The Thief-Taker: Memoirs of a Bow Street Runner [Hardcover]

T.F. Banks (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 9, 2001

June 1815. Regency-era London comes vividly to life in T. F. Banks’s darkly atmospheric mystery. Against this enthralling backdrop — when Napoleon, Wellington, and Lord Byron ruled the world stage — and featuring a lively cast of rabble-rousers and miscreants, constables and aristocrats, The Thief-Taker weaves an unforgettable tale of jealousy, revenge, and inconsolable love.

When Henry Morton is called to the scene at Portman House in Claridge Square, the Bow Street constable finds a man dead — ostensibly of asphyxiation. He was Halbert Glendinning, a member of the Sussex Circle and a gentleman of unsullied character whose behavior was above reproach. Then why was he seen frequenting one of London’s most notorious dens of iniquity? And why has the driver of the hackney coach in which the dead man was discovered vanished into the night?

While Sir Nathaniel Conant, the chief magistrate at Number 4 Bow Street, accepts the official verdict of accidental death, Morton knows that Glendinning was a victim of foul play. With the help of actress Arabella Malibrant, one of London’s most celebrated beauties, he embarks on his own discreet inquiry.

Morton’s investigation takes him from the elegant town houses of Mayfair to the backstage dressing rooms of the Drury Lane Theatre, from the cobbled streets of Whitechapel to the docks of the Old Bailey — and into the teeming underbelly of a London he knows only too well. Yet the answers may lie somewhere else entirely: in an affair of honor between two men vying for the affections of the same woman.

As Morton’s search brings him nearer to the truth, as the upper circles of London society ruthlessly close ranks against him, Morton must prevent a grave miscarriage of justice from taking place. With his own freedom — and, ultimately, his life — suspended in the balance, he races to unmask a killer whose motives are as complex and unfathomable as the passions that rule the human heart.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Penzler Pick, November 2001: The first in a new series called "Memoirs of a Bow Street Runner," this well-executed historical draws readers back into the London of the early 19th century, when hackney coaches fought for space with brewery carts, horse-drawn chaises, peddlers' wagons, and milling throngs on the city's rough-and-tumble streets.

Banks has created a living, breathing landscape peopled with such characters as Bow Street constable Henry Morton and his intimate acquaintance, actress Arabella Malibrant, along with Chief Bow Street Magistrate Sir Nathaniel Conant, all of whom one will be delighted to encounter again.

When we first meet the large, lean Morton, with his "dark and inquisitive" eyes, the independent-minded officer of the law has been summoned from the boxing ring, where he regularly takes evening exercise, to the Portman Square townhouse of Mrs. Malibrant. There a rich young gentleman in an unfortunate condition (he is dead!) has arrived in a hackney, the driver of which has disappeared into the gloom of night.

Apparently the corpse had been alive enough that very morning to participate in a duel, but he has not succumbed to any wounds sustained in that battle. Upon seeing the body, as Arabella reports to Morton, one of her dinner guests, a Miss Louisa Hamilton, nearly fell over prostrate with grief.

"If you had heard poor Miss Hamilton cry out, Henry, you would have done anything to ease her pain. I tell you, it was wrenching. I could never duplicate it." She pitched her voice low and tried anyway. "'Oh, Richard, Richard...'"

"Very touching, I'm sure," Morton said. "There is only one problem...."

Arabella raised one perfect eyebrow.

"His name was not Richard."

Not all mystery fans enjoy the historical subgenre, while others read nothing else. This book is entertaining enough to appeal to either group, with T.F. Banks possessing the confidence and light touch of an outstanding new talent. --Otto Penzler

From Publishers Weekly

Canadian author Banks depicts a Regency London as grimly fascinating as Dickens's Victorian London in this neatly plotted historical introducing Bow Street constable Henry Morton. When the body of Halbert Glendinning, a gentleman of impeccable character, turns up one night in a hackney cab with no driver in Claridge Square, it appears he choked to death on his own vomit. Fearing foul play, the dead man's fianc‚e hires Morton to investigate. Morton himself suspects poison, but in the early days of forensics such a verdict is difficult to establish. The constable's search for answers takes him from the town houses of the wellborn to the notorious brothels and gin-shops of Spitalfields. What he finds leads him not just to question the mode of Glendinning's death but to uncover a web of deceit and corruption that endangers his own life and reaches far beyond the scope of his original commission. The author brings his characters to life in dialogue both natural and evocative of the period, while the relationship between Morton and his servant, Wilkes, is as enjoyable as that between Margery Allingham's Campion and Lugg. In addition to the small details, Banks captures the complex moral tenor of the time on a variety of social levels (Morton's landlady is appalled to discover she's been renting rooms to a "horney"). Other Regency mysteries may feature historical personages such as Jane Austen or Beau Brummel as detectives, but the fictional Henry Morton shines in his debut without benefit of an established identity. (Oct. 16)Forecast: The classy jacket art and crossover appeal to Regency romance readers should give this title a boost.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Press; First Edition edition (October 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385335717
• ISBN-13: 978-0385335713
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #225,883 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an engaging read, October 27, 2001

By 

tregatt (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Thief-Taker: Memoirs of a Bow Street Runner (Hardcover)

The Bow Street Runners do not, by large, enjoy a very good reputation in history or literature. They are frequently accused of, and portrayed as, individuals that were highly corrupt and self serving, incompetent and stupid. And yet, there probably were Runners who were highly professional, capable, intelligent, honest and decent. And T. F. Banks's new novel, "The Thief Taker: Memoirs of a Bow Street Runner" centers on the work and cases of exactly one such runner, Henry Morton, who deplores the fact that Runners have such a bad reputation, even if it is well deserved. He has hopes that by setting a good example himself, he will inspire both confidence in the public for the Runners as to their trustworthiness, as well as encourage his fellow Runners to change their ways and take their chosen profession more seriously.

The events that takes place in "The Thief Taker" start off in June of 1815. Even as England waits uneasily for news of the wars from the Continent, life goes on as usual -- dinner parties are still being held, the theatres are still open, robberies and murder are still being perpetrated, and the Runners are still apprehending wrongdoers and bringing them to justice. One evening, Henry Morton is summoned to Portman House in Claridge Square. There, he finds young Halbert Glendinning dead from asphyxiating on his own vomit, according to the doctor at hand. However, Morton is not so sanguine that this is indeed the case. Noticing that the 'good' doctor had not made any kind of examination before rendering his opinion, Morton examines the body carefully, and comes to the conclusion that Gledenning's death was probably murder, and that it was brought about by poison. However, he has a hard time selling this notion to either the magistrates or Glendinning's parents, who want to put the scandal of their son's death behind them without any further fuss.

Questions however continue to niggle at Morton. Why for example did the hackney driver who had delivered Glendinning to Portman House take off before he was paid? And why had such a mild mannered gentleman as Glendinning taken part in a duel of honour on the very morning of his death with a notorious duelist? And most perplexing of all, why had Glendinning, a young man of good reputation and unsullied character, visited a tavern known to provide children for 'gentlemen's' pleasure? Fortunately for Morton's peace of mind, Geldenning's fiance, Louisa Hamilton, hires Morton to inquire into Glendenning's death. Morton's inquiries however soon raises the wrath of a powerful and implacable enemy, who decides that Morton has to be dealt with one way or the other. Soon, Morton is battling not only to to discover why Halbert Glendenning of all people was murdered, and by whom, but also to preserve his own life and reputation.

I enjoyed "The Thief Taker" very much. While the novel did not take place in the Regency drawing rooms that most of us are familiar with, "The Thief Taker" was, nonetheless, evocative of the age. I found myself appreciating the manner in which the authour evoked the atmosphere of the period -- from the cobbled streets of London, to the Surrey countryside; and from the elegant Georgian drawing rooms to the smoky parlors of notorious taverns -- T. F. Banks brought these sights and scenes to life. I also found myself appreciating the way in which Banks vividly depicted all the characters, both primary and secondary, in the book. Henry Morton and his sometime lover, actress Mrs. Malibrant, were especially engaging and appealing.

"The Thief Taker" is an incredibly absorbing and compelling read. The plot was a clever, intriguing and sometimes quite perplexing one. And the authour did a wonderful job of maintaing the level of suspense. I liked this mystery novel immensely, and I'm definitely looking forward to the next book in the series.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not your father's London . . ., December 15, 2001

By 

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

This review is from: The Thief-Taker: Memoirs of a Bow Street Runner (Hardcover)

Historical mysteries seem to be all the rage these days, but this is one of the best I've seen lately. Set in London during the summer of 1815 -- Waterloo summer -- it's the story of Henry Morton, a constable with the king's warrant, working as a semi-independent policeman out of the Magistrate's office at No. 4, Bow Street. I know something about the time and the place, and Banks seems to have made no false steps at all in his depiction of the people of a London which had a very low opinion of professional cops (who worked on commission for each felon hanged). The plot is also very well done, involving several murders, theft of antiquities, and deep corruption among the Runners of Bow Street. The principal characters -- Arabella, the actress with whom Morton has a nonexclusive arrangement, and Lord Arthur Darley, Arabella's other interest, whose open friendliness Morton isn't entirely at ease with, and young Jimmy Presley, who seems likely to make a good Runner himself if he's careful, and Sir Nathaniel Conant, the Chief Magistrate -- are introduced in such a way as to make you look forward to their future interaction. The story does not begin with the beginning of Morton's career, for he makes numerous references to events in his own past, and the author is already at work on the second volume in the series -- which I look forward to reading.

29 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Modern Police at their very beginning, November 3, 2001

By 

booksforabuck "BooksForABuck" (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Thief-Taker: Memoirs of a Bow Street Runner (Hardcover)

Napoleon is loose on France and Belgium, George III is insane and his son rules as regent, and modern policing is being born. In London, the Bay Street Runners hunt down criminals--and are paid by the catch. It's a perfect setup for corruption. In a London where wealth and squallor live side-by-side, the police are held in contempt by everyone.

Henry Morton is a Bay Street Runner. When his ladyfriend calls on him to inspect a young man who arrives dead at a party, he suspects murder. A local doctor assures everyone that the young man simply drank too much, killing himself. When Morton learns that some of his fellow officers broke up an arranged duel that morning, he begins to suspect that the corruption in Bay Street goes beyond simply taking a few pounds to look the other way.

Author T. F. Banks writes an exciting tale of adventure and humanity. Morton is a well developed character and Banks's characterization of the young prostitute Lucy is charming. Although in retrospect a few of the plot twists were a little stretched, at the time I was reading, I didn't notice--I was too caught up in what was going to happen next.

A very enjoyable book.

I appreciate your 'helpful' vote.