Poor Tom Is Cold

by Maureen Jennings

In this, his third adventure, the lovable detective William Murdoch becomes involved with the apparent suicide of Constable Oliver Wicken, a man who was the sole support of his mother and invalid sister. But further investigation by Detective Murdoch takes him far afield, and he begins to suspect that the Eakin family, whose house adjoins the one where Wicken died, is more involved with the case than they admit.

Whether describing a tooth extraction, the unquestioning prejudice toward the few Chinese immigrants in the city, or the well-intentioned but bizarre treatment of mentally ill women, Maureen Jennings, once again, brings the period vividly to life.

Paperback

About the author

Maureen Jennings, now a Canadian Citizen, was born on Eastfield Road in Birmingham, England and spent her formative years there until she emigrated to Canada at the age of seventeen with her mother.

This has meant that she still feels a deep connection with her homeland. It has also no doubt been a strong influence in her love for, and her writing about, the Victorian period. She attended the University of Windsor where she attained a BA in philosophy and psychology.

A couple of years trying to decide what she really wanted to do with her life resulted in her returning to university, the University of Toronto, this time where she earned an MA in English literature.For the next eight years, she taught English at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute at a time when the English department seemed to be chock full of writers. Eric Wright, went on to write the highly successful Charlie Salter mystery series, Graeme Gibson, Peter Such, and others were writing both novels and poetry. An exciting time in so many ways but after eight years, another change of direction and in 1972, Maureen left Ryerson to become a psychotherapist, which was a long time interest. She has continued in private practice since then, although nowadays she mostly conducts creative expression groups and writes. Always passionate about dogs, she is happy to own a border collie named Jeremy-Brett and a mixed breed named Varley.

Series:
* Detective Murdoch
* Christine Morris
* Detective Inspector Tom Tyler

Reviews

[Mary Steeves · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find this author always spins a great tale. However, she does reference a number of Toronto streets and landmarks. It would be nice if she included a period map for those readers who aren't familiar with the city. In addition, I find that when she refers to a character using different names, for example, she refers to Jarius Gibb, then Jarius, then Gibb, all in the span of a few pages. Keeping to one consistent name definitely helps aid me when reading a book.