The English Monster

First Line: The ancient road began at the Tower and ran east to west along a terrace of gravel.

It's 1811, and from the ancient Ratcliffe Highway to the London Dock, the district of Wapping is the throbbing heart of the British Empire's meteoric rise in trade and the accumulation of wealth. Wapping is also the scene of the gruesome murders of two families, and John Harriott, creator of the newly established Thames River Police soon realizes two important facts.

The first fact is that petty jurisdictional squabbles are getting them nowhere. The second fact is that, after close observation of his waterman-constable, Charles Horton, Harriott believes that the old methods of policing aren't going to find the killers either; it's Horton's show more style of "detection" that Harriott believes will bring the murderers to justice.

The English Monster isn't just a story about the hunt for the killers of two families; however, there's another story told in alternating chapters that is intertwined with the investigation throughout. It is the story of William Ablass, a young Oxfordshire man who goes to Plymouth in 1564 to board a ship and make his fortune so he can come home and buy a farm for his beloved young wife and himself. He becomes a member of Jack Hawkins' crew, sanctioned by the Queen to raid Spanish shipping. "Long Billy" (as he's often called) changes in ways he never would have foreseen.

Shepherd's tale of the quest for trade and fortune is well-told, atmospheric, and often quite chilling. The growth of Wapping and the entire area of the Docklands in London sets a perfect stage for Long Billy, John Harriott and Charles Horton-- a man with his own secrets that come back to haunt him:

Death and beer always hang heavy in the air in Wapping.... And hulking over the whole area, visible through gaps in the buildings like a canvas on which Wapping has been painted, the walls of the new dock and its surrounding warehouses.... But even Harriott must admit that there is something massively dark about the dock, something of the gaol about its walls and the warehouses between it and the river, buildings which now glower over the High Street , each of them a good storey or more higher than the older buildings which cluster around the walls like supplicants at a cathedral.

Under the observant eye of Shepherd, Wapping and its docks become just as important a character as Long Billy, Harriott, Horton, and the other people who live there.

As much as I wanted Harriott and Horton to find the killers, I have to admit that the story of William Ablass was the one I found to be engrossing... and creepy. There are things about Long Billy that I'd love to share with you all, but that would ruin the book for you. Shepherd's tale is Dickensian in its detail and atmosphere, and the only real weakness in his story is that, when he shifts the focus to the 1811 investigation of the murders in the book's later stages, I missed the gaps in William Ablass's story. In many ways, Long Billy reminded me of a great white shark, and it didn't feel natural for me to turn my back on him.

Yes, William Ablass is the the English monster of the title, but as I read, I learned that there is more than one monster in this tale, and that is what money and greed have done to us all throughout the centuries. I still feel uneasy after reading The English Monster. It is a book that stays with the reader long after the last page is read. I've since learned that Shepherd has another book, The Poisoned Island, due out next year. I definitely want to read it! show less

For about the first fifty pages of so of Lloyd Shepherd's The English Monster; or, The Melancholy Transactions of William Ablass (Washington Square Press, 2012), I wasn't at all sure the novel was going to work. Chapters alternate between 1811 London at the time of the Ratcliffe Highway murders and the 1560s high seas as a young man accompanies John Hawkins on a slaving voyage; just whether/how the two were going to converge was entirely unclear, and confusing. But things gradually became clear, in a way that I can't explain without giving away the game, so you'll have to go read the book yourself. Suffice it to say, I'm very glad I kept reading.

While the shifting perspectives in the book remained a bit disconcerting throughout, and show more there were some rough patches that might have benefited from a bit more of an edit, overall the book proved a good read. show less

Based on the infamous Ratcliffe Highway murders of the early nineteenth century, already covered by P.D. James in The Maul and the Pear Tree, Lloyd Shepherd turns the gruesome investigation into The Suspicions of Mr Whicher meets Pirates of the Caribbean. I found the component parts interesting enough - the real-life slaughter of two families, the British slave trade and the history of London's police force - but the delivery fell somewhat short for me. The erratic narration - part pseudo-Dickens, part lyrical firsthand recounting - didn't help any of the characters to leap off the page, from constable Horton to Billy Ablass himself, and after the two timelines merged, the mystery was vastly reduced. And I'm sorry, but what was the show more point of the supernatural - or unnatural, at least - conceit linking the two halves of the tale? Shepherd should have written either a straightforward nineteenth century murder mystery, 'based on real events', or a fictional condemnation of the seventeenth century slave trade - but not both. Creative, but slightly too adventurous to work. show less

A curious novel of two stories: in Elizabethan England, young Billy Ablass goes to sea to make his fortune alongside an equally young Francis Drake; and in 1811, London is rocked by the vicious murders of a household in Shadwell (the historical Ratcliff Highway murders).

For much of the novel it is unclear what these tales have to do with one another, but each are engrossing enough. Taking liberties with historical events is always a risk. I think Shepherd largely succeeds in spinning a good yarn with intriguing characters - this is an easy enough read that's well enough written.

However, I found the final collision of the two storylines and the climax of the murder investigation somewhat dissatisfying.

There are other missed show more opportunities: Francis Drake is an unnecessary bit of flair really, as is Henry Morgan, and the business with the Sheerness mutiny felt like it would have a more philosophical purpose than the rather blunt plot instrument it ultimately became.

I think this last point is my main beef with the book. It's an interesting glimpse into the Elizabethan slave trade and the pre-Peel policing of London, but I felt the author flirted with a more thoughtful piece on humanity, morality and mortality than he served up. That said, I'd certainly consider reading other books featuring Constable Horton.
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Written with more tell than show, and the omnipresent head-hopping and change of point of view meant the style didn’t quite work for me but this is the only negative. A shadowy murder thriller in dark shady alleyways of old London, at others a swashbuckling adventure on the high seas. Best described as a historical thriller, this is a detective story told over more than one century following two separate paths that join strangely, but I love a different way of storytelling and in this the author has excelled.

A good writer can make the most unlikely subjects interesting and Shepherd does an excellent job of bringing to life not only the history of the London docklands, the reclamation and development of Wapping, the growth of the London police force and the story of some of its officers, but also the fascinating tale of both English slavers and pirates.

Add a brutal murder, a few contemporary documents and a helping of social history to the mix and it would seem a recipe for guaranteed success. Why oh why then does Shepherd take the unnecessary and absurd step of introducing a black-magic element which, while it neatly unites various elements, does not sit comfortably in this factually meticulous and historically convincing story, thus show more spoiling what is otherwise a intriguing and well-written book? show less

In December 1811, two horrific murders shocked London’s East End district of Wapping. The cloth merchant Thomas Marr and his family are found mutilated in their home: father, mother, shop-boy and baby. Mere days later, the Williamsons, proprietors of the King’s Head pub, suffer the same fate. Known as the Ratcliffe Highway Murders, these events really happened, as did the clumsy investigation by the Shadwell magistrates that followed. Lloyd Shepherd makes this the basis of his eerily compelling novel: an early police procedural mixed with an ominous ancient evil. As the people of Wapping clamour for justice, Constable Charles Horton of the River Thames Police Office – under the aegis of his ex-navy boss, John Harriott – embarks show more on an investigation that, before it ends, will have ushered him into the very darkest places of the human soul...

For the full review, please see my blog:
https://theidlewoman.net/2019/05/06/the-english-monster-lloyd-shepherd/ show less