Customer Reviews

Under the Dragon's Tail

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Under the Dragon's Tail is the second book in a series about detective William Murdoch in the late 1890's. This dark and atmospheric story about the murder of disgraced midwife and blackmailer, Dolly Merishaw builds on Jenning's previous book, Except the Dying. Murdoch's character is fleshed out a bit, and the reader is introduced to other facets of his life, like his bicycle racing, dance lessons and even several promising romances. This story was incredibly enjoyable, and I look forward to another installment very soon.

Maureen Jennings was the recipient of the Heritage Toronto Certificate for Fiction in 1998 for her first novel Except The Dying. Her research and its accuracy are impeccable as she in fact owns an original copy of the Sears catalogue 1895, Canadaian edition. I have laid my eyes on it. As for the Episcopalian Church, it did indeed exist in Toronto during the late 1800's. Not only is Ms. Jennings detail of historic fact completely accurate, but her novels wonderfully bring to life a time that has never been covered in the Canadian Crime Fiction scene. So much so that her books have recently been sold to a Toronto telvision producer. Kudos to Ms. Jennings and her fans look forward to the next installment of William Murdoch's adventures.

In 1887 outside of Toronto, midwife Dolly Merishaw helps an anonymous lady give birth to an illegitimate child. Keeping this secret is perfect for Dolly, who is not above a bit of blackmail. However, almost eight years later, Dolly is murdered, a victim of a vicious beating. Dolly leaves behind three foster children, who might be better off fending for themselves than cope with the abuse their guardian heaped onto them.

Though still mourning the death of his fiancee due to a typhoid outbreak, acting detective William Murdoch heads the investigation into Dolly's brutal death. He quickly finds himself embroiled in class warfare as Dolly tendered to the birthing or abortion needs of the rich and the poor. As he digs deeper into Dolly's past while training for the upcoming police tournament, William finds himself struggling to open the doors to a silent society that remains closed regardless of which class he visits.

UNDER THE DRAGON'S TAIL scores on two fronts. It is a great mystery that will enthrall fans of police procedurals. It is also a wonderful historical novel that brings to light the last decade of the nineteenth century in Victorian Toronto. The lonely William is a great cop, whose philosophical ramblings make for a fantastic understanding of the era and ultimately a lively tale. As with her debut novel (EXCEPT THE DYING), Maureen Jennings provides her fans with a stupendously stimulating historical mystery that will garner new readers for a rising star.

Harriet Klausner

A fine mystery in the Anne Perry style, where dark secrets lurk behind respectable facades. This book is better than Ms. Jennings first novel in this series. The lower class lingo seems less "Dickens' English" but still 19th century; perhaps because there's less of it in this book. The streets, and the locations of the police station [and the name of its inspector], the brewery and other public buildings are correct according to the 1895 Toronto City Directory; but the author used "Episcopalian" [U.S. church after the American Revolution] instead of "Anglican" [Church of England & the British Dominions] and refered three times to the Chicago based "Sears catalogue" instead of the Toronto based "Eaton's" or "Simpson's" catalogues [they did exist in 1895 and the Eaton's catalogue became a Canadian icon - like hockey]. Those errors won't affect the story, unless you are a Torontonian. Since I'm fussy about such things, I can't give it a five; but the book is well worth reading.

This is the second 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.

The series to date consists of

1) Except the Dying
2) This book, "Under the Dragon's Tail"
3) 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.

"Under the Dragon's Tail" (the title is a reference to a line in Shakespeare) is mostly set in July 1895, but the prologue is a flashback to a child's birth seven years before, under the care of a midwife called Dolly Merishaw. Dolly is a competent and discreet but universally disliked woman, who knows secrets which could greatly embarrass half the families of Toronto, rich and poor alike.

So it comes as no surprise to Acting Detective Murdoch when Dolly is found murdered. Did someone kill her to keep her quiet, or in anger at her spiteful tongue? And soon a child's body is found in her house: is Detective Murdoch looking for one murderer, or two?

Under the Dragon's Tail by Maureen Jennings is the second book in her Murdoch series. In 1895, Acting Detective William Murdoch travels from the homes of the poorest of Toronto's citizens to the richest when he investigates the murder of former midwife, Dolly Shaw. To all appearances, Dolly was an unpleasant woman, with no friends. The house she lives in is filthy. She spends much of her time drunk. She borrows from her neighbors but never pays them back. Her deaf daughter takes in laundry to make money, and her two foster sons are afraid of her. But who disliked her enough to kill her?

As Murdoch hunts for Dolly's murderer, Jennings paints an interesting picture of historic Toronto during the late 1800s. The women who appear to be attracted to Murdoch, his attempts to be fair to everyone involved in the case, and the brief description of his dance lessons are entertaining sections of the book, although Murdoch, himself, is a bit bland. It is interesting that - perhaps because he works in Canada -- Murdoch is not as timid when dealing with upper class society as are fictional policemen working in the United States and England around the same time period, and the rich, while not treating him as an equal, do not treat him as poorly.

In the midst of training for a police tournament, Acting-Detective William Murdoch is called to investigate the death of Dolly Merishaw, a woman who had "taken care" of pregnancies for women rich and poor. She has left behind two small "foster" boys and a young woman who doesn't speak and has disappeared following Dolly's death. Dolly had secrets, but she is not the only one and someone is desperate enough to kill, and kill again, to keep their secret.

Jennings has done a masterful job of depicting Toronto in the late 1800s, her exhaustive research very apparent. She is merciless in showing the coarseness and desperation of the lower class and, in their own way, the middle and upper class. I almost have the feeling that other than Murdoch and his landlords, Jennings doesn't like her characters very much. But sense of place and time isn't enough for me. There were a lot of characters, most of them without much character development and the plot a bit overly complicated. Still, Jennings holds my interest well enough that I shall keep reading her.