A Rare Interest in Corpses [First Edition] [Import] [Hardcover]

Ann Granger (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Headline Book Publishing (2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0755320425
• ISBN-13: 978-0755320424
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,634,248 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars `It is to do with the true price of coal.', September 3, 2008

By 

J. Cameron-Smith "Expect the Unexpected" (ACT, Australia) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This novel opens with Elizabeth (Lizzie) Martin arriving in London in 1864. The death of Lizzie's father has left her in straitened circumstances so when her late godfather's widow, Mrs Parry, invites her to London as her companion Lizzie accepts. Lizzie barely arrives in London before being caught up in a series of disturbing events: her cab from the railway station crosses paths with a cart transporting a dead body. Shortly after arriving at her employer's home, Lizzie learns that her predecessor departed suddenly in what seem to be suspicious circumstances.

Lizzie Martin is a likeable character whose amateur sleuthing is not in the least constrained by society's idea of what is acceptable behaviour for a young woman of her class. However improbable aspects of this story are, the journey makes for an interesting, page turning read. Who murdered Madeleine Hexham, and why? There are a number of suspects, some delightful red herrings and some interesting descriptions of a London deep in the throes of change.

Aspects are predictable, but somehow that adds to the general enjoyment of the story. This is the first in a series to feature Lizzie Martin. The second is `A Mortal Curiosity' and I've ordered it already. Ms Granger has a number of other novels to her credit, and I will also be looking to read those as time permits.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars England - 1864, July 7, 2009

By 

Lyn Reese (Berkeley, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Companion (Hardcover)

Lizzie Martin has just just arrived in London from Derbyshire to take up a new position as lady's companion. Almost immediately, she discovers that the murdered body she saw being carried from the site of the construction of the new St. Pancreas railway terminus, is that of her predecessor. While others accuse the woman of bringing her fate upon herself, Lizzie is soon persuaded that there's a deeper mystery. After finding disturbing facts in her new home, Lizzie becomes a secret source of information for Inspector Benjamin Ross, an intriguing man from her Derbyshire coalfields childhood. Part of the story is told from Ben's point of view.

The book's historical information is stronger than the plot, which needs a number of coincidences to reach a conclusion. Granger writes of a London in the process of being transformed above ground and below - via new under groundsewers and railways. The city's public places are noisy, dirty, and smoggy. On the streets, sellers of every item imaginable mingle with equally plentiful petty thieves. Deep class and gender expectations rigidly dictate one's life. Lizzie's outspokenness and intelligence are not admired by her employer and her incredibly insensitive and boorish friends. London's poor, who live in crowded squalor with the ever present danger of illnesses such as typhoid, diphtheria, and consumption, not surprisingly resist the authority of the police and refuse to come forth as witnesses. Granger also provides the reader with descriptions of the equally appalling lives of the pitmen and their children in the northern coal mines, and with facts about mining practices and laws.

First historical mystery for this prolific author of mystery series set in contemporary times.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyed reading about Victorian London, April 23, 2010

By 

Indian Prairie Public Library "ippl.info" (Darien, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Rare Interest in Corpses [First Edition] (Hardcover)

Set in Victorian London, we meet Lizzie Martin, an impoverished young woman who takes a job as companion to Mrs. Parry, her godfather's widow. Lizzie is 30, outspoken and curious enough to get involved in the mysterious disappearance of Mrs. Parry's previous companion. Crossing her path in this investigation is a childhood friend of Lizzie's who just happens to be the police inspector from the Scotland Yard, Ben Ross.The pair encounters the dead girl's body, runs afoul of an unsavory pastor, a foreign service worker, a hen-pecked son and some hard nose laborers. But they manage, with the aid of a cabdriver and a downstairs maid, to solve the mysterious death and disappearance of the girl. If you enjoy reading about Victorian London, this novel will please you.