honest after the convoluted journey I didn’t really care. That said if I really wanted to know more about this period of history, I’m not entirely sure that I would choose this genre to do so as fascinating as it has been. The book did develop some pace before the end in a fantastic description of that year’s Bloody Sunday when the dissatisfied mounted marches to diverge on Trafalgar Square on 13 November 1887 and young Albert, probably my favourite character is ordered to repel the protesters as part of the establishment’s determination to uphold a bill that forbade gatherings in Trafalgar Square. By this stage the author had lost the somewhat irritating habit (or poor editing) that meant that some of her points were reiterated in subsequent chapters and I was easily able to picture the melee that ensued.

In conclusion this is a fascinating read but far more so for the historical elements than the mystery which I felt would have been lifted out of the research with more in-depth characterisation as the protagonists were just a little too worthy and provided little contrast although maybe if I’d read the previous books in the series, which are referenced in this one, these wouldn’t have fallen a little flat. I will probably pick up this series from the beginning for the well-researched insights into Victorian life as a contrast to the more bloody investigations in modern crime novels.

I did get approved for a copy of this book by Endeavor Press but sadly the title quickly got archived before I had a chance to download it so I bought my own copy.

This Week in Books (November 25)

Hosted by Lypsyy Lost & Found my Wednesday post gives you a taste of what I am reading this week. A similar meme is run by Taking on a World of Words

I am reading some historical crime fiction, Dead Centre by Joan Lock which takes in the bleak winter of 1887 and the discontent among London’s population due to the high levels of unemployment.

You can read the synopsis and an excerpt of this one in yesterday’s post

I have recently finished The A26 by Pascal Garnier, another dark and disturbing tale from this author.

Blurb

The future is on its way to Picardy with the construction of a huge motorway. But nearby is a house where nothing has changed since 1945. Traumatised by events that year, Yolande hasn’t left her home since. And life has not been kinder to Bernard, her brother, who is now in the final months of a terminal illness. Realizing that he has so little time left, Bernard’s gloom suddenly lifts. With no longer anything to lose, he becomes reckless – and murderous. NetGalley

My review will follow shortly

Next up is Rowan’s Well by CJ Harter, a psychological thriller that involves family secrets and friendship.

Blurb

Who is your best friend? What wouldn’t you do for them? Lie? Betray? Or worse…?
When Will Cooper meets strange, tormented Mark Strachan at university he soon has cause to be thankful as they are caught up in a fatal accident. And when they marry sisters Olivia and Eloise Brooke, their fates are tied. But Will could never have imagined how strong Mark’s influence will become and that one day he will have to pay a price for their friendship. Because Mark has a secret flaw that goes to the very core of him. A secret so deep, he will wreck lives to protect it.
Imagine a psychological story that has the power to make you question all you know about family life. Rowan’s Well is a remote house on England’s north east coast, home to the charismatic Brooke family. At Rowan’s Well, the beautiful resourceful Brooke women fight to save their family and stay together despite murder and ruthless betrayal. They are confronted with events that make them question the nature of love – mother love, marital love, the love of a father for his son. And as for friendship – at Rowan’s Well, it’s hard to tell where love ends and hatred begins… Amazon

What are you reading this week? Do share!

See what I’ve been reading in 2015 here

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph (November 24)

Welcome to another Tuesday celebrating bookish events, from Tuesday/First Chapter/Intros, hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the opening paragraph (sometime two) of a book she decided to read based on the opening. Feel free to grab the banner and play along.

My opening this week comes from Dead Centre by Joan Lock which appealed to my love of history and crime fiction.

Blurb

1887, the year of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee.
Trafalgar Square. London.
Unrest has been building for days, the unemployed gathering daily to protest and nightly to sleep.
The police are exhausted by extra duty; blamed for failing to do more to prevent the disorder, they grow increasingly bitter about the protesters’ accusations of brutality.
When a prominent member of one of the new socialist organisations is found dead at the foot of Nelson’s Column, it only adds more fuel to the protesters’ fire.
DI Best and Constable Roberts must juggle competing priorities as they search for the killer and attempt to manage the Trafalgar Square situation.
To make matters worse, Best catches a glimpse of Stark, a man guilty of murder in Whitechapel — the only witness to the crime is Florence Bagnall, Roberts’s fiancé.
As tensions rise and time begins to run out, Best realises that something terrible is about to happen…and that he may be powerless to stop it. NetGalley

~ ~ ~

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph ~ Intro

Chapter 1

October, 1887.
How long with this go on? wondered Detective Inspector Ernest Best as he contemplated the extraordinary scene before him.
On the ground all across Trafalgar Square lay hundreds of sleeping people: men, women and children. Some were alone more were huddled together for warmth. The October nights were becoming sharper now.
The luckier ones, or those who had got there early enough, or were more sensible, had found refuge in the lee of the sunken square’s eastern parapet or the western walls of the fountain basins which sheltered them a little from the chill north-east wind.

Please note that these excerpts are taken from a proof copy

Do you want to know more?

If you have an opening to share, please leave your link in the comments box below

Stacking the Shelves (October 24)

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you’re adding to your shelves, be it buying or borrowing. From ‘real’ books you’ve purchased, a book you’ve borrowed, a book you’ve been given or an e-book they can all be shared.

This week I am starting with a bit of history – Dead Centre by Joan Lock with a fictional murder in Trafalgar Square in 1887.

Blurb

1887, the year of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee.
Trafalgar Square. London.
Unrest has been building for days, the unemployed gathering daily to protest and nightly to sleep.
The police are exhausted by extra duty; blamed for failing to do more to prevent the disorder, they grow increasingly bitter about the protesters’ accusations of brutality.
When a prominent member of one of the new socialist organisations is found dead at the foot of Nelson’s Column, it only adds more fuel to the protesters’ fire.
DI Best and Constable Roberts must juggle competing priorities as they search for the killer and attempt to manage the Trafalgar Square situation.
To make matters worse, Best catches a glimpse of Stark, a man guilty of murder in Whitechapel — the only witness to the crime is Florence Bagnall, Roberts’s fiancé.
As tensions rise and time begins to run out, Best realises that something terrible is about to happen…and that he may be powerless to stop it. NetGalley

I also have a copy of The Things We Keep by Sally Hepworth which magically appeared on my reading shelf because I clicked on the invitation – not a book I would usually have chosen but I’m going to give it a go.

Blurb

Anna Forster, in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease at only thirty-eight years old, knows that her family is doing what they believe to be best when they take her to Rosalind House, an assisted living facility. She also knows there’s just one another resident her age, Luke. What she does not expect is the love that blossoms between her and Luke even as she resists her new life at Rosalind House. As her disease steals more and more of her memory, Anna fights to hold on to what she knows, including her relationship with Luke.
When Eve Bennett is suddenly thrust into the role of single mother she finds herself putting her culinary training to use at Rosalind house. When she meets Anna and Luke she is moved by the bond the pair has forged. But when a tragic incident leads Anna’s and Luke’s families to separate them, Eve finds herself questioning what she is willing to risk to help them. NetGalley

Beside Myself by Ann Morgan came courtesy of Bloomsbury, this book will be published on 12 January 2016.

Blurb

Beside Myself is a literary thriller about identical twins, Ellie and Helen, who swap places aged six. At first it is just a game, but then Ellie refuses to swap back. Forced into her new identity, Helen develops a host of behavioural problems, delinquency and chronic instability. With their lives diverging sharply, one twin headed for stardom and the other locked in a spiral of addiction and mental illness, how will the deception ever be uncovered? Exploring questions of identity, selfhood, and how other people’s expectations affect human behaviour, this novel is as gripping as it is psychologically complex. Goodreads

And finally Midas PR sent me a book that I’m really looking forward to reading; The Hidden Legacy by G.J. Minett which is being published in eBook format on 5 November 2015.

Blurb

1966. A horrifying crime at a secondary school, with devastating consequences for all involved.
2008. A life-changing gift, if only the recipient can work out why . . .
Recently divorced and with two young children, Ellen Sutherland is up to her elbows in professional and personal stress. When she’s invited to travel all the way to Cheltenham to hear the content of an old woman’s will, she’s far from convinced the journey will be worthwhile.
But when she arrives, the news is astounding. Eudora Nash has left Ellen a beautiful cottage worth an amount of money that could turn her life around. There’s just one problem – Ellen has never even heard of Eudora Nash.
Her curiosity piqued, Ellen and her friend Kate travel to the West Country in search of answers. But they are not the only ones interested in the cottage, and Ellen little imagines how much she has to learn about her past . . .
Graham Minett’s debut novel, The Hidden Legacy, is a powerful and suspenseful tale exploring a mysterious and sinister past. Amazon

Today is the day of the Guide Dogs for the Blind Book Sale here in Jersey, so it is likely that there may, just possibly, be more books added to my shelf before the day is done.

What have you found to read this week? Do share!