February 2020: Crime & Mystery

February: Crime/Mystery


I wanted to highlight some historical crimes and mysteries.

You could read about Jack the Ripper, Richard III (did he kill his two nephews?), or other famous or not-so-famous crimes and mysteries, solved or unsolved.

And/or feel free to look at advances in crime fighting/solving over time, as well.

A few recommendations of books I’ve read:

- Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood / William J. Mann
- The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher or The Murder at Road Hill House / Kate Summerscale
- Helter Skelter / Vincent Bugliosi, Curt Gentry
- The Complete History of Jack the Ripper / Philip Sugden
- The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz… / Deborah Blum
- The Killer of Little Shepherds: A True Crime Story and the Birth of Forensic Science / Douglas Starr
- H. H. Holmes: The True History of the White City Devil / Adam Selzer
- Thunderstruck / Erik Larson

And, please do update the wiki with what you read this month:
https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/Reading_Through_Time_Challenge#FEBRUARY_...

A few options for me...

Old Sparky: The Electric Chair and the History of the Death Penalty / Anthony Galvin
The Dreams of Ada / Robert Mayer
Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde / Jeff Guinn

I've been wanting to read The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper. I've heard great things about the book. February would be a great month to read it, but no promises. I am feeling overloaded with commitments right now and all books I am looking forward to reading! It's a nice problem to have. Thanks for the reminder of this book from my virtual TBR.

My plan is to read The Wife, The Maid, and the Mistress by Ariel Lawhon. It is a novel based on the actual unsolved disappearance of a NY state Supreme Court Judge in the 1930s.

Trying to stay with something from my own shelf, I think I'm going to tackle The Devil's Grin (Kronberg Crimes) (Volume 1), which I got free from Kindle in 2014.

>3 beebeereads: I have had this book on my list as well since hearing great things about it from booktubers. Perfect month for it!

>3 beebeereads: The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper was really good and very readable. I hope you have time for it in February.

I'm spoiled for choice on this topic but have no idea what to pull from my shelves. I'm looking forward to February.

>3 beebeereads: That one is also on my tbr!

I plan on reading Murder by the Book: The Crime That Shocked Dickens's London by Claire Harman, a true story about the murder of Lord William Russell in 1840. From the inside cover: "Murder by the Book is the fascinating story of a Victorian-era murder that rocked literary London, leading Charles Dickens, William Thackeray, and Queen Victoria herself to wonder: Can a novel kill?"

Im not big on whodunit, but I do like a well written psychological thriller written in the hands of Ruth Rendell
or Emma Donogue. Still consider Fingersmith the best book in this genre I have read

Oh wait - is this True Crime?

>10 GerrysBookshelf: Oooooh, that sounds good!

>11 cindydavid4: Personally, I always try for my "Reading Through Time" to be nonfiction, but I have had some topics where I just can't find anything on my tbr that fits. I have, occasionally, switched to historical fiction.

So, I believe my suggestions are all true crime, but I'm going to say you are ok if you want to do some fiction in there, instead. I think we're all pretty ok with tailoring it to fit what works for you. :-)

>4 clue: I have The Wife, The Maid and the Mistress on my Kindle so I will most likely be joining you for that read.

>11 cindydavid4: I think the group page indicates that fiction or non-fiction is acceptable in this group: https://www.librarything.com/groups/readingthroughtime
That said, I try to make my fiction selections to be historical fiction, in which the book is set in a specific time and place, and is based on (or inspired by) historical events.

>15 kac522: Definitely - both fiction and non-fiction are acceptable - reader's choice :)

Maybe I'll finally get to The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher in February. It's been on my shelf for a long time.

I'm going to read one of my ROOT books that is also the only one in my library that is a mystery. It takes place during 1600's Louis XIV reign in France.

City of Light, City of Poison: Murder, Magic, and The First Police Chief of Paris by Holly Tucker

I've got a dozen or so possibilities. I'm tempted to a reread of The Executioner's Song, which I haven't read since its first publication. Mailer's love-him-or-hate-him. I'm a lover.

I've also got a probably schlocky pulp novel by Cameron Kay, Thieves Fall Out. Should be amusing. It was a pen name of Gore Vidal (another of my loves).

I think I’ll give Hot Toddy: The True Story of Hollywood's Most Sensational Murder by Andy Edmonds a try. It’s about the murder? suicide? of 1930s actress Thelma Todd.

Our Lord Peter Wimsey monthly read will fit: this month Clouds of Witness.

>15Thanks guys; I guess because I read so much historic fiction I just sort of lump it all together, tho some if it like Atwoods Alias Grace definitely tilts a bit toward true crime. But I'll look for a non fiction that suits me andd Ill keep my Rendell and my Caedfael in historic fiction , it will be a good challenge for me:)

so heres my challenge - a well written book, that relies a great deal on the stories of different people involve, and heres the rough one, that is minimal on blood guts gore, harm to children. Prefer something victorian or edwardian, but more moderen is fine. Suggestons?

I'm probably going to read The Book Thieves, by Anders Rydell, which is about the looting of libraries & books stolen by the Nazis during the Holocaust and modern attempts to recover & restore them. It is non-fiction.

>23 cindydavid4: I sympathize. Perhaps books about stolen art or forgeries (art or otherwise)? I generally only read "cozy" mysteries. The only book on my shelf in the true crime category is Devil in the White City, which I haven't read (and dread reading), but only have here because it's about Chicago. Maybe one day....

I read The Devil in the White City several years ago and it still gives me the willies, even at the mention of the book. You are right to dread reading it!

>24 kac522: I did read that and yes it was splendid. Theres a similar one that I meant to read The Rape of Europa, perhas should try that.

>24 kac522: Putting The Book Thieves on my TBR - thanks for the heads up on that book.

Gaslight series by Victoria Thompson

My choice for this theme was Andy Edmonds’ Hot Toddy about the death of Thelma Todd. I couldn’t finish it. The author says she spent seven years researching the story, but it’s just a mishmash of quotes and conjecture with no source notes; nothing more than tabloid trash trying to disguise itself as non-fiction.

So I’m going to read The Widows of Malabar Hill, a mystery of 1920s Bombay. I still want to read a non-fiction book for the theme, but will choose more carefully this time!

>29 marell: The Widows of Malabar Hill is exactly what I'd been planning on! Hoping to get to it soon, but for the next week-and-a-half I've got to get my nominating petitions circulated, running as an alternate delegate to the Democratic National Convention. Deadline is February 18, but my candidate's campaign needs the stuff by February 14 and I've got to get 300 signatures.

>30 CurrerBell: Good luck hope you get to be a delegate!

>29 marell:
>30 CurrerBell:

I read The Widows of Malabar Hill last year and I liked it; not so much for the mystery, but for the culture.

I am enjoying The Widows of Malabar Hill very much for the same reason. I have read quite a few novels and mysteries set in India but this is the first time I’ve encountered the Parsis or Zoroastrianism.

I hope you enjoy it! And good luck!

It might be a while before I get the book I had decided one - the Bonnie and Clyde one.

However, I read this for another challenge, and it fits here, too. Especially the "mystery" part:

Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident / Donnie Eichar
3.75 stars

Nine Russian hikers disappeared in February 1959 while hiking in the Ural Mountains in Siberia. When they were found, their tent was all set up nicely, though it had a few rips, and their bodies were a ways from the tent. The oddest part was that they were in various states of (un)dress and not one of them was wearing their boots. This was in very cold -- far below freezing -- weather. The American author heard of the mystery and was interested in trying to figure out what happened.

The book was told in three different “parts” - the hikers (almost all in their early 20s), based on photos and diaries; the searchers, only a month to three months following the hikers’ disappearance; and the author’s trek to Russia to see what he could find out (including a trip to the place they disappeared, and interviews with a tenth hiker (in his 70s when the author met him), who had had to turn back early due to health issues).

I was particularly interested in the parts from the ‘50s. The author’s story, I didn’t find quite as interesting, until he came closer to the end where he ruled out many theories (and, of course, explained why he ruled them out), and put forth a scientific theory as to what may have caused the hikers to retreat from their tent, to ultimately succumb to the elements. There were plenty of photos included, as well.

Death of a Red Heroine by Xiaolong Qiu This was an inspector Chen mystery. More than crime, politics drove the plot. This took place after Deng Xiaoping began his reform. It's Mao politicans vs. Xiapoing politicians; interesting, though. Besides being a chief inspector, Chen is a poet. This is book #1 in the series. I might read another one; hoping to get more culture and less politics! 3.75 stars 477 pages

I finished The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher, and enjoyed the read. I think the subtitle is a bit misleading, though. The murder was certainly shocking, but the investigation didn't actually "undo" Detective Jack Whicher, who wasn't all that great a detective either, based on the details of his career documented here. To be fair, the whole art/science of detection was very new in the mid-19th century. Apparently he did figure out who dunnit, and nobody believed him until his prime suspect confessed five years later. But he hadn't established any great reputation at the time. The disappearance of three-year old Saville Kent, and the discovery of his stabbed and mutilated body in a privy behind his home in 1860 led to the investigation detailed in the book. The entire Kent household--family and servants-- came under scrutiny, in an age where personal privacy, modesty and discretion were so highly valued that a policeman asking to search for a murder weapon in your home, even under such dire circumstances, was almost unthinkable. God help us, the state of the women's underwear became an issue! (It's really no wonder so many women in the 19th century were seen as suffering from a form of madness...) This is more than a "true crime" story; the lives of all the principals, before and after the event, are set forth in a fair amount of detail, and some of them are quite remarkable. The victim's older half-brother, William (whom Whicher never entirely exonerated in his mind, despite sister Constance's confession and insistence that she alone was responsible) grew up to be a dedicated naturalist, whose book on coral reefs was definitive on the subject for decades. His half-sister Constance lived to be 100 years of age, and was noted for nursing lepers in Australia. This was an interesting companion to Affinity, the Sarah Waters novel featuring the infamous Millbank prison on the Thames, which I read last year.

>10 GerrysBookshelf: I have Murder by the Book somewhere in my stacks, I believe. I'm looking forward to seeing what you think of it.

I think I would consider Belfast in the 1980s historic even though it is more recent than most of what we read here. Belfast in the 1980s was a different place to set a mystery and a police procedural at that. Not that the detective, Sean Duffy, was good at following procedure. He was a bit of a maverick but I found myself routing for him in The Cold Cold Ground.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey.

Perveen Mistry is a young Parsi woman living in Bombay who is one of the first female lawyers in India. She has joined her father’s law firm, although, as this is 1920, she is unable to represent clients in a courtroom. Perveen is appointed to execute the will of the late Mr. Farid. His three wives and their children live in the family bungalow in purdah (seclusion from the outside world). Intrigue and foul deeds ensue.

I look forward to the next book in the series which I believe is out now. Ms. Massey has also written a series of books set in Japan.

I have found a non-fiction book that sounds intriguing: Blood & Ivy: The 1849 Murder that Scandalized Harvard by Paul Collins.

Blood & Ivy: The 1849 Murder that Scandalized Harvard by Paul Collins was a fascinating, if gruesome, read. The book is well-written and contains notes, sources and indexes.

It concerns the disappearance and death of Dr. George Parkman, one of the leading men and richest men in Boston. A number of famous people appear here, in person or mentioned, as they were contemporaries or related to persons in the story: Oliver Wendell Holmes, the dean of Harvard Medical College, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Herman Melville, Nathaniel Hawthorne to name a few; Charles Dickens and Mark Twain make brief appearances.

What I found so interesting were the discoveries made at the time and some of the things that came about as a result of the trial. Ether had just been discovered and Oliver Wendell Holmes gave it the name “anesthesia.” He also insisted that doctors wash their hands, opponents suggesting that surely, “a gentleman’s hands are clean.”

At the time neither Massachusetts nor the federal courts had a standard definition or instruction of “reasonable doubt.” Chief Justice Lemuel Shaw’s explanation of reasonable doubt stood for over a century before any modernized version appeared.

An interesting book in so many ways.

I'm nearly halfway through The Red Door by Charles Todd. I'm not sure why I find this series so addictive. Perhaps because I want so badly for Ian Rutledge to find some happiness in his life. At any rate, a terrific series.

double post

>41 marell: I first read this author in a book called Not Even Wrong (touch stone does not work) he wrote about his son, who was diagnosed with autism. Beautifully written with plenty of information along with the stories he tells about his journey. Also wrote sixpence house about his family moving to hay on wye in Wales where he bought a book store

>41 marell: Oh, I think this is a BB for me!

I read Sixpence House years ago. I remember he talked about his autistic son who was very young then. Thank you for the recommendation of Not Even Wrong. I think I need to read more from this author.

I hope you like it. Strides were being made in forensics as well. The author has an easy writing style which I enjoyed.

I finished The Wife, The Maid, and the Mistress by Ariel Lawhon. I only rated it 2.5, I thought it was a little beyond the author's reach.

Michael Finkel, The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit 3***, the story of Chris Knight, the "hermit" who beginning at age twenty spent the next twenty-seven years camping in near-complete isolation in the Maine woods, surviving by small-time burglaries of food and supplies from nearby resort homes.

>49 CurrerBell: I read that one when it first came out---astonishing to contemplate.

>49 CurrerBell: Wow, interesting!

I just finished the third book by Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse, Mycroft and Sherlock: The Empty Birdcage. Wonderful Victorian period detail, with the queen herself making an appearance; two sidekicks, Cyrus Douglas and Huan, both originally from Trinidad; and two mysteries to solve. Mycroft and Sherlock are young men, Sherlock having quit school to follow his passion of becoming a criminal detective — financed at this point by his long-suffering brother. Intelligent and entertaining.

>52 marell: I read the first of that series, and I thought it was pretty good, but had a bit too much swashbuckling adventure in it for me. The second sounds better, and I intend to get to it one of these days.

>52 marell: I didn't know about this series, my library has it and I'll check the first one out...sometime.

I thought this one was better than the first one. I think I missed the second one somehow. The mysteries were solved rather abruptly right at the very end. Not much swashbuckling in this one. I really like them for the interactions between the characters and period details more than for the mysteries themselves.

I also read The Wife, The Maid and The Mistress by Ariel Lawhon for this month's theme and like >48 clue: wasn't pleased with the book. I found it lacked emotional depth and the characters were rather flat.

Multiple traumas preceding "The King's Justice" by Susan Macneal have created a much less likeable (to me) character in Maggie Hope. She smokes, drinks hard, disables bombs and races through the blacked out streets of London on her motor bike. In an earlier novel, she has personally defeated and brought to justice the killer know as the Blackout Beast. The countdown to his execution frames the unfolding story of another serial killer somehow linked to the first.

Normally, I avoid novels about serial killers, but since I received this book as an Early Reviewer, I felt obligated to complete it. The killer is a nasty piece of work, Maggie's behavior is self-destructive and out of control, and the final twist seemed a bit unlikely.

I also read, Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler. This was book 2 in the Philip Marlowe series. 292 pages 3 stars

Just finished The Widows of Malabar Hill and I agree with >32 Tess_W:. I gave it 4**** for the "local color" but for mystery alone I'd probably give it a bit less. The main mystery itself rather lagged until the last section of the book, but that may have been Massey's need to do those flasbacks to Perveen's marriage for backstory. Maybe the second installment will be a little more "action-packed." I'll get to it when the paperback comes out March 10.

I've got so many other challenges going on that I didn't find the time for the January topic. But The Strangler Vine fits here: set in India in 1837, it gives us a very different view of Thugs and the rule of the East India Company. It takes a long time to get going, but then it turned into a very exciting tale. I will happily read more about Blake and Avery.

I've started The Five but I'm pretty sure it will not be finished by the end of the month. Good so far, more for the social commentary on life in Victorian times.

>61 JayneCM: I just started that as well! I know I won't finish it soon because I'm working around other books with due dates too...but I do hope to read the book in the next month (or so). I'm so glad that someone thought to write about these women. I look forward to getting to know them.

I'm still on hold for the book I originally intended to read for this. I've been #3 on the hold list for over a month, I think. The person who had it must have kept it way longer than the allotted 3 weeks! (Or maybe I started as #4 on the list, but I don't think so...)

I checked and it's currently in transit to the next person, but I still have that person and one other to wait for.

Whenever it comes in for me, I still plan to read it and post here what I thought.

I read a few more historical mysteries in February. Two that were the first in series Absolution by Murder which is a Sister Fidelma mystery set way back in 664 AD. Very interesting. The Axeman's Jazz was set in 1919 New Orleans. I found it a slow read but think I am in a minority on that one.

The Satapur Moonstone by Sujata Massey. I gave its predecessor, The Widows of Malabar Hill, 4**** because I thought the mystery itself was a bit slow-moving though the local color was excellent. I'll up this second installment to 4½**** because the pace picks up, mainly because Massey has already set Perveen's backstory and doesn't need to use the flashbacks which slow the pace of the first book. I do hope, though, that future installments consider moving out of purdah, which might become a bit cliched after a while.

Questions for installment three. What's going to devlop between Perveen and Colin? Will Gandhi make an appearance?

ETA: Finished March 5, but I included it for February anyway.

>65 CurrerBell: Just waiting for The Widows of Malabar Hill to arrive from the library. Better put the second one on hold as well!

This was originally meant for February, but the book got stalled at the library (I, personally, think it went missing)

Go Down Together: The True Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde / Jeff Guinn.
4.25 stars

Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker (later known as “Bonnie and Clyde”) both grew up extremely poor in the slum of West Dallas, Texas. They both loved their families very much and visited as often as they possibly could, even while on the run. They knew they would die young, likely violently. They stole fancy cars, and robbed some small banks and small stores and gas stations, which really only gave them enough money for food and gas. They had very little left over, and mostly had to sleep in “their” car. When they had extra, they often brought it to their families.

I knew nothing of Clyde and Bonnie beyond their names and that they were criminals/gangsters on the run in (I thought) the 1920s (it was actually only for a couple of years in the early 1930s). This book was so well-researched. I feel like, if it’s not (it might already be), it should be the go-to book about the two of them. Their crimes did mostly start off as robberies and stealing cars, but in their haste to not get caught, there were shootouts and people got killed. There were a few other murders thrown in that weren’t part of shootouts, as well.

It was slow to read, but nonfiction often is. That being said, it was fascinating and I was interested all the way through. Now, there were multiple confrontations and shootouts, so I did get a few confused toward the end, and some of the criminals who came and went from the “Barrow Gang” also got a bit confusing, but overall, this was really good. There was also a section of photos included in the middle.