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Sebastian Becker #2
The Bedlam Detective
Madmen see monsters – and monsters hide in plain sight
From a basement office in London’s notorious Bethlehem Hospital, Sebastian Becker investigates wealthy eccentrics whose dubious mental health may render them unable to manage their own affairs. His interview with rich landowner Sir Owain Lancaster, whose sanity has been in question since a disastrous scientific adventure in the Amazon killed his family and colleagues, coincides with the disappearance of two young local girls. When the children are found slain, Lancaster claims that the same dark forces that devastated his family have followed him home. It is not the first time that children have come to harm in his rural countryside town, though few are willing to speak of incidents from the past. Becker must determine whether this mad nobleman is insane and a murderer, or if some even more sinister agency is at work.
Struggling on his small salary, and with unexpected help from a son who needs special care, Becker and his wife make sacrifices so Becker can stay on the case after an innocent man is convicted of the crime. The answers he seeks may be found with the assistance of the local investigator and a young suffragette who fled Arnmouth, but couldn’t flee the horrors she encountered there.
From dank asylums to the lush and treacherous Amazon, through the makeshift studios of the early film industry and a traveling fair of freaks and illusions, Sebastian Becker’s search for answers brings him face to face with madmen and monsters, both imagined and real. Confronting immense danger in his hunt for the truth, he will explore murder, tragedy, and the tempestuous depths of his own mind.
From a basement office in London’s notorious Bethlehem Hospital, Sebastian Becker investigates wealthy eccentrics whose dubious mental health may render them unable to manage their own affairs. His interview with rich landowner Sir Owain Lancaster, whose sanity has been in question since a disastrous scientific adventure in the Amazon killed his family and colleagues, coincides with the disappearance of two young local girls. When the children are found slain, Lancaster claims that the same dark forces that devastated his family have followed him home. It is not the first time that children have come to harm in his rural countryside town, though few are willing to speak of incidents from the past. Becker must determine whether this mad nobleman is insane and a murderer, or if some even more sinister agency is at work.
Struggling on his small salary, and with unexpected help from a son who needs special care, Becker and his wife make sacrifices so Becker can stay on the case after an innocent man is convicted of the crime. The answers he seeks may be found with the assistance of the local investigator and a young suffragette who fled Arnmouth, but couldn’t flee the horrors she encountered there.
From dank asylums to the lush and treacherous Amazon, through the makeshift studios of the early film industry and a traveling fair of freaks and illusions, Sebastian Becker’s search for answers brings him face to face with madmen and monsters, both imagined and real. Confronting immense danger in his hunt for the truth, he will explore murder, tragedy, and the tempestuous depths of his own mind.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2012
220 people are currently reading
2099 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Gallagher
154 books135 followersStoker and World Fantasy Award nominee, winner of British Fantasy and International Horror Guild Awards for his short fiction, Stephen Gallagher has a career both as a novelist and as a creator of primetime miniseries and episodic television. His fifteen novels include Chimera, Oktober, Valley of Lights and Nightmare, with Angel. He's the creator of Sebastian Becker, Special Investigator to the Lord Chancellor's Visitor in Lunacy, in a series of novels that includes The Kingdom of Bones, The Bedlam Detective, and The Authentic William James. In his native England he's adapted and created hour-long and feature-length thrillers and crime dramas. In the US he was lead writer on NBC's Crusoe, creator of CBS Television's Eleventh Hour, and Co-Executive Producer on ABC's The Forgotten. Recent screen credits include an award-winning Silent Witness and Stan Lee's Lucky Man.
He began his TV career as a writer on two seasons of Doctor Who, and wrote two novelizations of his stories under the pseudonym John Lydecker.
** Photo by Lisa Bowerman **
He began his TV career as a writer on two seasons of Doctor Who, and wrote two novelizations of his stories under the pseudonym John Lydecker.
** Photo by Lisa Bowerman **
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 413 reviews
February 2, 2012
Gallagher writes an easy-to-read mystery, with characters interesting enough to propel the reader into his strange story.
The mystery involves the killing of two young girls in a seaside resort. There are long-time rumors of a terrible beast in the nearby woods, a pair of young women who survived a similar attack years before, and a potential madman who lives in the decaying grand manor house. There's more than a hint of the supernatural, McGuffins aplenty and 1920s London for a backdrop.
There was a lot to like about THE BEDLAM DETECTIVE and, to be fair, I read the book over two days. However, there were enough things about it that kept me from liking it to the degree I had hoped. The decade of the novel seemed to be almost chosen at random (much of the story could have taken place at any time in recent history) and I felt continually at a distance from all of the characters.
Without giving away the actual ending I will say that the ending fell somewhat flat to me. I have a good idea of what Gallagher was trying to do with it, with regards to what makes one sane or insane and the various degrees of sanity, but I didn't leave the book feeling well-satisfied.
Perhaps the biggest McGuffin of all was the Whodunit part of the story. Solving the murders is what motivates the characters and, ostensibly, the reader as well. However, it doesn't seem to have been a major part of the higher theme of the book. Perhaps this is why the solving of the crimes seemed so anti-climatic for me. In a book given to nuances of light/dark, reality/imaginings, sanity/madness, the ending laid too much bare and, in so doing, left me underwhelmed.
The mystery involves the killing of two young girls in a seaside resort. There are long-time rumors of a terrible beast in the nearby woods, a pair of young women who survived a similar attack years before, and a potential madman who lives in the decaying grand manor house. There's more than a hint of the supernatural, McGuffins aplenty and 1920s London for a backdrop.
There was a lot to like about THE BEDLAM DETECTIVE and, to be fair, I read the book over two days. However, there were enough things about it that kept me from liking it to the degree I had hoped. The decade of the novel seemed to be almost chosen at random (much of the story could have taken place at any time in recent history) and I felt continually at a distance from all of the characters.
Without giving away the actual ending I will say that the ending fell somewhat flat to me. I have a good idea of what Gallagher was trying to do with it, with regards to what makes one sane or insane and the various degrees of sanity, but I didn't leave the book feeling well-satisfied.
Perhaps the biggest McGuffin of all was the Whodunit part of the story. Solving the murders is what motivates the characters and, ostensibly, the reader as well. However, it doesn't seem to have been a major part of the higher theme of the book. Perhaps this is why the solving of the crimes seemed so anti-climatic for me. In a book given to nuances of light/dark, reality/imaginings, sanity/madness, the ending laid too much bare and, in so doing, left me underwhelmed.
February 25, 2012
I received this book as a goodreads giveaway. I have to say that when I started the book I thought it was a good read, nothing special, but about a third the way through I could not put it down. The Bedlam Detective has excellent details of the period and plenty of twists. Several days after finishing I still have bits of the story running through my head. All in all a great read that I would definitely recommend.
March 31, 2018
Abandoned. Story ok. Writing too. Fragmented. No flow. Very. Difficult. To read.
November 12, 2016
Steve Gallagher has probably caused me more lost sleep than any other thriller writer -- I can remember reading, heavy-eyed, into the early hours to finish Valley of Lights, Nightmare, with Angel, Red, Red Robin and others -- so I'm not sure why I've let so long go by since last I read one of his novels.
It's 1912 and the "Bedlam detective," Sebastian Becker, is in the English Southwest to investigate the case of Sir Owain Lancaster, a one-time explorer who's fallen on hard times since he returned from South America with a tale so preposterous that he was ostracized from London society (and, for that matter, the Royal Society). For Sebastian's job is as investigator-at-large for the Visitor in Lunacy, a government officer responsible for establishing whether wealthy eccentrics are sufficiently bonkers that they'd be better off having their finances handled by an independent party. During Sebastian's visit, there's a horrific double child murder. This isn't the first time such a crime has occurred locally. Could Sir Owain be not just dotty but a killer?
This isn't Gallagher at quite his highest pitch, but it's still head and shoulders above most of the mystery-thrillers I've read recently. Interspersed among the events of Sebastian's investigation are accounts of Sir Owain's doomed South American expedition; I hadn't expected to enjoy these, and it's a testament to Gallagher's powers as a storyteller that I did, and very much so. But it's not just the narrative that had me gripped; the characterization played a large part too -- I really cared about what happened to some of the characters, especially to the young woman Evangeline, who as a child survived an earlier attack but was so traumatized she can now remember nothing about it.
All in all, then, much recommended.
It's 1912 and the "Bedlam detective," Sebastian Becker, is in the English Southwest to investigate the case of Sir Owain Lancaster, a one-time explorer who's fallen on hard times since he returned from South America with a tale so preposterous that he was ostracized from London society (and, for that matter, the Royal Society). For Sebastian's job is as investigator-at-large for the Visitor in Lunacy, a government officer responsible for establishing whether wealthy eccentrics are sufficiently bonkers that they'd be better off having their finances handled by an independent party. During Sebastian's visit, there's a horrific double child murder. This isn't the first time such a crime has occurred locally. Could Sir Owain be not just dotty but a killer?
This isn't Gallagher at quite his highest pitch, but it's still head and shoulders above most of the mystery-thrillers I've read recently. Interspersed among the events of Sebastian's investigation are accounts of Sir Owain's doomed South American expedition; I hadn't expected to enjoy these, and it's a testament to Gallagher's powers as a storyteller that I did, and very much so. But it's not just the narrative that had me gripped; the characterization played a large part too -- I really cared about what happened to some of the characters, especially to the young woman Evangeline, who as a child survived an earlier attack but was so traumatized she can now remember nothing about it.
All in all, then, much recommended.
February 10, 2012
The subtitle is a bit confusing: this is a novel as much as it is a mystery (and this goes back to the question I've been asking for the past year or so - why are we using "a novel" as a subtitle? is there the risk we can't tell fact from fiction?).
There are two intertwined questions here, the first being "who killed the two little girls, and how is this related to the assaults on Grace and Evangeline years ago?" and "is Sir Owain insane?". Our hero is, of course, concerned that perhaps the answers to one lead to the other. Sebastian Becker works for the Crown in the role of Visitor in Lunacy, helping determine whether someone is capable of handling his (or her) affairs or needs to be put in "Bethlam" (aka "St. Mary Bethlehem Hospital" or Bedlam). His previous training, however, was as a Pinkerton detective, and he uses this to help Steven Reed figure out what's happening in Arnmouth.
The two questions do appear to be related, and Sebastian's investigation leads to some interesting characters, including the aforementioned Evangeline, now a suffragette working in the Inns of Court. The two, along with Sebastian's son Robert (whom I thought had Down's Syndrome, given the name of his doctors, but it's more ASD-like) try to determine the truth of the ill-fated Amazon trip that Sir Owain led, and whether he is now mad as a result.
The ending is a little rushed yet nonetheless satisfying. The questions are answered and were not telegraphed way in advance - always nice in a mystery. The descriptions of the Amazon, medicine 100 years ago and the suffrage movement make add to the atmosphere in an organic way (in other words, they don't feel tacked on to the mystery to give it a setting).
ARC provided by publisher.
There are two intertwined questions here, the first being "who killed the two little girls, and how is this related to the assaults on Grace and Evangeline years ago?" and "is Sir Owain insane?". Our hero is, of course, concerned that perhaps the answers to one lead to the other. Sebastian Becker works for the Crown in the role of Visitor in Lunacy, helping determine whether someone is capable of handling his (or her) affairs or needs to be put in "Bethlam" (aka "St. Mary Bethlehem Hospital" or Bedlam). His previous training, however, was as a Pinkerton detective, and he uses this to help Steven Reed figure out what's happening in Arnmouth.
The two questions do appear to be related, and Sebastian's investigation leads to some interesting characters, including the aforementioned Evangeline, now a suffragette working in the Inns of Court. The two, along with Sebastian's son Robert (whom I thought had Down's Syndrome, given the name of his doctors, but it's more ASD-like) try to determine the truth of the ill-fated Amazon trip that Sir Owain led, and whether he is now mad as a result.
The ending is a little rushed yet nonetheless satisfying. The questions are answered and were not telegraphed way in advance - always nice in a mystery. The descriptions of the Amazon, medicine 100 years ago and the suffrage movement make add to the atmosphere in an organic way (in other words, they don't feel tacked on to the mystery to give it a setting).
ARC provided by publisher.
December 4, 2016
Monsters dwell in the shadows and in the hard light of day. They are among us. They sit next to us, chat with us, and dine with us. We only acknowledge their existence when their actions cause harm. The Bedlam Detective breaks down the monstrous form and makes you see that everyone is capable of monstrosity under the right circumstances.
February 7, 2012
This is, in the parlance of its setting, a cracking good read. Set in 1912, it has a pleasantly dark cast throughout the whole story, giving the reader the impression of hunting madness alongside Sebastien in the Smoke. There's an authenticity to "The Bedlam Detective" that belies some of the more extreme plot points - the characters don't come off as modern people in fancy historical dress. From Sebastien's casual dismissal of native cultures to the imperial fancies of Sir Owain, the impression the reader gets is purely early twentieth century.
While the mystery was enough to keep me turning pages, it was the overall atmosphere that had me finishing this in a matter of a few hours (a rare occurrence for a full-time bookseller and part-time student). The descriptions of the ill-fated Amazon voyage that put all the players into motion is so ineffably creepy, and there is a point towards the end of that part of the tale that I don't want to spoil, but it genuinely made my skin crawl in horror.
It's certainly not High Literature, but it is a damned good read, and I have high hopes for a series.
While the mystery was enough to keep me turning pages, it was the overall atmosphere that had me finishing this in a matter of a few hours (a rare occurrence for a full-time bookseller and part-time student). The descriptions of the ill-fated Amazon voyage that put all the players into motion is so ineffably creepy, and there is a point towards the end of that part of the tale that I don't want to spoil, but it genuinely made my skin crawl in horror.
It's certainly not High Literature, but it is a damned good read, and I have high hopes for a series.
March 6, 2017
I found the beginning of this a bit slow but the pace certainly picked up quite a bit. While the ending was quite a thrill ride I felt it went on too long and sort of ended anti-climatically. However, it still kept me interested and I will look for other books by this author.
January 3, 2019
I loved this story, the characters, the gentle pace and the language that is so fitting for the time set in this wonderful book!
August 28, 2023
A detective is deployed to find out if an important person is insane or not. While trying to investigate into the recent past of said person, the detective comes across some horrific acts.
Are all these linked into some greater truth about the person being investigated? Or is there someone, or something else bhind this darkness?
The book was finished pretty fast. But I found 'The Bedlam Detective' to be a well-written but extremely disappointing book on several counts.
Firstly, the detective in question, i.e. Sebastian Becker is a thoroughly useless protagonist who could have given Aylmer Vance a run for his money. Vance, I would like to remind the readers, was a 'Ghost-Seer' who specialised in destroying his clients' minds and properties trying to rid them from various occult infestations. Sebastian here does the same for himself. The great Shrilal Shukla had defined a rustic in his immortal 'Raag Darbari' as one who opens his mouth in the most inopportune moment and keeps the trap shut when explaining things would be in order. Sebastian Becker follows this dictum like a motto. Whether his transformation had happened due to his proximity with Rednecks or it came naturally is a grave matter which I leave others to decide.
Secondly, the book has no mystery as such. It merely juxtaposes one ghastly scenario onto another deeply unpleasant one, almost all of them acting as a kind of broken mirror into Becker's domestic life that has gone almost incredibly bad. The author, using Becker as a ventriloquist's broken dummy, keeps pondering about madness and delusion while people die or get hurt in all sense.
And then it ends!
After finishing the book, I was again reminded of Shukla's classic. He had described a truck as one whose shape indicated that it had been created to assault the roads. Becker and his supposed exploits also seem to have been envisaged with the sole aim of bruising our minds.
I am not going to touch them with a bargepole in the future.
Are all these linked into some greater truth about the person being investigated? Or is there someone, or something else bhind this darkness?
The book was finished pretty fast. But I found 'The Bedlam Detective' to be a well-written but extremely disappointing book on several counts.
Firstly, the detective in question, i.e. Sebastian Becker is a thoroughly useless protagonist who could have given Aylmer Vance a run for his money. Vance, I would like to remind the readers, was a 'Ghost-Seer' who specialised in destroying his clients' minds and properties trying to rid them from various occult infestations. Sebastian here does the same for himself. The great Shrilal Shukla had defined a rustic in his immortal 'Raag Darbari' as one who opens his mouth in the most inopportune moment and keeps the trap shut when explaining things would be in order. Sebastian Becker follows this dictum like a motto. Whether his transformation had happened due to his proximity with Rednecks or it came naturally is a grave matter which I leave others to decide.
Secondly, the book has no mystery as such. It merely juxtaposes one ghastly scenario onto another deeply unpleasant one, almost all of them acting as a kind of broken mirror into Becker's domestic life that has gone almost incredibly bad. The author, using Becker as a ventriloquist's broken dummy, keeps pondering about madness and delusion while people die or get hurt in all sense.
And then it ends!
After finishing the book, I was again reminded of Shukla's classic. He had described a truck as one whose shape indicated that it had been created to assault the roads. Becker and his supposed exploits also seem to have been envisaged with the sole aim of bruising our minds.
I am not going to touch them with a bargepole in the future.
July 7, 2024
This is part of my "shopping" in my bookshelf and it was a success. I enjoyed the story and the characters, people who are not often the protagonists of period pieces.
I was also surprised more than once at the turn some of the story took. That's a good thing.
If you read stories like The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon you'll be in familiar territory.
Also this is book 2 in a series but I had no difficulty following along. Though there are allusions to the events in the previous installment the events here are unrelated and pretty self contained.
Recommend.
I was also surprised more than once at the turn some of the story took. That's a good thing.
If you read stories like The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon you'll be in familiar territory.
Also this is book 2 in a series but I had no difficulty following along. Though there are allusions to the events in the previous installment the events here are unrelated and pretty self contained.
Recommend.
March 26, 2012
Stephen Gallagher is the English writer of several novels and television scripts, including for the BBC television series Doctor Who for which he wrote two serials, Warriors' Gate (1981) and Terminus (1983). He is also very active in crime fiction area and The Bedlam Detective is his latest work.
A Brief Summary:
From a basement office in London’s notorious Bethlehem Hospital, Sebastian Becker investigates wealthy eccentrics whose dubious mental health may render them unable to manage their own affairs. His interview with rich landowner Sir Owain Lancaster, whose sanity has been in question since a disastrous scientific adventure in the Amazon killed his family and colleagues, coincides with the disappearance of two young local girls. When the children are found slain, Lancaster claims that the same dark forces that devastated his family have followed him home. It is not the first time that children have come to harm in his rural countryside town, though few are willing to speak of incidents from the past. Becker must determine whether this mad nobleman is insane and a murderer, or if some even more sinister agency is at work.
Struggling on his small salary, and with unexpected help from a son who needs special care, Becker and his wife make sacrifices so Becker can stay on the case after an innocent man is convicted of the crime. The answers he seeks may be found with the assistance of the local investigator and a young suffragette who fled Arnmouth, but couldn’t flee the horrors she encountered there.
From dank asylums to the lush and treacherous Amazon, through the makeshift studios of the early film industry and a traveling fair of freaks and illusions, Sebastian Becker’s search for answers brings him face to face with madmen and monsters, both imagined and real.
Our Take:
This is a great historical fiction taking place in the Victorian era and definitely one of our favorites this year. It is rich with details about the historical period in which the story is taking place and written with such a beautiful literary tone which makes the reader smile.
The main character Sebastian Becker is an interesting one. He carries the whole story on his shoulders and guides the reader through the different chapters without ever becoming predictable.
We really liked the pacing of this novel as it moved along quickly and the mystery kept us absorbed. Some of the details in the story are a bit graphic though we never felt unnecessary violence. Gallagher's great character development and clever plotting has created a great result: A rare literary masterpiece for the lovers of historical crime fiction.
For more go to http://www.mysterytribune.com or @mysterytribune
A Brief Summary:
From a basement office in London’s notorious Bethlehem Hospital, Sebastian Becker investigates wealthy eccentrics whose dubious mental health may render them unable to manage their own affairs. His interview with rich landowner Sir Owain Lancaster, whose sanity has been in question since a disastrous scientific adventure in the Amazon killed his family and colleagues, coincides with the disappearance of two young local girls. When the children are found slain, Lancaster claims that the same dark forces that devastated his family have followed him home. It is not the first time that children have come to harm in his rural countryside town, though few are willing to speak of incidents from the past. Becker must determine whether this mad nobleman is insane and a murderer, or if some even more sinister agency is at work.
Struggling on his small salary, and with unexpected help from a son who needs special care, Becker and his wife make sacrifices so Becker can stay on the case after an innocent man is convicted of the crime. The answers he seeks may be found with the assistance of the local investigator and a young suffragette who fled Arnmouth, but couldn’t flee the horrors she encountered there.
From dank asylums to the lush and treacherous Amazon, through the makeshift studios of the early film industry and a traveling fair of freaks and illusions, Sebastian Becker’s search for answers brings him face to face with madmen and monsters, both imagined and real.
Our Take:
This is a great historical fiction taking place in the Victorian era and definitely one of our favorites this year. It is rich with details about the historical period in which the story is taking place and written with such a beautiful literary tone which makes the reader smile.
The main character Sebastian Becker is an interesting one. He carries the whole story on his shoulders and guides the reader through the different chapters without ever becoming predictable.
We really liked the pacing of this novel as it moved along quickly and the mystery kept us absorbed. Some of the details in the story are a bit graphic though we never felt unnecessary violence. Gallagher's great character development and clever plotting has created a great result: A rare literary masterpiece for the lovers of historical crime fiction.
For more go to http://www.mysterytribune.com or @mysterytribune
March 13, 2012
I had never heard of Stephen Gallagher before seeing this as an upcoming release for 2012. Now I can't wait to see if his other work is as good as 'The Bedlam Detective'.
Sebastian Becker has taken something of a demotion, returning to London from America, so that he can find an acceptable situation for his son who has special needs. He works for Sir James Crichton-Browne investigating the mental stability of wealthy landowners in order to determine their ability to make sound judgments on their own behalf.
Becker is currently investigating Sir Owain Lancaster, who's recent expedition into the Amazon jungle resulted in the death of nearly every person in his party including his wife and young son. Just as Sebastian arrives in the little hamlet of Arnmouth a gruesome discovery is made, two young girls have been found murdered. Justice moves swiftly and with the confession of an uneducated tinker, the case is closed. But Becker and the local investigator think there's more to the case than meets the eye and continue to investigate Sir Owain.
I really liked the pacing of this novel, it moved along quickly, the mystery kept me interested but I also enjoyed all of the characters Gallagher created and would love to see them again in another novel. There's a bit of graphic detail involved in this story, though it never felt like gratuitous violence. What I found so interesting was the character of Sir Owain and the ending the author gives his story, it was somewhat comical.
I highly recommend this to fans of mysteries and readers of historical fiction.
Sebastian Becker has taken something of a demotion, returning to London from America, so that he can find an acceptable situation for his son who has special needs. He works for Sir James Crichton-Browne investigating the mental stability of wealthy landowners in order to determine their ability to make sound judgments on their own behalf.
Becker is currently investigating Sir Owain Lancaster, who's recent expedition into the Amazon jungle resulted in the death of nearly every person in his party including his wife and young son. Just as Sebastian arrives in the little hamlet of Arnmouth a gruesome discovery is made, two young girls have been found murdered. Justice moves swiftly and with the confession of an uneducated tinker, the case is closed. But Becker and the local investigator think there's more to the case than meets the eye and continue to investigate Sir Owain.
I really liked the pacing of this novel, it moved along quickly, the mystery kept me interested but I also enjoyed all of the characters Gallagher created and would love to see them again in another novel. There's a bit of graphic detail involved in this story, though it never felt like gratuitous violence. What I found so interesting was the character of Sir Owain and the ending the author gives his story, it was somewhat comical.
I highly recommend this to fans of mysteries and readers of historical fiction.
July 7, 2012
Historical fictions taking place in the Victorian era are one my favorite kinds of books, and this one certainly did not disappoint. It is rich with period detail and with the je ne sais quoi that makes past ages seem so appealing.
Sebastian Becker, the protagonist, is an interesting man. He carries the whole book on his shoulders effortlessly, guiding the reader on through the different chapters without ever becoming dull or predictable. He comes through as a real person, with his issues, but always maintaining the “hero” status. It was fascinating to follow him into the world of madness in the Victorian era, with all its grotesquerie and violence. From the first chapter, when he is called by a train conductor to have him investigate a pair of conjoined twins in formaldehyde, we know that this is one dark story. And we are not misled. Murders, rapes, poison darts and a sinister old man living in a dilapidated estate are enough to keep any lover of mysteries thoroughly entertained.
The writing is beautiful. There are some phrases which left me smiling, just at the way the words are shaped into meaning. I truly enjoyed submerging myself in this era, and in this book in particular, and I’ll definitely pick up some more of this author’s works. I highly recommend this book.
Sebastian Becker, the protagonist, is an interesting man. He carries the whole book on his shoulders effortlessly, guiding the reader on through the different chapters without ever becoming dull or predictable. He comes through as a real person, with his issues, but always maintaining the “hero” status. It was fascinating to follow him into the world of madness in the Victorian era, with all its grotesquerie and violence. From the first chapter, when he is called by a train conductor to have him investigate a pair of conjoined twins in formaldehyde, we know that this is one dark story. And we are not misled. Murders, rapes, poison darts and a sinister old man living in a dilapidated estate are enough to keep any lover of mysteries thoroughly entertained.
The writing is beautiful. There are some phrases which left me smiling, just at the way the words are shaped into meaning. I truly enjoyed submerging myself in this era, and in this book in particular, and I’ll definitely pick up some more of this author’s works. I highly recommend this book.
November 3, 2014
Warning: contains spoilers.
Really not a good read by any means. Okay, I did like it enough to finish it, but now I wish I'd never picked it up. The book cover made it sound so interesting: murder, madmen, and the Amazon. Technically, all of those things were in the book, but they were not linked and could have meant anything. I actually kind of liked the character of Sir Owain the madman, especially when he did his little experiment on Sebastian, but the story of the book really had very little to do with him. Two girls are murdered near where Sir Owain lives; Sir Owain might be mad due to a botched trip to the Amazon many years previously; another woman is murdered in the same small town; oh wait, never mind, the killer is some pedophile who technically works for Sir Owain, but is not trying to make Sir Owain go mad and dies before any of his motives can be explained.
Then, just to add another weird thing to the end, Sebastian will probably marry his dead wife's sister in the future.
This book really did not deliver. Don't waste your time.
Really not a good read by any means. Okay, I did like it enough to finish it, but now I wish I'd never picked it up. The book cover made it sound so interesting: murder, madmen, and the Amazon. Technically, all of those things were in the book, but they were not linked and could have meant anything. I actually kind of liked the character of Sir Owain the madman, especially when he did his little experiment on Sebastian, but the story of the book really had very little to do with him. Two girls are murdered near where Sir Owain lives; Sir Owain might be mad due to a botched trip to the Amazon many years previously; another woman is murdered in the same small town; oh wait, never mind, the killer is some pedophile who technically works for Sir Owain, but is not trying to make Sir Owain go mad and dies before any of his motives can be explained.
Then, just to add another weird thing to the end, Sebastian will probably marry his dead wife's sister in the future.
This book really did not deliver. Don't waste your time.
February 22, 2012
I have to say, this was one of the best mystery novels I have read in recent months!
The historical time period is well represented, the characters well fleshed out, and the way the author writes the story is engaging. I was glad to have picked it up and read it.
I definitely recommend it to people who enjoy novels set in the early 20th century and love mysteries as well.
The historical time period is well represented, the characters well fleshed out, and the way the author writes the story is engaging. I was glad to have picked it up and read it.
I definitely recommend it to people who enjoy novels set in the early 20th century and love mysteries as well.
July 30, 2019
Sebastian Becker, special investigator to the Masters of Lunacy in 1912 England, tries to determine if Sir Lancaster is a madman, a murderer, or both.
This starts off a bit slow as all of our characters are introduced but quickly picks up steam. I liked Sebastian who is just plowing ahead trying to keep his family financially stable as well as Evangeline, the female suffragette who was the victim of a crime (possibly by Sir Lancaster) as a child. There were several good red herrings. The parts of the story that involved Sir Lancaster's ill-fated voyage to the Amazon (along with his wife and child, and tons of materials such as chandeliers, truffles, and other 'useful' Amazon travel items) were chilling.
It appears the first book in this series only had Sebastian as a side character so I think I'll try the third book in the series instead.
This starts off a bit slow as all of our characters are introduced but quickly picks up steam. I liked Sebastian who is just plowing ahead trying to keep his family financially stable as well as Evangeline, the female suffragette who was the victim of a crime (possibly by Sir Lancaster) as a child. There were several good red herrings. The parts of the story that involved Sir Lancaster's ill-fated voyage to the Amazon (along with his wife and child, and tons of materials such as chandeliers, truffles, and other 'useful' Amazon travel items) were chilling.
It appears the first book in this series only had Sebastian as a side character so I think I'll try the third book in the series instead.
December 30, 2017
1912 England and Sebastian Becker is employed by the Lord Chancellor's Visitor in Lunacy as an investigator, to determine the mental state of any wealthly person who might be considered insane. His latest employment takes him to Arnmouth to investigate Sir Owain Lancaster, but events interfere.
An easy-to-read, well-written mystery with some interesting characters.
An easy-to-read, well-written mystery with some interesting characters.
September 1, 2019
I didn't realize that this was the second book in a series, I would have started with that. Liked this one, but I think I would have understood the characters better if I had started with the first one.
Read
May 10, 2020I can’t even rate this book, because I am not even sure of what I read. Very difficult to follow and pieces left without any explanation. Such a simple storyline was stretched out with too much fluff making it very confusing and hard to follow.
December 17, 2020
A nice change of pace
I read mostly scifi and fantasy but this was a great little aside from my norm. Intriguing story and consistent pacing, a nice little read.
I read mostly scifi and fantasy but this was a great little aside from my norm. Intriguing story and consistent pacing, a nice little read.
July 23, 2012
Happy Thursday! Annabelle here, trying to stay cool in this Southern heat. Actually, it's hot all over our fair nation, but I've got the very thing to send cold chills down your spine even if you read it out by the swimming pool. It's called The Bedlam Detective, by author Stephen Gallagher, and it was just published earlier this year.
Set in 1912, the novel introduces Sebastian Becker, a former Pinkerton detective who now works for London's notorious Bethlehem Hospital, an insane asylum which was nicknamed "Bedlam" because its chaotic atmosphere. Sebastian works for the Lord Chancellor's Lunacy Commission, investigating wealthy individuals of dubious sanity to determine if they are competent to control their own fortunes or if the Lord Chancellor needs to appoint an overseer to do it for them. (Sounds like a great job, I know personally I could have a ball with it, but I digress.) Anyway, as the novel opens Sebastian is sent to check up on one Sir Owain Lancaster, a wealthy self-made industrialist who undertook an ill-fated expedition into the Amazon rainforest that left everyone in his numerous party dead or missing except himself and one other individual. Among the victims were Sir Owain's own wife and child. After his return Sir Owain ruined his own reputation by publishing a fantastic account of the expedition that blames the deaths of his family and fellow travelers on man-eating prehistoric monsters that he claims attacked the group. This outlandish story causes the public, and especially the scientific community, to ridicule and ostracize Sir Owain to the point that he has left London and retreated to his country estate on the moors, where Sebastian is sent to interview and observe him.
Almost as soon as he arrives in the English countryside to begin his investigation, two little girls from the neighboring village are found murdered and mutilated on Sir Owain's land in much the same fashion Sir Owain claims the members of his Amazon expedition were killed. Sir Owain becomes the obvious suspect, and it falls to Sebastian Becker to assist the inexperienced local police force in determining his guilt or innocence as well as his sanity. This book reminded me a great deal of the classic Sherlock Holmes tale, The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, with its setting on the English moors and the sightings of monsters as part of the local mythology. And one of my favorite parts of the book, Sir Owain's grisly descriptions of what befell the Amazon expedition, gives a nod to Jules Verne's novels such as Lost World and Mysterious Island. Author Stephen Gallagher deftly captures the spirit of the turn of the last century, when advances in science and exploration of lesser-known parts of our world first clashed openly with mythology and superstition.
Did Sir Owain murder the two girls, or is the famous "monster of Arnmouth", a nightmare creature of local legend, responsible for these deaths as well as those of other children gone missing over the years? If Sir Owain is the killer of the children, might he have also killed his own family and travelling companions in the Amazon and then concocted his fantastic story as a cover-up? You will have a difficult time putting The Bedlam Detective down until you find out.
Set in 1912, the novel introduces Sebastian Becker, a former Pinkerton detective who now works for London's notorious Bethlehem Hospital, an insane asylum which was nicknamed "Bedlam" because its chaotic atmosphere. Sebastian works for the Lord Chancellor's Lunacy Commission, investigating wealthy individuals of dubious sanity to determine if they are competent to control their own fortunes or if the Lord Chancellor needs to appoint an overseer to do it for them. (Sounds like a great job, I know personally I could have a ball with it, but I digress.) Anyway, as the novel opens Sebastian is sent to check up on one Sir Owain Lancaster, a wealthy self-made industrialist who undertook an ill-fated expedition into the Amazon rainforest that left everyone in his numerous party dead or missing except himself and one other individual. Among the victims were Sir Owain's own wife and child. After his return Sir Owain ruined his own reputation by publishing a fantastic account of the expedition that blames the deaths of his family and fellow travelers on man-eating prehistoric monsters that he claims attacked the group. This outlandish story causes the public, and especially the scientific community, to ridicule and ostracize Sir Owain to the point that he has left London and retreated to his country estate on the moors, where Sebastian is sent to interview and observe him.
Almost as soon as he arrives in the English countryside to begin his investigation, two little girls from the neighboring village are found murdered and mutilated on Sir Owain's land in much the same fashion Sir Owain claims the members of his Amazon expedition were killed. Sir Owain becomes the obvious suspect, and it falls to Sebastian Becker to assist the inexperienced local police force in determining his guilt or innocence as well as his sanity. This book reminded me a great deal of the classic Sherlock Holmes tale, The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, with its setting on the English moors and the sightings of monsters as part of the local mythology. And one of my favorite parts of the book, Sir Owain's grisly descriptions of what befell the Amazon expedition, gives a nod to Jules Verne's novels such as Lost World and Mysterious Island. Author Stephen Gallagher deftly captures the spirit of the turn of the last century, when advances in science and exploration of lesser-known parts of our world first clashed openly with mythology and superstition.
Did Sir Owain murder the two girls, or is the famous "monster of Arnmouth", a nightmare creature of local legend, responsible for these deaths as well as those of other children gone missing over the years? If Sir Owain is the killer of the children, might he have also killed his own family and travelling companions in the Amazon and then concocted his fantastic story as a cover-up? You will have a difficult time putting The Bedlam Detective down until you find out.
November 15, 2016
Do not pick up this book if you have things you must do. It is 306 pages that demand immediate reading once started. This author has a wonderful imagination, and I will now have to seek out his other books though I normally avoid "thriller" genre.
If you are picking up after The Kingdom of Bones, the Becker family has moved back to England and living in modest housing in Southwark. Elisabeth is working at a charitable hospital for children and Sebastian, working for the Crown, is assigned to examine the mental fitness of wealthy eccentrics who may or may not be deemed fit to manage their own affairs.
The assignment detailed in this book is immediately thrown into full gear when on arrival he finds a search underway for two missing girls. There have been other incidents in the immediate area of the country home of Sir Owain Lancaster he had intended to investigate further.
The story of Sir Owain's venture down the Amazon is grippingly told. He was ridiculed at the Royal Society for attempting to present his findings from a trip that few survived. The abundance of equipment and luxuries he insisted on bringing, the poor planning, the people accompanying him on this journey including his wife and son and his refusal to listen to wiser minds - had already marked him. "Sir Owain's pilot boat would precede us all. He carried a fearsome-looking Indian whose task it was to read the river's signs and warn of any dangers ahead, while Sir Owain sat with a gun on his knees ready to shoot the Indian if he got out of hand." The Amazon exacted its toll.
Sebastian's job in gaining access to honest face time with Sir Owain is thwarted by a constant companion, a Dr. Sibley as well as the closing in of the town folk with fresh murders to wonder at.
I do not wish to spoil the reading for others, so will tell no more. Excellent read!
If you are picking up after The Kingdom of Bones, the Becker family has moved back to England and living in modest housing in Southwark. Elisabeth is working at a charitable hospital for children and Sebastian, working for the Crown, is assigned to examine the mental fitness of wealthy eccentrics who may or may not be deemed fit to manage their own affairs.
The assignment detailed in this book is immediately thrown into full gear when on arrival he finds a search underway for two missing girls. There have been other incidents in the immediate area of the country home of Sir Owain Lancaster he had intended to investigate further.
The story of Sir Owain's venture down the Amazon is grippingly told. He was ridiculed at the Royal Society for attempting to present his findings from a trip that few survived. The abundance of equipment and luxuries he insisted on bringing, the poor planning, the people accompanying him on this journey including his wife and son and his refusal to listen to wiser minds - had already marked him. "Sir Owain's pilot boat would precede us all. He carried a fearsome-looking Indian whose task it was to read the river's signs and warn of any dangers ahead, while Sir Owain sat with a gun on his knees ready to shoot the Indian if he got out of hand." The Amazon exacted its toll.
Sebastian's job in gaining access to honest face time with Sir Owain is thwarted by a constant companion, a Dr. Sibley as well as the closing in of the town folk with fresh murders to wonder at.
I do not wish to spoil the reading for others, so will tell no more. Excellent read!
May 3, 2012
A tidy, inoffensive mystery, The Bedlam Detective is as well-written as they come. The sentences had correct punctuation, the plot flowed, and everything wrapped up nicely in the end. If I had written it, I would no doubt be immensely proud and brag to all my friends. However, when I think back on it, I really would have loved it, not merely liked, if the characters had developed more: Sebastian, the American protagonist living in England as an investigator of wealthy eccentrics in questionable states of sanity; his wife and her sister who manage the care of the socially challenged son who deserves a whole book of his own; a budding love affair between the victim of a decades-old crime and the town constable denied the respect he so often deserves; and monsters lurking on the vast property of the man exiled from town for murders recent and old, the subject of Sebastian’s professional inquiry. I wanted more details, more emotions, more intrigue, more abnormal psychology; 306 pages were apparently just not enough, which I suppose is a compliment to Gallagher’s presence inside my head. Perhaps this novel would best serve as a brilliantly written screenplay to be fleshed out in film. Set in the early-twentieth century, flitting from the idyllic English countryside to bustling London, to the Amazon jungle replete with monsters and mystery, this story could be steampunk gorgeous on the big screen.
February 28, 2012
I got this one as a proof through a Good Reads giveaway. It seemed right up my alley. I did enjoy the book and I may read the final version just to see if some holes could be filled or some things tied together better. The main character, Sebastian Becker, I liked and could see him as a continual character in a series. I was surprised about what happened to his wife, and thought that maybe that was because Sebastian and Evangeline were going to end up romantically involved. However there was a weak love connection between Stephen Reed & Evangeline, so maybe those characters will continue in a series. These are the things I found not tied together well. Maybe if there is a series these things will be sorted out. One thing that I found a bit confusing was the book was to take place in 1912 and sometimes I felt that it didn't quite fit the era well. Not sure why, just some descriptions that made it seems as though it was more like the end of the 1800's. The book mentioned cars and suffragettes, so that fit, but some other things didn't feel right. I will look into other books by the author and see if I might like them. Overall a decent read and glad I won it!
February 26, 2013
The title is a misnomer as Bedlam has little to do with it. Sebastian Becker is a former Pinkerton detective in the States now in London as the Visitor in Lunacy. He visits people declared incompetent to see if that is accurate. He then reports back to the home office. From a non-medical perspective. When he arrives to investigate Sir Owain, he discovers the town up in arms with two preteen girls missing. The search has a bad end with the bodies found on Sir Owain's property. It isn't the first time two girls have gone missing in this town. Sir Owain has written a manifesto of his last adventure that details the beasts that tore apart his party and left him and one other man as the other survivor and caused this breakdown. It's a fascinating novel but not a happy one. Becker is a fully realized character, a man ahead of his time, strong yet vulnerable, heroic in all the best ways because he does things for the right reasons even when he doesn't want to. Michael Page does a terrific job of keeping up the pace even though it isn't a fast paced novel. There are few true action scenes and yet it was nearly impossible to stop listening once I'd started.
January 16, 2015
I loves me some historical murder mysteries, and The Bedlam Detective was no exception. The author did an amazing job of painting a vivid scene of early 20th century London, while at the same time weaving a solid tale of intrigue.
I tend to get a little hesitant every time I open up a murder mystery, because authors have the daunting task of creating a story that unravels slowly and keeps the reader guessing until the end, but also adding in enough clues so that when the story finally ends and the muderer is revealed the reader feels like they COULD have put the pieces together and solved the mystery with the clues provided. It is a very delicate balance - too often writers lean excessively one way or the other, either making the crime ridiculously easy for the reader to solve (thereby making it anti-climactic), or trying so hard to keep the reader guessing that they don't provide enough clues to even give the reader a chance. The Bedlam Detective, I was glad to discover, found that sweet spot between the two extremes.
All in all, a really good read that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys period pieces and/or murder mysteries.
I tend to get a little hesitant every time I open up a murder mystery, because authors have the daunting task of creating a story that unravels slowly and keeps the reader guessing until the end, but also adding in enough clues so that when the story finally ends and the muderer is revealed the reader feels like they COULD have put the pieces together and solved the mystery with the clues provided. It is a very delicate balance - too often writers lean excessively one way or the other, either making the crime ridiculously easy for the reader to solve (thereby making it anti-climactic), or trying so hard to keep the reader guessing that they don't provide enough clues to even give the reader a chance. The Bedlam Detective, I was glad to discover, found that sweet spot between the two extremes.
All in all, a really good read that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys period pieces and/or murder mysteries.
July 6, 2012
Despite the incredibly annoying and entirely unnecessary head-hopping, and the equally unnecessary "autism-spectrum genius with social issues" asides, I really enjoyed this book. The setting was meticulously researched and you immediately felt yourself transported to period England. The use of a fairly nonstandard detective was delightful, bringing us into an investigation through the lens of madness rather than crime, and the action kept moving even though this wasn't exactly a slam-bang thriller.
The narrative structure was somewhat annoying and distracting - less head-hopping would've been nice, and kept things more focused, and the two first-person adventure-recollection chapters were jarring, although the action in them was grand. Things seemed to resolve a bit too quickly, with a bit too much of a hallucinogenic Agatha Christie moment.
And yet...I couldn't stop reading this novel. For all its faults, it was engaging and thoughtful and swift. Worth a read.
The narrative structure was somewhat annoying and distracting - less head-hopping would've been nice, and kept things more focused, and the two first-person adventure-recollection chapters were jarring, although the action in them was grand. Things seemed to resolve a bit too quickly, with a bit too much of a hallucinogenic Agatha Christie moment.
And yet...I couldn't stop reading this novel. For all its faults, it was engaging and thoughtful and swift. Worth a read.
March 5, 2012
To be honest, I really just wanted this book to be longer. I thought the characters were really enjoyable and the mystery was interesting. And the whole issue of what happened on the trip to the Amazon was intriguing as well. Everything in the book was really well done, but I felt they could all have been developed more or maybe just expanded upon. And while the ending was good and made sense, it seemed like it sprang out of nowhere. The book rather reminded me of Wilkie Collins' Woman in White or the Moonstone, not in the plot, but in the feeling of it; in the characters and the how the plot didn't follow the typical sort of modern mystery plot. But this book is about half the length of either of those books, and I think that probably contributed to my feeling that it wasn't really long enough.
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