Customer Reviews

Poor Tom is Cold

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Although I knew from almost the very beginning that a murder had been committed and who did it, this novel still managed to captivate my attention. This is the third novel in the William Murdoch mystery series set in Victorian Toronto, and it is as riverting and as compelling as the first two books.

A young constable, Oliver Wicken, is found dead on his beat, with a bullet in his head from his own gun, and a suicide note on his body. William Murdoch is asked to investigate Wicken's death; and in spite of the coroner's desire to wrap things up quickly, and Murdoch's own niggling doubts about the suicide, William Murdoch is determined to do his best find out the truth about Wicken's death. But his initial investigations only seems to confuse the issue further: Murdoch finds quite a few people that can testify that Wicken was in his usual excellent spirits; however he also finds evidence that Wicken did indeed have a sweetheart and that he did meet her on the night of his death, thus giving credence to Wicken's suicide note. In the meantime, in the house ajoining the one in which Wicken's body was found, the Eakin family are having problems of their own. Nathaniel Eakin's third wife, Peg, fears that someone in the family is trying to poison her, and has barricaded herself in her room, refusing to come out or to eat. Just as Murdoch arrives to ask if anyone in the Eakin household had seen or heard anything that might shed light on Wicken's death, Peg is being carted off to the local asylum. Little does Murdoch realise that Peg is at the center of all that is going on around her. And as each chapter ends, the suspense and the anticipation mounts: will Murdoch get to Peg before it is too late?

This is a very atmospheric novel. Maureen Jennings's stark and bleak descriptions of the Canadian winter actually made me feel chilled to the bone. And the chapters where she describes the treatment that is meted out to poor Peg at the asylum is chilling and horrifying. Peg's feelings of helplesness and hopelessness are palpable to the reader, and is a testimony of Maureen Jennings's talent and art. And although this is not a conventional murder mystery -- the murderer is glaringly obvious even if his motif is not at first; also Maureen Jennings has set up the plot is such a way as to make the reader an omniscient one -- this is still a suspenseful novel. The reader is invited to eagerly read on as Murdoch follows the faint strand of evidence that leads him to all kinds of eccentric characters and all over Toronto. A mesmerising read indeed.

Police Constable Wicken is dead--an apparent suicide. Still, Acting Detective Murdoch feels that things don't fit. Who was the woman who so conveniently testified about Wicken's broken heart? And what possible connection could Wicken's death have with the nearby home--a home where Peg Eakin has apparently taken leave of her senses in a paranoid fit?

Two things make POOR TOM IS DEAD stand out from the crowd. Murdoch and the fine turn of the (previous) century detail. Murdoch is a human character, fully rendered. His toothache is a nice detail, his frustrated love for his neighbor adds both human interest and historical detail about the then-current chasm between religion and class. Author Maureen Jennings has obviously researched her history--the details of police procedure, treatment of the insane, and class/race distinctions ring true. Better, she integrates these details into her novel so subtly that I didn't feel lectured to.

In Toronto, Patrol Sergeant Hales asks acting detective William Murdoch to see if he can find a missing officer, Oliver Wicken, who was not where he was supposed to be during the shift inspection. William, suffering from a toothache, finds a dead Oliver in an abandoned house. Oliver has a bullet wound in his head, a note implying he just lost his sweetheart, and the gun placed in a strange position on his legs. The coroner believes suicide and browbeats that idea to the juror at the death spot and the inquest. Only William, who knew Oliver and after meeting the deceased's mother, has doubts.

Her husband dying, her terrorizing adult stepchildren, want Peg Eakin declared insane by Dr. Ferrier so she cannot inherit. They have her locked away in an asylum. Meanwhile William investigating the death of Oliver finds himself involved with the Eakin family as they seem to show up at every step of his inquiries, even being members of the jurors.

Anyone who enjoys a rich historical fiction novel with a powerful nineteenth century police procedural as its core will want to read POOR TOM IS COLD. The story line is exciting, but what makes the novel fascinating is the descriptions of the Canadian late 1890s justice system. They are interwoven and are key elements of the plot. Maureen Jennings depicts Toronto's nineteenth century police-legal processes as a major part of a vivid tale.

Harriet Klausner

Starring Peter Outerbridge as William Murdoch, Colm Meaney as Insp. Brackenreid, Keeley Hawes as Dr. Julia Ogden, Flora Montgomery as Ettie, and many more! Outstanding Canadian mystery set at the turn of the century Toronto. Will be a great film

Starring Peter Outerbridge as William Murdoch, Colm Meaney as Insp. Brackenreid, Keeley Hawes as Dr. Julia Ogden, Flora Montgomery as Ettie, and many more! Outstanding Canadian mystery set at the turn of the century Toronto. Will be a great film

Poor Tom is Cold is a historical fiction that is more of a mystery. In the book the main character is Detective Murdoch. He is investigating a case in which his fellow worker and friend was killed. The police say that it was a suicide and call it a closed case but Murdoch knows that Oliver is not the type of person who would commit suicide. Oliver was found in an abandoned house all alone with a gun and a note saying that he killed him self. Next to the house were oliver was found much more is going on. Next store a lady named Mrs. Eakin is being claimed to be insane by her family. And it just so happens that she is blaming her son for a murder. Through out the book it also shows raisism to towards the chinese as well as the mentally insane. "Poor Tom is Cold" takes place in Toronto, Canada in the 1980's. I liked this book and would recommend this to any one who likes a good mystery.

This was the third book which Maureen Jennings published in a series of historical murder mysteries set in Toronto, Canada towards the end of the 19th century and featuring Acting Detective William Murdoch of the Toronto police.

Most of the books of this series begin each chapter or section with a statement of the date, but "Poor Tom is Cold" does not. However, during the proceedings of a Coroner's court during this book the date is given as the 13th November in the 58th year of Queen Victoria's reign, e.g. 13th November 1895.

The series to date consists of

1) Except the Dying
2) Under the Dragon's Tail
3) This book, "Poor Tom is Cold"
4) Let Loose the Dogs (Murdoch Mysteries)
5) Night's Child (Murdoch Mysteries)
6) Vices of My Blood
7) A Journeyman to Grief (Murdoch Mysteries)


The setting for these books is a beautifully recreated and painstakingly researched picture of Victorian Toronto. The series includes some descriptions of real buildings and practices as they existed at the time along with one or two real historical characters. For example, in this book there are descriptions of a tooth extraction which were inspired by study of contemporary archives and artifacts held by the Toronto Cchool of Dentistry.

In "Poor Tom is Cold" one of William Murdoch's colleagues, Constable Oliver Wicken, is found shot, in a position which at first appears consistent with his having taken his own life and with what appears to be a suicide note beside the body.

Murdoch is a catholic, and when he questions whether Wicken really killed himself, he is accused of not wanting to believe a colleague guilty of the mortal sin of suicide. But soon he begins to find evidence that the case is not as open-and-shut as some wanted to make it ...

Starring Peter Outerbridge as William Murdoch, Colm Meaney as Insp. Brackenreid, Keeley Hawes as Dr. Julia Ogden, Flora Montgomery as Ettie, and many more! Outstanding Canadian mystery set at the turn of the century Toronto. Will be a great film