Thursday 20 June 2019

Except the Dying - Maureen Jennings - Detective Murdoch Book 1

Except the Dying
Detective Murdoch Book 1
Maureen Jennings
McClelland & Stewart
An imprint of Penguin Random House Canada

ISBN 9780771043314
eISBN 9780771043208
ASIN B003IGR1DC



This novel is the third Murdoch story I have read and the fifth book by Maureen Jennings in 4 weeks. Now that I have started reading Jennings books, I just can’t seem to stop. In fact, it takes great effort to wait until have written a review before picking up the next novel. When I read my first Murdoch novel, I was a little nervous, for I had seen 12 seasons of the TV series. I had noting to fear, yes there are some differences and some of them even major shifts. But Murdoch is just as sturdy and dependable. His faith and elements of Catholicism are fun and entertaining to encounter. And this story was an extremely entertaining tale.

The first Murdoch novel I read was Murdoch book 8, Let Darkness Bury the Dead, and then I read the prequel Shipwreck, which is about an event when he is a boy. So in many ways this book is like stepping back 30 years from book and like reading about the beginning. This story is set in Toronto in 1895. A young girl is found frozen and naked in a side lane. The autopsy proves she was pregnant at the time of her death. And Murdoch determines she was a maid of a very influential family in the city. And in fact the night before an alderman and his son had been in the house she worked at, and had fled from. The further into the investigation that Murdoch gets the more complicated becomes his work. A gentlemen’s club, the wealthy and politically astute of the city seem to be at the heart of the mystery. And when a witness, a woman of questionable occupations, turns up dead also, then the pressure on Murdoch and the number 4 station intensifies. 

The characters in this novel, in the series are wonderfully written. The mysteries are fun to try and unravel. And Murdoch is a man we can look up to and admire. I am really enjoying this series and the other two I have started by Jennings and highly recommend them! 

Books by Maureen Jennings:
Detective Murdoch Series:

0.5 Shipwreck
1.0 Except the Dying
2.0 Under the Dragon's Tail
3.0 Poor Tom Is Cold
4.0 Let Loose the Dogs
5.0 Night's Child
6.0 Vices of My Blood
7.0 A Journeyman to Grief
8.0 Let Darkness Bury the Dead
...

Detective Inspector Tom Tyler Series:
1.0 Season of Darkness
2.0 Beware This Boy
3.0 No Known Grave
4.0 Dead Ground in Between
...

Christine Morris Series:
1.0 Does Your Mother Know?
2.0 The K Handshape

...

Paradise Café Series:

1.0 Heat Wave
2.0 November Rain
...

Other books:
The Map of Your Mind: Journeys into Creative Expression
Investigating Murdoch Mysteries: The Official Companion to the Series – with Michelle Ricci and Mir Bahmanyar
...
 










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