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Loading... The Lamplighter (original 2003; edition 2004)by Anthony O'Neill
Work InformationThe Lamplighter by Anthony O'Neill (2003)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. I read this in one sitting, unable to put it down once I'd started. This was quite different than anything you'll read again, and sort of reminded me of The Testament of Gideon Mack. (If you haven't read that one, run, do not walk to your local bookstore and pick it up). Anyway, it is a difficult book to review, but I'll give it a go. Set in Edinburgh, during the reign of Queen Victoria, a group of highly-respected citizens are being killed off. The cases are being investigated on two fronts: first, by Professor Thomas McKnight of the University of Edinburgh and his friend Joseph Canavan, a cemetery caretaker; second, by the city police's Acting Chief Inspector Carus Groves. Groves spends much time considering how the actions he takes will be set down in his personal memoirs -- and I'm not sure why, but it seems like the author is poking fun at Groves' character and isn't sure whether he's a bumbler who lucks into things or a detective who's hot on the trail. Nevertheless, to get back to where I'm going, whoever is killing these people is capable of superhuman strength, but the only lead the police have is a young girl who works in a book shop named Evelyn. Evelyn, it seems, knows that the killings are happening because she dreams about them. She tells police that the culprit is someone named Leerie, who is a lamplighter, but she is written off as a crank. Basic outline of story. From there, the author delves into the realm of what I'd label fantasy cloaked in the mysterious and dark underpinnings of a gothic novel. I spent a LOT of time after finishing the novel trying to understand exactly what the author had in mind here and came to my own conclusions. It wasn't easy. Be open minded as you read it. So: the question is, into which category do I lump this book? Psychological suspense? Yes. Supernatural, yes. Gothic? Most definitely. Mystery, yes, but not your average historical mystery. It sort of rises above genre, if you want my opinion. I can recommend it to people who don't mind supernatural tone in their novels; I can also recommend it to those who enjoy the realm of fantasy. As a mystery, it's so-so, but overall, a very good (but challenging) read. no reviews | add a review
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In Edinburgh, 1886, two brutal murders and a bizarre exhumation have the entire city on edge. Carus Groves, a conceited and prejudiced police inspector, is assigned the case. Baffled by the superhuman strength required to rip two men apart and drag up a coffin, Groves focuses on an anguished young woman, Evelyn Todd, who claims to have dreamed of the crimes in great detail. Meanwhile, two unlikely friends - Thomas McKnight, a jaded Professor of Logic and Metaphysics, and Joseph Canavan, a compassionate cemetery attendant - are similarly drawn towards Evelyn and her tormented psyche. They discover her extraordinary imagination was violently suppressed in childhood, but in her dreams she retains the image of the lamplighter who brightened the street outside her orphanage each evening. Evelyn now insists the killer is this lamplighter. And as a strange beast gallops through Edinburgh's misty alleys, and Groves's investigation flounders, McKnight and Canavan use the only weapons they possess - reason, logic, intuition, philosophy and sheer luck - to unearth the secrets buried in the dark recesses of Evelyn's mind ... No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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Evelyn Todd claims to have dreams of this and the questions start.
It's strange and surreal story and I did find it interesting. The descriptions of Edinburgh rang true and felt real, however the story didn't really work for me. ( )