Review: ‘The Murder Pit’, by Mick Finlay

Blurb

London Society takes their problems to Sherlock Holmes. Everyone else goes to Arrowood.
1896: Sherlock Holmes has once again hit the headlines, solving mysteries for the cream of London society. But among the workhouses and pudding shops of the city, private detective William Arrowood is presented with far grittier, more violent, and considerably less well-paid cases.

Arrowood is in no doubt who is the better detective, and when Mr and Mrs Barclay engage him to trace their estranged daughter Birdie, he’s sure it won’t be long before he and his assistant Barnett have tracked her down.

But this seemingly simple missing person case soon turns into a murder investigation. Far from the comfort of Baker Street, Arrowood’s London is a city of unrelenting cruelty, where evil is waiting to be uncovered . . .

My Review

The publicity team at HQ are fab; they sent me this book in late December in time for the blog tour this week. I read it during the last few of days of 2018.

Let’s get to it then.

William Arrowood, his assistant Norman Barnett and the indefatigable Ettie are back, and doing their bit to make the world a better place. When Arrowood and Barnett are asked to find the daughter of Mr and Mrs Barclay, they are drawn into a world of corruption between asylums and workhouses, the abuse of mentally ill people and people with learning difficulties, and face a corrupt police officer and magistrate determined to prevent any investigation.

The story is told by Norman, assistant, back-up for the rather less than spry Arrowood, and recent widower who still hasn’t told anyone. It’s written in his voice, and he comes through loud and clear. His anxieties and frustrations with the case, with Arrowood and with himself as he grieves, fights for justice and faces the threat of being accused of murder. Ettie and Neddy as well as the previously mysterious Lewis come to the fore as they all get involved in the case. This cast of characters are an odd, complex little family and their contrasts and frustrations with each other as they butt heads and worry their way through first a missing persons then a double murder case are entertaining and endearing.

The descriptions of London life, the asylum, the farms, all feel real. It’s a wonderfully atmospheric and gripping novel, that had me reading aloud in my excitement to find out what happened next as we reached the climax.

If you enjoy historical crime novels I recommend this one fully. But read Arrowood first, some of the references will make more sense if you do. I reviewed it in May 2017, and I think this one is definitely an improvement on the first.