Vices of My Blood: A Detective Murdoch Mystery [Paperback]

Maureen Jennings (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 4, 2006

The compelling new novel by Canada’s answer to Anne Perry.

In his forties, the Reverend Charles Howard still cut an impressive figure. A married Presbyterian minister in Toronto’s east end, Howard was popular with the congregation that elected him, especially with the ladies, and most particularly with Miss Sarah Dignam. Respected in the community, Howard, as Visitor for the House of Industry, sat in judgment on the poor, assessing their applications for the workhouse.

But now Howard is dead, stabbed and brutally beaten by someone he invited into his office. His watch and boots are missing. Has some poor beggar he turned down taken his vengeance?

Murdoch’s investigation takes him into the arcane Victorian world of queer plungers — men who fake injury all the better to beg — and the destitute who had nowhere left to turn when they knocked on the Reverend Howard’s door.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Jennings brings to life a violent but vital society of astonishing contradictions.”
— New York Times Book Review

“Jennings has always had a fine eye for telling details and good characters.”
— Globe and Mail

“[Night’s Child is] a well-written, tightly plotted mystery. . . . We feel the chill of the poorly heated rooms.”
— Quill & Quire

About the Author

Maureen Jennings’s Detective Murdoch series has been a hit from the start. Published to rave reviews, the first novel, Except the Dying, was shortlisted for both the Arthur Ellis and the Anthony first novel awards. The influential Drood Review picked Poor Tom Is Cold as one of its favourite mysteries of 2001. And Let Loose the Dogs was shortlisted for the 2004 Anthony Award for best historical mystery.

Three of the novels have been adapted for television, and four seasons of a television series, The Murdoch Mysteries, based on the characters from the novels, have been produced by Shaftesbury Films for CITY TV/Rogers, UKTV in Britain and distributed internationally by ITV/Granada international.

Born in the U.K., Jennings immigrated to Canada at age seventeen. She now lives in Toronto.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 376 pages
• Publisher: McClelland & Stewart (April 4, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0771043767
• ISBN-13: 978-0771043765
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 1 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #238,506 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A big thumbs up!, January 5, 2007

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vices of My Blood: A Detective Murdoch Mystery (Paperback)

Maureen Jennings moved to Canada from Birmingham, England when she was seventeen. After studying Philosophy, Psychology, and English literature, she became an English teacher at Ryerson Polytechnic Institute. After eight years of teaching, she did an about face and set herself up as a psychotherapist. VICES OF MY BLOOD is her sixth Detective Murdoch mystery, but she has also published a non-fiction book entitled MAP OF YOUR MIND.

Detective Murdoch is called when Charles Howard, a Presbyterian minister, is found in his office stabbed and beaten. Murdoch has just made detective, and murder isn't a normal occurrence. Naturally it seems obvious to everyone, including Murdoch's boss, that the murderer is one of the "tramps" in town. But there is more to this mystery than meets the eye, and Murdoch tries to sift through various motives. Could the murderer have been a spurned spinster? Could the "Traveler" have stooped to murder? How about someone desperate for food who was refused by Howard in his role as a "Visitor?" All Murdoch has to go on is the fact that Howard's boots and watch were stolen and that the crime was one of passion:

"'You'd say a thief then, would you, detective?" asked Royce. 'That or somebody wants us to think so." Mr. Lyons indicated he had a question. "Dr. Ogden in her excellent testimony has told us that there is every indication that the assailant was in a mad fury. I wonder then, if a person in such a state would have the presence of mind to deliberately mislead the police. I beg your pardon, Mr. Murdoch, I have no wish to cast aspersions on your competence.'"

There is something about Canadian mysteries that promises a slow but steady character and plot development that culminates in a neat package. Maureen Jennings is no exception. This is a period mystery, and Jennings has evidently done her research. We are transported back into the world of Victorian Canada in this case, where women stayed at home with their bodices and meek subservience to their husbands. Jennings creates a murky scenario with stand out characters and a whodunit that is as elusive as Murdoch's killer. A big thumbs up!

Shelley Glodowski

Senior Reviewer

4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Read!, January 9, 2007

By 

Twin Mom 69 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vices of My Blood: A Detective Murdoch Mystery (Paperback)

If you love Mysteries you will love the Detective Murdoch series. Every book is gripping until the end.