The Mangle Street Murders

This is the first in a new series (the Gower Street Detective) featuring personal detective Sidney Grice & his ward, 21 year old March Middleton. After the death of her father, an army doctor, March has little choice but to accept his offer to come stay with him in London.
Her mother died young & March spent her childhood following her father in his travels, assisting with medical care on the battlefields. This unconventional upbringing has turned March into an intelligent, "modern" woman who is quietly rebellious with a penchant for sneaking cigarettes & sips of gin. She's all too aware of the glass ceiling for women in 19th century England but is initially overwhelmed by the hustle, smell & grinding poverty of Victorian London.
And by show more Grice. Where to begin....odd, eccentric, socially inept, fastidious, clever, brutally blunt, condescending, vegetarian, addicted to tea....they all apply. He's also rather small with a deformed leg & a glass eye that tends to fall out when he's upset. He has become the preeminent detective in the city, famous for cases he's solved. (At some point, all readers will draw the inevitable comparisons to Holmes & the author doesn't shy away from this, adding a cheeky passage between March & Dr. Conan Doyle where he muses about writing a book using her guardian as inspiration for a clever, crime solving character.)
As March tries to get her bearings, a woman comes to Grice pleading for his help. Her son-in-law has been arrested for the horrific murder of her daughter but she believes him innocent. She has no money....will he take the case? Absolutely not. Grice doesn't believe in pro bono work but March feels compassion & offers to pay. Game on.
What follows is a story that unfolds on two fronts. First, a convoluted murder mystery that finds Grice & March traipsing through filthy back alleys & dealing with unfortunate souls & dead bodies as they hunt for clues. There are plenty of red herrings & the author does a good job of slowly doling out information that changes the trajectory of the case. Even though I figured out who the "bad guy" was early on, I had no idea of the scope of their crimes or motivation 'til all was revealed in the final few pages. They'd end up paying for their sins but in an unconventional way.
Second, it's also the story of our two main protagonists as the ground work for their relationship is developed. March is no spineless, swooning woman, thank God. Her intelligence & progressive beliefs frequently ruffle the feathers of the conservative Grice, a man who is very comfortable with the status quo where women play a decidedly lesser role. Their continuous verbal sparring provides moments of comic relief as well as comments about women that while true to the period, will no doubt have some readers grinding their teeth.
We are also given hints about March's past in passages form her diary & the mysterious letters she keeps hidden away. There was a fiance, a great love who has died & we know March feels grief & remorse but we never learn why. Perhaps in book #2?
London is portrayed as a glittering city with a dark side. The ruthless class system keeps everyone in their proper place: the haves in their stately homes, the have nots in their dank, smelly rooming houses & abandoned buildings swimming in rats & sewage.
There are colourful peripheral characters that flit in & out of the investigation, notably Inspector Pound from the police service. He doesn't exactly like Grice but is in awe of his abilities & gradually develops a grudging respect for March ("It is a pity you are so poor & plain. And a shame you have such intelligence & spirit, Miss Middleton. You might otherwise make a man an acceptable spouse"). High praise indeed. Their encounters hint at a possible future romance if he can let go of some of his stuffy notions.
All in all, an entertaining & atmospheric Victorian detective story. The murder investigations will keep you turning the pages but it's the characters who will have you waiting impatiently for the next book. show less

I just received an electronic ARC of The Mangle Street Murders last week and the book was released on Tuesday, so I spent last night racing through it in hopes of posting a timely review. Lucky for me, there’s enough going on in this Holmes-ian tale to make a one-night reading enjoyable.

March Middleton is a recently orphaned young woman, plain of face and quick of mind who has arrived in London to live with a guardian who has appeared in her life rather abruptly. This guardian, Sidney Grice, is a bit like a non-comic, non-drinking W. C. Fields interpretation of Sherlock Holmes: misanthropic, self-righteous, mercenary, and absolutely brilliant. Of course, he does not approve of March’s proclivities for smoking and taking the show more occasional nip nor does he want her to join him in his work as a personal detective (that’s personal, not private, as he is frequently reminding others who are less precise than he). March, of course is determined to maintain her vices and to join in the detecting.

The book’s first half deals with Grice’s pursuit of a husband accused of his wife’s murder. The man is found guilty and executed, much to the horror of March who is certain he’s innocent. From that point, the plot grows more complicated as March battles with her guardian and worries about her role in this miscarriage of justice.

Kasasian crafts an ending of the satisfactory-unsatisfactory variety. The bad end badly, though not necessarily by legal means, and those defending the law show a willingness to abandon the pursuit of justice when doing so is convenient. In this sense, the book is both a period romp, but also a somewhat more serious piece. That seriousness is also apparent in both the author’s attention to the conditions of London’s poor and in March’s longing for a former fiancé who was a soldier and who—we gather, though we’re never told so specifically—died miserably in India, where March worked as an assistant to her father, a military surgeon.

The book also contains a lovely nod to Conan Doyle, which will be appreciated by fans of Holmes.

In all, this is a good start to what I anticipate will be a series. Grice’s unpleasant character grows wearisome, but a crack or two appear in his armor by the book’s close, and March’s determined independence throughout is a delight. Add this book to the pile of mysteries you save for rainy-day or summer-vacation reading—it will give you several hours’ pleasure. show less

Best described as a black comedy, the novel deals with a series of grisly murders and a seemingly unsolvable crime, but the most criminal thing about the story is the unrepentant and awful personality of Grice — a detective far more cutting than Sherlock and darkly comic because of it. The type of blunt and terrible temperament one cannot help but laugh at and cringe while doing so. I loved to loathe him, though loathe is too strong a word. The tale’s told through the viewpoint of his ward, March Middleton, and it is as much about her having to put up with Grice as her strength and determination that makes this book amusing. And like any good detective story, there’s a meandering puzzle that only the warped mind of Grice could show more easily work out. I’ll be reading more of these. show less

After her father dies in 1882, March Middleton moves to London to live with her new guardian, Sidney Grice, the country's most famous personal (not private) detective. Shortly after she arrives, Grice is approached by Mrs. Grace Dillinger who wants him to investigate the murder of her daughter, stabbed forty times. Mrs. Dillinger is certain that her son in law is innocent. Grice refuses once he realizes that she can't pay his fee but March is so touched by her pleas she offers to cover Sidney''s fee herself.

I can assure you that you are not going to like Sidney Grice. He's rude, snobbish, arrogant, and completely lacks any social skills. March, on the other hand, is young, but she’s very smart and more than willing to buck the rules show more of the time. She secretly smokes and isn't against a glass or two of gin. She assisted her late father, a military doctor, in India, so she's seen some terrible things at a fairly young age. She's definitely more than capable of holding her own against Sidney's prejudices. They both have their secrets and, as this is the first book in a series, we are only going to get hints of them at this point.

The two main characters are different from the normal detective duo's I've read in the past. The mystery itself was a bit convoluted, but was interesting and surprising once I got into it. The atmosphere of Victorian London is absolutely real and both fascinating and revolting at the same time. What a great debut novel and introduction to some characters I'm going to continue to follow. show less

Orphaned March Middleton makes her way to London, leaving her estate in Lancashire for the final time, to become the ward of Sidney Grice, the famous personal detective. Shortly after her arrival, a prospective client, Mrs Dillinger, entreats the detective to take on the case of William Ashby, who is accused of stabbing his wife – who is Mrs Dillinger's daughter – to death in their house. At the intervention of March, Sidney Grice takes on the case, but in the course of his investigations the suspect's guilt seems to be confirmed – except March believes him to be innocent, and surely it is a fact of life that women lack the intelligence to solve crimes?

The first volume in the Gower Street Detective series of historical crime show more fiction novels is a very enjoyable and often wryly humorous foray into Victorian London, bringing the hustle and bustle of the capital to life, along with its sounds and (often unpleasant) smells. The mystery and the eventual resolution are cleverly executed and though I already knew the identity of the killer, having read the second volume in the series, The Curse of the House of Foskett, before the first, I could not conceive how the deadly deed(s) had been committed, until Sidney Grice reveals all near the end of the book. M.R.C. Kasasian writes with a twinkle in his eye and a nod to the classic Victorian crime novels of, for example, Arthur Conan Doyle, and the personal interplay between March Middleton and her guardian is just as well portrayed as the grisly details of the crimes and the gritty reality of life in the East End. Both Sidney Grice and March Middleton are keeping secrets close their chests, and it is the combination of crimes being solved and personal backgrounds being slowly revealed that makes the reading of this series so rewarding; the third volume, Death Descends on Saturn Villa, is already lined up on the shelf. The only minor point of criticism is that there are several inconsistencies in the plot in terms of dates that marred the enjoyment a little, hence not the full five stars. show less

A self-obsessed, aloof, personal detective who occasionally wears an eye patch and lives in the heart of London at the end of the 19th century. A young woman with surgical experience and a determination to be treated the same as a man. A bloody murder with an obvious suspect who acts as if he's completely innocent. Where can you find all of these things in the same place? In The Mangle Street Murders by M.R.C. Kasasian. This is the first book in the Gower Street Detective series and it really sets the scene for the kind of rude, sarcastic sleuthing that would have amused Arthur Conan Doyle to no end. This book often parodies Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories (there's even mention of the author himself) as well as the mystery genre in show more general. Sidney Grice is not a nice man. I didn't find him to be a likeable character in the slightest. His motivation for solving crimes is made somewhat less honorable by his greediness and priggishness. His ward, March Middleton, is somewhat of a caricature of what it means to be a feminist from the 19th century. She is continuously frustrated with Grice's narcissism in regards to the central case of this novel. The prime suspect displays all the indications of innocence while Grice refuses to budge from his position that the suspect is guilty. If you can't handle descriptions of gore then you might find certain passages of The Mangle Street Murders quite difficult to read. However, if you think the idea of a fussy detective who treats everyone with as little consideration as he can get away with sounds like a good time then this is the book for you. I plan on continuing this series (at least through the second book) so I guess we'll find out together what kind of trouble Grice will find himself in next. For this one, I give it an 8/10. show less

After her father dies in 1882, March Middleton moves to London to live with her new guardian, Sidney Grice, the country's most famous personal (not private) detective. Shortly after she arrives, Grice is approached by Mrs. Grace Dillinger who wants him to investigate the murder of her daughter, stabbed forty times. Mrs. Dillinger is certain that her son in law is innocent. Grice refuses once he realizes that she can't pay his fee but March is so touched by her pleas she offers to cover Sidney''s fee herself.

I can assure you that you are not going to like Sidney Grice. He's rude, snobbish, arrogant, and completely lacks any social skills. March, on the other hand, is young, but she’s very smart and more than willing to buck the rules show more of the time. She secretly smokes and isn't against a glass or two of gin. She assisted her late father, a military doctor, in India, so she's seen some terrible things at a fairly young age. She's definitely more than capable of holding her own against Sidney's prejudices. They both have their secrets and, as this is the first book in a series, we are only going to get hints of them at this point.

The two main characters are different from the normal detective duo's I've read in the past. The mystery itself was a bit convoluted, but was interesting and surprising once I got into it. The atmosphere of Victorian London is absolutely real and both fascinating and revolting at the same time. What a great debut novel and introduction to some characters I'm going to continue to follow. show less