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The Frightened Man

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Many a mystery author has turned their hand to solving the Jack the Ripper crimes of 1888, and many suspects and scenarios have tried the wits of many sleuths. In the end, however, almost inevitably the Whitechapel monster is caught in short order and Victorian London resumes its life.

But what if the Ripper hadn't been caught in the 1880's, and after years lying low, resumed his frenzied crimes? It's a realistic enough scenario with serial killers, and it forms the basis of Kenneth Cameron's "The Frightened Man". Amidst the splendor and squalor of 1900, the Ripper still lurks at the back of the mind of Englishmen and women. And then a familiar criminal signature begins to show up as a mutilated prostitute is discovered, and once again London will be gripped in terror...if the news gets out. The police are quite happy to dismiss one dead prostitute, however, rather than risk widespread panic.

Matching wits with the killer is Denton, American, ex-Western lawman, Civil War veteran, and a noted author. No gunslinging cowboy, however, Denton is a peculiarly engaging mix of natural American egalitarianism and adopted British reserve, the toll from the war and from his badge-toting days heavy on his mind.

Along the way of his investigation Denton makes the acquaintance of Janet Striker, feminist and provider of a home for unwed mothers, a woman who carries numerous scars of her own. Acerbic manservant Atkins also throws in some real gems of wit, and his banter with Denton is a treat.

The mystery is entwined with a well-balanced sense of period atmosphere and detail; along the way to catching the Ripper and deviating from the usual laundry list of suspects, a great deal of the British Empire on the cusp of the twentieth century comes to light. Attitudes towards women, the iron-cast class hierarchy with the desperate grinding poverty a stone's throw from the sumptuous mansions, bureaucracy, corruption, and social morality are all addressed, neatly a part of the plot so that the information provides context and yet doesn't come across as cloying or clumsy.

The outrage about the crimes of murder and of society is muted but genuine, the characters no shining beacons of reform and law. There are no shining heroes in "The Frightened Man", no plucky do-gooders. Denton and Striker make for a formidable, street-smart team who believably can survive the moody, fog-riddled night streets of London to find the truth and bring justice, and in the end, the tale is a satisfying one.

In a historical thriller that is both compelling and compassionate, Cameron unveils a London in 1900 whose racket expands exponentially with its buildings: "London was like monster child that ate its mother and never stopped growing." Amid the inventiveness and economic sprawl, Denton, an infamous American with a past, clings to his Dickensian sensibilities. An author of some repute, Denton is in constant need of finances; attended by Atkins, an ex-Fusilier, the enigmatic writer lives a marginal existence. A bit dashing, a bit dangerous, Denton's repartee with his truculent manservant is a fascinating mix of pride and democratic tendencies in class-conscious England. But when Denton is visited by a hysterical man who claims he is being followed by Jack the Ripper, Denton is disinclined to believe the frantic Mulcahy: "Ripper stories popped up like daffodils in spring."

But when the mutilated body of a young prostitute, Stella Minter, is discovered in an unsavory part of the city, Denton is intrigued. That is, until he and Atkins are attacked by an intruder: then he is incensed, determined to locate Mulcahy and learn more about his wild claims. When the local police are less than helpful, Denton begins his own investigation, one that takes him to London's impoverished streets and the various charities that serve the poor. With few clues or resources, Denton is impulsively creative, stumbling upon a feminist with an infamous past of her own, Janet Striker, who proves an invaluable asset. Beyond the accelerating mystery, Cameron delves more deeply into his protagonist's life and the society that spawns the violent murderer Denton pursues, among them Striker's Society for the Improvement of Wayward Women, another a charity for unwed mothers that profits from the helpless women's labor and Mulcahy's unique Photographic Inventorium.

Through a maze of pubs, police departments and government agencies, Denton charges from one new clue to another, his search ultimately revealing a far more sinister crime than the outrageous murder of one of society's unfortunates. A murderer is at large to be sure, but this novel addresses more than this foul deed, shining a bright light on a turn of the century thicket of bureaucracies, social mores, male attitudes towards women and the suffering of the poor in a city that exalts the rich and perpetuates a male-dominated class system. In a wonderful pairing of the sensitive Denton with the brave and outspoken Janet Sinclair, shadowed by the loyal, acerbic Atkins, Cameron has written a wonderful tale of murder and morality, the city teeming with ambition, greed, graft and brutality. Not to mention the dark heart of the malevolent killer Denton meets in a final violent confrontation. Luan Gaines/2009.

The Frightened Man by Kenneth Cameron is an excellent Victorian thriller with a Jack-the-Ripper style plot. Cameron's debut in this new series of Denton Mysteries was extremely well written, had endearing lovable characters who are very cheeky, and talent to weave a darn good yarn!

Our new perceptive detective Denton is an American transport living in London at the turn of the century. Escaping the States from a heroic deed while acting as a U.S. Marshall in the wild west and an incident involving his wife, he begins a new life as a popular author of fictional books and sets himself up in a grand London house complete with one hilarious valet named Sergeant. Everyone is going to fall in love with this smart-mouthed house servant who has charm, wit and one heck of an attitude! In the midst of a writer's block slump, hard up to pay the bills, one evening Denton and Sergeant are visited at their home by a raving mad man seeking Denton's help for protection against a murderer. It appears he has witnessed a brutal slaying of a young woman and fears he was seen. Near hysteria the man begs Denton's help in finding the killer before he too becomes the next Victim at the hand of what the man feels could be Jack-the-Ripper returned.

With the help of the local police, a band of woman in the literary circle to help him to do research, and a suffragette style brassy bold woman to be reckoned with, Denton takes up the chase to find the slasher in hopes of seeking justice and at the same time find a story for his next book.

I found the novel very evocative of the times. The author really allows the reader to feel they are being transported to London in 1900, complete with the gaslit, fog shrouded nights as horses and carriages rumble along cobblestone streets to the high society of the ton down to the seedy wharf-side pubs crawling with whores, pickpockets and knife wielding vagrants. I very much liked Cameron's ability to blend characters so sarcastic you can't help but laugh, while at the same time making you cringe at the graphic and grotesque murders most macabre. Can't wait for book two, the Bohemian Girl. Excellent Victorian who-dun-it, just loved it!

The Frightened Man by Kenneth Cameron is the first in a possible series about American former military man Denton now living in London at the end of the 19th century. Denton has become well-known as a writer, but when a man comes to his door claiming knowledge about the decade old crimes of Jack the Ripper, he dismisses the terrified man as a crackpot. When the morning's newspapers gives details about the brutal murder of a young prostitute, Denton can't help wonder if it is connected to his visitor and begins to investigate, much to the detriment of his health and his finances. I adore Victorian murder mysteries, and when you throw in a tie to Jack the Ripper, I was quickly sold on the concept of this book. I did, however, have a hard time initially getting into the story. The reader is flung into Denton's personal life, and it takes some time for the story to find its feet. Once Denton started his investigation the story quickly picked up and was difficult to put down. Cameron doesn't fall prey to the standard cliches of this genre, and the story really begins to shine when Denton's foil Janet Striker comes on the scene. The dark past of the protagonist haunts the investigation and will provide fodder for plenty of sequels.

Denton is an American expatriate of around 50, a veteran of a bleak boyhood and of Civil War combat. By 1900 he is a novelist in London. He writes dark and violent stories of loss and death that derive from his own dark and violent experience, including failure as a husband, father and farmer and a stint as a frontier marshal when he killed four men. He is successful but dismayed that his publisher thinks of his work as "horror fiction." He has been working diligently on his next novel (he needs the money), and knows he is getting it wrong but cannot fix it. He desperately regrets his own emotional limitations and feels responsible for his wife's suicide. He has a strong sense of what his due to fellow human beings.

Now he is visited by one Mulcahy who claims that he has seen on the street a former acquaintance from his boyhood, whom he once saw murder a girl in the manner of Jack the Ripper. Mulcahy fled to London and had not seen the man for years but now fears that his former "friend" will kill him. Denton dismisses Mulcahy as a lunatic.

Next day Denton sees a newspaper story about a Ripper style murder of a young prostitute. He comes to believe that Mulcahy saw this killing and, to protect himself, had lied about boyhood violence. Denton approaches the police who, not anxious to be plunged again into the Ripper frenzy of 1888, ignore him as an interfering "gentleman detective." Frustrated and outraged by the authorities' dismissive attitude toward the victim, Denton begins his own inquiries and is soon menaced himself.

Cameron is good on the contradictions and hypocrisy of Britain's class system and its toll on all those in it. Even the police investigation is affected in all its aspects by the blinders imposed by the system.

Cameron's prose is deliberately, well, prosaic: direct and straightforward like Denton himself. Denton is as self aware as a sensitive man of his time, background and temperament could be, but no more so. He is always more oriented to action than to contemplation. The other main characters are also well delineated. The mystery is unusual since most of Denton's effort is to convince the cops that a mystery actually exists. The book is a solid and enjoyable effort.

Very suspenseful book with great character development and dialogue! I was drawn in from the first page. The author paints a picture in your mind of the characters and the setting with very detailed descriptions. The dialogue between the characters sometimes drags on a bit, but that just makes it more realistic. In addition, the dialogue is wonderfully written and shows that the author truly understands his characters enough to give them each their own distinctive voices. The characters are very English, with gives the book a level of charm. I loved the descriptions of the gloomy, bustling streets of 19th century London. I also loved the complicated characters and their battles within themselves. I truly didn't know what was going to happen at the end, so the author did a good job at keeping me guessing! The first 1/3 of the book is quite disturbing, but the second third is less, which was a nice break. I can't wait for the next book to come out!

'The Frightened Man' starts off with a great lead. Has Jack the Ripper surfaced again? Unfortunately, this turns out to be a bad lead from a panic stricken man...'The Frightened Man'

Having read a few period thrillers, I found this story by Kenneth Cameron to be a bit lacking. The story involves and American who now lives in London. He has a past that includes his wife commiting suicide, fighting in the US Civil War, and killing a man while working as a sherif. Now in London, Denton is a writer. Even as a writer, he has been typecast as a horror writer. Down on his luck, and unable to finish his latest novel, Denton is confronted by 'The Frightened Man'. He hears a tale that eludes to the return of Jack the Ripper.

Denton tries to get this meeting off his mind, until a brutally murdered prostitute is found. Is this coincidence? Was the frightened man telling the truth? Denton then feels compelled to investigate the murder. While Denton deals with uninterested 'coppers', the lack of funds, and his wise cracking manservant, he deals with his issues regarding his wife death and his new friend and co-investigator, Janet Striker.

The story starts out quickly, but it soon slowed to a crawl. There were a number of surprises, but they seemed disjointed and the transitions were not smooth. The ending also felt rushed and unfulfilling. There were many issues raised and too many were left hanging for my taste.

In Kenneth Cameron's "The Frightened Man," Denton is a veteran of the American Civil War who lives in England. He is a successful writer who has not produced any publishable work of late, and he is quickly running short of funds. His closest companion is Sergeant Atkins, a loyal manservant who is always ready with a quip or clever retort. One evening, a stranger named Mulcahy rings Denton's bell and asks to speak to him about an urgent matter. The visitor spins a wild tale in which he claims to have seen Jack the Ripper at work; he declares that he needs protection from the fiend, who is still at large. Denton thinks that Mulcahy is delusional and is relieved when the man abruptly leaves. Much to Denton's horror, he soon finds out that a young woman has been found brutally murdered and mutilated; he is convinced that Mulcahy knows something about this unspeakable crime.

Denton, who once served as a marshal, embarks on a mission to find the killer of the dead girl, a prostitute named Stella Minter. He has no confidence in the police, who appear to be inept and in no particular hurry to solve this case. Luckily, there is one officer, Detective Sergeant Munro, who is willing to lend a hand. Denton uses a valuable contact in the police department to give him access to the postmortem and the crime scene. He later gains an ally when a formidable woman named Janet Striker agrees to help him. The obstacles that Denton and Striker face seem insurmountable, but the pair is determined to do whatever it takes to learn the truth about Minter's death.

Although Denton is a likeable enough protagonist and the novel has vivid descriptions of turn-of-the century London ("noisy, hard-driving, bursting at the seams"), the story is wildly implausible. Denton is not particular energetic, and it is unlikely that such a man would be galvanized to defy the police's orders and launch his own rigorous inquiry. He squanders what little money he has to bribe people, pay for cab fare, and hire researchers. In addition, he interviews numerous individuals and even resorts to breaking and entering when it suits his purposes. It requires a huge suspension of disbelief to accept Denton's transformation from a lethargic middle-aged man to a crusading investigator. The book is too talky, the dialogue is artificial, and the narrative meanders and drags long before Cameron finally comes to the climactic scene in which our hero confronts his adversary. The author inserts the usual social commentary about the subjugation of women and the disparity between the London's upper and lower classes; this territory has been covered many times before in much more pointed and sharply written historical fiction.

Since I randomly picked up Caleb Carr years back, I have been a big fan of the historical thriller. This effort showed similar promise at the outset with some fabulous descriptions of turn of the last century London. I had just finished Drood: A Novel by Dan Simmons and the nonfiction mystery, The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective by Kate Summerscale so I had the Dickensian sensibility front and center as I read this.

The lead character is a transplanted American and a veteran of the Civil War and the wild west who is capable in so many ways. Yet his reputation seems to have grown through storytelling which may have embellished the facts. The plot involves the possible reappearance of Jack the Ripper with a murder similar in result to the horrific ones that took place years previous. As expected, there are more twists and turns than there are in streets of Whitechapel. But it fails to breathe new life into the genre and it seemed less than genuine when it became clear that the author intends to send his Holmes and Watson (ex-Fusilier Atkins - his batman of sorts) out on further adventures - so much so that the novel ended with a whimper.