Matthew GuinnReviews

DNF!

I gave up! I tried both reading the book and listening to the audiobook, but neither worked for me. The story seemed interesting, but the characters left no impression on me. For instance, one character showed up, just to be killed off a soon after, and I had already forgotten his name. This is just such a bland book with underdeveloped characters that I struggled to not let my mind wander whiles listening to the book.

I really enjoyed this book. I'm sure events very similar to these actually did happen. After all, aspiring surgeons needed bodies to practice on. A happy ending for all concerned.

Dark novel about a detective called into solve brutal murders in post - reconstruction Atlanta. Murder and death scenes described in too much detail all throughout the book. Won't read this author again.½

A serial killer is terrorizing Antebellum Atlanta, who if not caught quickly will jeopardize the success of the upcoming 1881 International Cotton Exposition. Prominent black businessmen are found dead with a single letter carved into their forehead. Detective Thomas Canby, a disgraced former Atlanta policeman, is called back into town to help find the killer. He is partnered with Atlanta's African-American police officer, Cyrus Underwood.

After reading the blurb on the inside dust jacket flap, I was eager to read this book, especially the relationship between the two officers. I was disappointed to find that Underwood made very few appearances in the book. When he did make make appearance there was little substance, the character was not fleshed out. The reader never understood the motivations behind this character. Did he have a past? How did he break the racial barrier to become the first black police officer? For a character that received top billing on a book's dust jacket flap, I expected more than I read.

A mystery set in post-Civil War Atlanta. It is 1881, and the city is hoping to gain notice as a progressive Southern city with the International Cotton Exposition. But a series of gruesome murders threatens to scare visitors away. Thomas Canby, a detective who recently left the city in disgrace, comes back to partner with the city's first Black police officer, Cyrus Underwood, to solve the crime. I enjoyed this book, especially the historical detail, but the number of murders that were included between the book's covers prevented much character development. I don't think that this is a part of a series, so I was left wanting to understand Canby and Underwood a bit better.

Disappointing. I really do love mysteries, but I am picky. I don't like cozy and I don't like gratuitous and overly descriptive violence.

This author was nominated for an Edgar for his last book, so I was hopeful, and LAPL recommended it. It's too violence and too obvious at the same time--I don't want to be able o guess who the guilty party is halfway through the book. At the same time, there were holes in the story that were never explained.

The end of this book certainly makes this seem as though it will be a series. Meh.

Well done historical novel following the exploits of a police detective in 1880 Atlanta tracking down a serial killer who appears to be the very embodiment of evil.

To say the The Scribe is a serial killer / police procedural set in post-Civil war Atlanta would not do this book justice. Complex characters in an unusual setting and time period made this a thought-provoking read. Certainly the door was left open for a sequel and I hope that Matthew Guinn does not keep us waiting too long.

It’s been fifteen years since the end of the War Between the States, but the hate and the killing it engendered still continue. The city of Atlanta is rising once again from the ashes left after General Sherman’s punishing siege. Many people wish only to get on with their lives. Some still feel the wounds of the war festering in them. Former Atlanta Police Detective Thomas Canby has tried to put aside his hate, which was spurred by the senseless death of his father during the siege. The pain and his inability to avenge his father’s death have left a mark that time hasn’t erased. Canby soon finds that his troubles pale to those in Atlanta. Canby’s old boss has asked him to return as a specially appointed detective to track down a vicious murderer who is slaughtering his victims. He leaves his mark on their foreheads as he carves a bloody path through the city. One condition is placed on Canby, he must work with a newly appointed detective, Cyrus Underwood, the first Black detective on the Atlanta Police Force. As Canby suspects, he has been called back to work because no one else will work with the new man. Canby and his new partner, Underwood, must overcome lingering prejudice, hate, and distrust before they can come close to solving this case. This is a fast paced thriller that has some unexpected twists and turns that make it very compelling. Book provided for review by Amazon Vine.

I found the Scribe to be a surprise read. I expected a cozy mystery or maybe a Sherlockian type. What it is, is a police officer chasing a serial killer in Atlanta, Georgia in the early 1880’s. A killer to rival Jack the Ripper.

Our main protagonist, Thomas Canby, left Georgia under a dark cloud of suspicion as a corrupt cop. He’s given a chance to come back and clear his name. Turns out the ‘Ring’, a group of influential people who make decisions about the goings on as a shadow government, are the ones asking Canby to find the killer. These are the same people who had him falsely accused of accepting bribes years before. If he didn’t have such a drive to stop the killer for the sake of justice and any future victims, he would have told them all where to stick it.

His old boss, Vernon, assigns Underwood to be his partner in the investigation. He is the first black man to make it to the force, and since all the victims up to this point had been wealthy black men, it was thought it might help smooth things over with the people he would need to interview. A little monkey wrench, Vernon mentions that he considers Underwood to actually be a suspect.

When all the city is worried about the killer and it’s affect on the attendance of the cotton fair, those in power want a guilty party. Unfortunately, the killer and chance put one in the path, and even though Canby knows the man is innocent, it does him no good. He’s a minority, he’s from the north and he’s easy to blame, on top of that a couple witnesses seal the deal.

Canby is an interesting character. While his point of view is much closer to ours in attitudes toward non-white peoples, he still has plenty of prejudices to display. Making him a pretty real character. I was also surprised how much book was left after the killer was caught. The killer was a true sadistic psychopath and intelligent as well as driven. In the end he was a man you couldn’t wait for someone to kill. Good writing, good plot, good read. I will certainly try some more of Matthew Guinn’s books.

The Scribe is one of those can’t-put-it-down novels. Set in post-Civil War Atlanta, it pulls readers into a time of immense social turmoil and division. Plantations have lost their work forces; a few Blacks have managed to rise economically, earning both respect and hate; Atlanta is banking on an International Cotton Expedition to redeem itself in the world’s eyes and to draw in investment.

This novel’s central characters are an unlikely pair of investigators: Thomas Canby and Cyrus Underwood. Canby left Atlanta in disgrace three years before, unwilling to participate in the cover-up of criminal activity among the city’s upper classes. This makes him the perfect man to call in for an investigation that promises nothing but difficulty and that’s too sensitive for local police to handle. Underwood is Atlanta’s first Black police officer, added to the force against significant resistance and kept on the periphery of law enforcement (he is not, for example, allowed to carry a gun).

Canby and Underwood investigate a string of murders that grow increasingly confusing. The first victims are wealthy Atlanta Blacks, but as others are killed, the murderer’s purpose becomes less and less clear. One thing all the murders have in common is the letter carved into the forehead of each victim.

The mystery here is engaging, but this is a book to read for its context as much as its plot. Guinn’s Atlanta comes to life like a many-limbed monster. The city’s economic elite are its arms: hiding, misrepresenting, interfering, strangling. This Atlanta may not be a comfortable place for readers to visit, but it is a fascinating one.

As an Atlanta-dweller myself it was great reading this. The author really got southern history down pat. The year is 1881 and detective Thomas Canby is tracking a serial killer. On each body is a letter of the alphabet. The first black police officer is paired with him and that brings up topics of racism and prejudice. He is also trying to restore his reputation to win back the affection of his true love. There was a lot going on in this book, almost too much! It was well written though-and seemed to be historically accurate. It was a little slow in parts, but then utterly captivating in others.

Dr. Jacob Thacker is reassigned to work on his South Carolina medical school's public relations team after he is caught abusing prescription drugs during his residency. Nearing the end of his probation, construction workers discover bones from what appears to be dissected bodies below the school, triggering a potential PR crisis Jacob is unprepared to handle. He soon uncovers the history of Nemo Johnston, a slave purchased by the school for the purpose of "resurrecting" bodies to be used in medical training. As Jacob unravels details of his school's dark past, he must decide if he will put sharing the truth before his own success.

The Resurrectionist is written in sections that alternate between present day and the Civil War Era, weaving Jacob and Nemo Johnston's stories together. While this works in a narrative sense, it also reveals one of the novel's weaknesses: Guinn's voice is much more suited to the Civil War timeline than present day. The writing in Nemo's story feels natural and is filled with passages you would expect from a great piece of Southern Gothic fiction. In comparison, Jacob's chapters feel slightly unsure and almost clunky, particularly in dialogue. I desperately wish I could pick out Nemo's plot and create a separate novel; it would make an incredibly fascinating, well-written story.

Though I knew to expect a modern timeline, I suppose I was hoping for a majority of the novel to take place in the past. For those who go into The Resurrectionist anticipating the alternating narratives, the contrast will likely be less jarring and hopefully the book will be more enjoyable.

A young medical resident serving out his probation for Xanax abuse by handling public relations for his medical school dean has a choice to make when some campus digging uncovers the bones of dissected African American slaves. Evidently, they had been snatched in the pre-Civil War era by "resurrectionists" paid by the school to find fresh corpses for anatomy training. Summary BPL

What makes this grave-robbing-for-medical-purposes story a compelling read is that the "resurrectionist" and his victims were African American. Not only does Nemo Johnston dig up the bodies, he also prepares them for anatomy classes he himself directs. At a whites only medical college in the southern U.S.
Based on a real life 19th century African American resurrectionist, the novel is well researched historically and medically. Some reviews have described it "grisly" or "souther gothic"; I found it psychologically true to its time and context.

7.5 out of 10 Highly recommended to readers of American and medical history.½

This was a 3.5 read for me but I rounded up because the subject matter.

Stories within a story seem to be popular now to help make sense of the past and the present. Guinn’s debut novel provides insight into another disquieting aspect of slavery and how this past affects our ability to be truthful in the present.
Reading the premise and seeing the format of the book – it initially reminded me of The House Girl – a book set in the present and past, told in alternating chapters, where there is a different protagonist in the present and in the past – but the present time white protagonist will “control” what will be known about past black protagonist. But while The House Girl frizzled in the middle and end, The Resurrectionist gets better the more you read. After what I will say a slow jaunty first chapter the storyline, writing and pacing smoothed out and I became more interested in the story.
While it is disturbing to read/know about how bodies were obtained for medical students to practice on (and the book does not go into gross details) but without the bodies there would not be the advancements. The most disturbing part was that everyone in the slave community knew who the resurrectionist was and that he had no choice in what he was doing when he “raided” the slave cemeteries. In some ways Nemo, the resurrectionist reminded me of the character Washington (from the book Wash) – preformed a disturbing act but somehow had to manage how to maintain their own dignity within the black/slave community.
There were a couple of twists at the end that helped elevate this story above the average. And I appreciated that the author showed a different aspect of the contribution of slaves to the past.
I look forward to reading future works by the author.

Nemo Johnston is a slave owned by a southern medical school during the Civil War/Reconstruction Era, whose job it is to provide cadavers for the medical school by digging up the bodies of recently deceased slaves. Nemo also serves the school as its butler, janitor, and unacknowledged anatomy instructor. He is a skillful surgeon (though not formally educated as such), and a wise man in many ways. The bones of the dissected slaves are disposed of in the school's basement, layered with soil and lime. A hundred and fifty years later, the bones are discovered during renovation of the building that once housed the anatomy lab. As word gets out, the school is faced with the decision of whether to come clean about it's dark past practices or to cover it up. The dean wants the matter covered up & the problem falls to Dr. Jacob Thacker, on probation for prescription drug abuse and currently assigned to handle PR for the dean. As Jacob wrestles with the moral and practical problems surrounding the bones, his investigation uncovers many dark truths about the school, his relationship to it, and about his own family. This is a truly absorbing work of fiction, all the more so because it is based at least in part on fact. I highly recommend this book.

This was a fascinating book that talks about the early practices at medical schools and current political cover ups when those practices are brought to light.

In the 1999 portion of the story, Jacob Thacker is working PR for his medical school as he serves out a suspension for drug abuse when bones are discovered in the basement. The bones of those of primarily black people who were used for teaching of the medical students in the pre and post Civil War era. Their existence is a PR nightmare for the Dean of the school for whom the school's untarnished image is paramount.

The second part of the story tells the story of the early days of the medical school and the black man named Nemo Johnston who was purchased to be the school's janitor, butler, and resurrectionist. He was charged with raiding the black cemeteries to supply the cadavers the medical students needed to learn anatomy and surgery. His portion of the story gives great insight into what it was like for a black slave in that time period. Nemo was atypical in that he was educated and knowledgeable. He even taught the anatomy classes but still did all the menial work too.

Jacob learns a lot, even about his own family, when he begins to research the history of the school. He has lots of pressure on him to do the cover up. In fact, his future in medicine depends on it. This parallels the pressure put on Nemo Johnston in earlier times.

The story was well-written and engaging and it was in interesting look at a time with attitudes much different than now.

Reviewed for Booklist