The Devil in Bellminster: An Unlikely Mystery (Unlikely Heroes) [Hardcover]

David Holland (Author)

Book Description

Series: Unlikely Heroes | Publication Date: March 13, 2002

It is 1833, and you are invited to enter the quaint, quiet world of Bellminster, a pretty cathedral town in the English countryside with secrets and shadows around every corner.

Venture into a world of petty politics and malicious gossip, a world of surprises and betrayals, a world held together by the suffering soul of a simple man - the good Reverend Tuckworth. Someone is preying on the good people of Bellminster, and only their vicar can save them. But Tuckworth has a dark secret of his own, a deadly secret, a secret he must keep hidden from everyone: from his loving daughter, Lucy; from the rash young painter Raphael Amaldi; from the supercilious rector, Mr. Mortimer; from Detective Inspector Myles of London; and most of all, from the murderer himself.

Join the vicar as he sifts through the stones of Bellminster Cathedral, drawing from its cold heart the secrets behind the string of grisly murders that is plaguing this picturesque little town.

The Devil runs free in Bellminster, and only Tuckworth can stop him.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this flawed debut mystery, it's 1833 and industrialization is bringing mixed blessings to the sleepy cathedral town of Bellminster, England. With rapid change has come that evil of modern society, the serial murderer. The fiend's modus operandi changes with each fresh killing, while the victims a church sexton, a local lout, a whore appear to have nothing in common. Tuckworth, the vicar of Bellminster Cathedral, and Inspector Myles, of London's Bow Street Runners, are at a loss either to prevent or explain the crimes, although it's not for want of introspection on Tuckworth's part. Indeed, the good vicar's extended musings rather slow the narrative. Holland can't be faulted for employing faux-Dickensian prose for atmosphere: "And what are we to make of the dressmakers and the tailors!... Miles of stuff to wrap the town withal and keep it warm against the frost!" What jars is that he uses such old-fashioned language inconsistently, breaking the period spell. At book's end we are treated to a blockbuster finale that would be more at home in Hollywood than in 1830s England. Both setting and characters have such promise a descriptive gem like "this realm of grays and deeper grays" hints at what the author is capable of that one can only hope that Tuckworth, as he grows into his role of amateur detective, will in subsequent outings rise to that promise. (Mar. 18)Wolf's Tale (2000).
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In 1833, a serial murderer holds the English town of Bellminster in thrall. The victims a beheaded church sexton, a crushed ne'er-do-well, and a tortured whore are the talk of the town. The shadowy, ubiquitous killer haunts gloomy Bellminster Cathedral, where soon-to-retire Vicar Tuckworth oversees an ongoing restoration project. Called upon for help, London police quickly arrest a simple-minded man for the murders. Tuckworth, however, champions the cause of the accused, and with the aid of his daughter, Lucy, and her would-be suitor hunts the real killer. A growing sense of urgency and colorful plot overcome occasional overextended metaphoric descriptions and contemplative divagations. A solid historical; for most collections.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; 1st edition (March 13, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312279981
• ISBN-13: 978-0312279981
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,191,237 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent beginning to what I hope will be a long series!, November 29, 2006

By 

Michael K. Smith (South Louisiana) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Devil in Bellminster: An Unlikely Mystery (Unlikely Heroes) (Hardcover)

The 1830s was when what we now think of as "modern" Britain first came together, a mix of reform on one hand and rapacious capitalism on the other. Bellminster is a fictitious small city in the Midlands with both an ancient, deeply affecting cathedral and a new mill turning out the cheapest cloth possible at the cheapest wages possible. Rev. Tuckworth, the vicar, is retiring after some thirty years of service to the community, but he's secretly glad to be going because he's largely lost his faith (I won't reveal why). Then a particularly brutal murder takes place and becomes a "wonder" for quiet Bellminster. But then there's another murder, and another. Pretty soon, Detective Inspector Myles is sent up from London (from Bow Street, not Scotland Yard, not yet), but his interpretation of how he can best do his job is jarring. Justice doesn't enter into it, nor very much truth, either. Tuckworth finds himself drawn more and more deeply, and very reluctantly, into the investigation -- but he's not a "Father Brown" sort of amateur sleuth. He's just an aging priest who's trying to look after his flock, and especially his somewhat naive daughter. Holland has a real ear for proto-Victorian dialogue and (though he tends to wax over-lyrical in describing clouds and forests and such) and he's obviously very knowledgeable about the period. This is one of the best mystery series debuts I've read in quite some time.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an engrossing read, March 17, 2002

By 

tregatt (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Devil in Bellminster: An Unlikely Mystery (Unlikely Heroes) (Hardcover)

A lifetime ago (while I was supposed to be mugging for my 'O' level prelims) I became addicted to Victorian horror stories. These novellas didn't always deal with ghost stories, they sometimes dealt with the inability of ordinary 'good' people (esp during prosperous times) to deal with horrors of madness, malice, greed ... the baser qualities of the human condition. "The Devil of Bellminster" reminded me strongly of those novellas I used to read. David Holland did a truly brilliant job of evoking the feel and the ambiance of those books. And his choice of a hero, a tired vicar who has lost his faith, both in God and humanity, and who is nearing retirement, was a truly masterly choice. Because, Reverend Tuckworth, who happens to be good and kindly man, and who struggles daily with the guilt he feels over his loss of faith, adds further to the dark and somber tone of this novel.

It's 1833, and a madman seems to have made the quiet but prosperous town of Bellminster, his current killing ground. The town authorities, headed by Bellminster's most prosperous citizen, mill owner McWhirter, wants a quick arrest -- never mind if the unfortunate suspect is guilty of the murders or not! And when Detective Inspector Myles of Bow Street, arrests one of Tuckworth's simpleminded parishioners, Adam Black, on circumstantial evidence, Tuckworth finds himself drawn into the grisly investigation so as to protect Adam and to discover who the real murderer is before he kills again. But will Tuckworth be able to uncover new evidence that would save Adam from a town eager to be rid of it's current horror, and before the killer strikes again?

This book's greatest strengths are the pacing and Holland's characterizations of Reverend Tuckworth, and the London detective, Paul Myles. Myles, a hard and ruthless man, finds himself reluctantly drawn into Tuckworth's to discover the truth. And it is Myles's determination to catch the killer that fuels the quick pace at which the novel unfolds. These are the facets that makes this novel such smooth and riveting reading. The other characters, on the other hand, do suffer a bit from being a little superficial in depiction. But since they were merely padding for the story at hand, this was not too important a detraction. As for the murderer, while Holland does a really good job of depicting his madness, he remains a little of an enigma. And even at the end, while we finally do discover who the madman is, we're still left in the dark as to roots of his dementia. But perhaps it is a purely 20th century TV/Hollywood culture that has made us demand for everything to be explained away satisfactorily, and that by allowing the madman to remain an unexplained aberration, that makes "The Devil of Bellminster" a somewhat compelling read.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Crises of faith and murder, April 29, 2004

By 

Lynn Harnett (Marathon, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Devil in Bellminster: An Unlikely Mystery (Unlikely Heroes) (Hardcover)

Though the mystery part of this Dean Tuckworth Victorian novel is soon solved, the why takes a bit longer and the hunt carries through to the satisfying conclusion.

Dean Tuckworth, an honest, introverted man who has lost his faith, but still loves his Bellminster Cathedral, goes up to London to lobby a philanthropist - Hamlin Price - for money to rebuild the burnt-out building. Invited to a strange dinner of supplicants at Price's underfurnished house, Tuckworth hears a shot and rushes to find the body of a murdered man. Though dressed in Price's servant's clothes, Tuckworth, with time-honored Holmesian observation, sees he is not the servant.

Though Tuckworth soon suspects Price, and, with a likable journalist-assistant, burgles the man's house, he is forced to return to Bellminster without proof. But crime has followed him to his bucolic town and Tuckworth must find his proof before a fate worse than murder befalls its innocent inhabitants.

Tuckworth's depths and talents are nicely portrayed as is London and the darker corners of Victorian life.