Ghastly Business

by Louise Levene

1929. A girl is strangled in a London alley, the mangled corpse of a peeping Tom is found in a railway tunnel and the details of the latest trunk murder are updated hourly in the evening papers. Into this world steps Dora Strang, doctor's daughter and filing clerk to the country's pre-eminent pathologist, Alfred Kemble. Thrilled by the post-mortems and court cases, Dora is further fascinated by Kemble himself, a glamorous and enigmatic war hero. But her job holds several surprises and as things take a distinctly ghastly turn the tabloid journalists sharpen their pencils in morbid anticipation...

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Crime, Mystery

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Louise Levene is the author of A Vision of Loveliness, a BBC Book at Bedtime, published in May 2010, and in paperback in May 2011. She has been the dance critic of The Sunday Telegraph since 1998 but has also been an advertising copywriter, a window dresser, a radio presenter, an office cleaner, a crossword editor, a college professor and a saleslady. She lives in London with her husband and two children.

Ghastly Business, published by Bloomsbury in July 2011, is a deliciously wicked, witty tale of villainy, scandal, sex and science.

Watch the book trailer for Ghastly Business

Reviews

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

On a grey London morning in 1929, Dora Strang left her lodgings to catch the bus to go to work for the very first time.

She sat quietly, unnoticed, listening to a group of women discussing a scandalous murder case. They didn’t know that, very soon, Dora would know every detail of that case.

Because Dora was going to work for the distinguished pathologist, Doctor Alfred Kemble.

Dora, a doctor’s daughter, proved to be very capable and efficient, and she learned a good deal. She would work very closely with Doctor Kemble. Maybe too closely.

Doctor Kemble, a man with intelligence, charisma, self-confidence and an air of mystery intrigued her. I understood why, but it worried me. Because something was not quite right, and surely no good could come of it …

And that’s as much as I’m going to say about the story. It twisted very cleverly, and in ways that I didn’t expect, so it would be wrong to give anything away.

I loved the way it avoided the obvious, and I loved that things weren’t tied up too neatly.

Louise Levene captures time and place perfectly, and she writes wonderfully, with wit, with a lovely turn of phrase, and with such verve that it is quite impossible to resist being swept along.

She can do characters, and she has assembled a fine cast: Dora’s landlady, strong on pest control and weak on cookery, was a particular delight.

She can do set pieces too: from postmortem, to courtroom scenes, to a dinner party from hell. All quite fascinating to observe in such a different era.

The only thing I had an issue with was the pacing. After that intriguing opening things moved slowly for a long time, until, suddenly, I found myself struggling to keep up with a rush of events towards the end.

I held on, first waiting patiently and then working hard to keep track of what was going on.

Because I was intrigued, because I was puzzled, and because there was so much to enjoy along the way.

And, in the end, I was not disappointed.

[Kristy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not exactly sure what this book wanted to be. From the write up I was expecting an historical mystery/thriller with an independent female character in a male dominated society. I don't really know what I got. At times witty, and often insightful into the culture of the time, but more often confusing and slightly offputting. There was just too much going on, too many characters (all unlikable), and not enough direction. In the end if asked to sum up this book I would have a hard time.

[Dorothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This missed getting five stars because I was confused about where it was heading. The fact that I enjoyed it so much, in spite of that, is a tribute to the terrific writing - but the plot needed work!

Perhaps the blurb didn't help. It led me to expect that Dora would start working for her pathologist and then find herself involved in solving a juicy murder or two. It was nothing like that!

Instead, it is essentially a gentle story of Dora experiencing her first real love after years of sneakily reading soft-porn novellas at her private girls' boarding school. The gory details of all the murders are irrelevant to the main story, apart from leading to Dr Kemble's downfall.

Several times I was about to get irritated by the long-drawn-out excessively detailed post mortems - but then she would produce another sparkling paragraph and I'd forgive her!

[Suzanne Rivett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have just finished listening to the talking book read by the author. Up until the last few words I really loved this book. The humour was outstanding and witticisms so clever. Louise Levene was wonderful at giving her characters the accent and personality she had conceptualised. It was evident she had researched the era well and I felt the disdain for women's abilities stretching from Dora's father's Victorian ideas to the half adoring,half spurning attitudes of Dr. Bazzard. The man of Dora's dreams. Oh, so appealing at first.
I was disappointed to read some of the more negative reviews. The book was not perfect but it was extremely entertaining throughout and I felt sad when I got to the last disc because I was going to part from a thoroughly enjoyable experience, just like coming to the end of a book.
I hated the last words but Louise Levene wanted me to.
That was all there was for the lovely ,clever Dora.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heard Louise Levine at an NSPCC Literary Lunch and was inspired to read this by her brilliant delivery and hilarious speech.
Much enjoyed this tale of love kindled over kidneys. A slowish burner, which livened up to pure delight. I laughed out loud at the one liners. Serious innards highlighted some of the perils of relying on the so-called expert witness and the potential miscarriage of justice. A keen observer of people and relationships.

[Carey · Rating 2 out of 5]

An extraordinary book - flashes of 'laugh-out-loud' wit, elements of the most bizarre S&M (think mortuary's and pathologists), part historical romance/ social historical commentary/girl growing up - it is a bizarre, but somehow readable book, although too confused for me to read another.

[Claudia Aubert · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was disappointing, characters and plot line needed more development.

[Sue Warren · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unusual 1920s story. Well written and enjoyable but not for the squeamish!

[Helen Woods · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great fun. Levene’s heroines are always strong and a bit odd...

[Alexis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know you don't have to like the main characters, but the writing was so dine in a way that we the reader are supposed to excuse them and root for them? Not only are they shallow and selfish, the whole eugenics piece? Completely unnecessary.

[Plum-crazy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Levene is a new author to me & coupled with the fact that I don’t tend to read period novels (this is set in the 1920’s) I wasn’t sure what I’d make of it.Well for probably the first half at least I was truly enamoured. I loved the dark, often slightly warped humour & felt this had the makings of a series – sort of Kate Atkinson meets “The Mangle Street Murders”.

Dora, having just left school, finds herself working in the office of the eminent & enigmatic pathologist Alfred Kemble & attending not only court cases but post-mortems as well. At times some of the post-mortems went on a bit but I was prepared to forgive as I was enjoying the characters which really sprang to life. Dora herself was such an endearing character. Having little interest in his daughter, Dora’s widowed father shipped her off to boarding school, a place which was no Mallory Towers & failed to live up to Dr Strang’s rigorous requirements. This made me laugh/cringe….

"The laundry policy left a great deal to be desired. He (Dr Strang) had written to point out (in quite unnecessarily sick-making detail, in Matron’s opinion) that the school’s policy of allowing only one pair of white under-knickers per week was not acceptable and could a daily change please be made?”

…eeugh!...not incensed enough to bring Dora home though. Often under the care of the indomitable Mrs Frith as a child, Dora is unable to escape her clutches once she leaves school as her bid to live & work in London is only agreeable to her father should she become one of Mrs Frith’s paying guests. As a landlady Mrs Frith is hilariously awful, parsimonious to the last & her meals are most amusing to read about but sound disgusting (consommé = a luke warm puddle of watery Bovril) A well-observed character indeed & I’m sure everyone “hears” her clipped tones as she speaks.

At work, Dora finds herself attending court cases & in particular Kemble is involved in “The Biscuit Tin Murders”, a gruesome case where a body has been dissected, with the smaller fragments being distributed around an unsuspecting elderly couple home..…

"The first batch was discovered in the biscuit barrel that gave the case its name, and when the old gentleman had opened the first-aid tin in search of some sal volatile to revive his wife, the box was found to contain one of the corpse’s neatly varnished toes.”

Can’t you just picture it? So, so far so good, I was loving the characters, the humour & wondering as to how Dora was going to get involved in solving “The Biscuit Tin” mystery. Well, the truth of it dear reader is…she doesn’t. I thought from the blurb this was going to be a crime novel but its the story of a young woman growing up falling in love for the first time.

It’s not surprising that Dora inevitably has a crush on Kemble but I missed…or maybe misunderstood…parts of their “relationship”. I’m sure I missed the kiss which apparently happened & what the hell was going on in that train carriage? That really has me flummoxed!! Consequently the story fell down a bit for me as I felt things were missing & that confused me – maybe I needed to read between the lines but I'm no good at that!

Overall, I loved the humour & characters but the disjointed nature of some of the passages just stopped it being a five starrer.

[Charlotte Kemp]

Loved it. Such an interesting story. The author is my husband's sister in law, so it was fascinating to see a glimpse into her brain.

[Peggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not really sure how to start on this book. I'm not sure if I liked it or not. It took me a week to read it, it was kind of like a chore to get it done. I liked the main character, Dora Strang. I would enjoy following more of her life, but... The timing was off in the story or something. I felt like it went at a frenetic pace at times yet took forever to get there. See what I mean about not knowing how to write about it? I kept feeling like I had missed something and found myself, a couple of times, flipping back a few pages to see what I had missed and didn't find anything.

I did like the time period, and the morgue setting and descriptions of the workings of it. they were quite 'ghastly' actually! If you like forensics then you'll like that about the book. The trial scenes were very interesting. And I did like the characters in the book. I liked the humor and the wording. Dora was forever lapsing into romantic daydreams that involved quite sexual descriptions. She had a very vivid imagination from reading her father's secret stash of pornographic novels. In the acknowledgements the author states that 'the quotes from Dora's secret stash of pornographic novellas are authentic'. It was quite entertaining! The crimes are of a sexual nature too. Syphilis and gonorrhea seemed to be rampant in 1920's London! For a period where sex was not talked about it seemed to be all they thought about!

Having finished it and chewed on it a little while, I would have to say I liked it. But I'm glad it's finished!

[Damaskcat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dora Strang wanted to be a doctor like her father but her father did not consider it a suitable career for a young woman. It is the nineteen twenties and well brought up, middle class women are not expected to have jobs. Dora persuaded her father to pay for a secretarial course and she enrols with an agency.

She also takes up residence with a former employee of her fathers who runs a boarding house for paying guests. Dora’s first assignment is as a filing clerk at a hospital – working for a pathologist. She has to file and cross reference post mortem reports in a complicated card index system. She is rapidly elevated to secretary once Dr Kemble discovers that she doesn’t faint when faced with a dead body.

This is a well written story with interesting characters and plenty of black humour. I liked Dora herself with her medical knowledge gleaned from her father’s library. Dr Kemble is a mysterious figure who is by turns likeable and dislikeable. The background is as gruesome as any horror story but will be of interest to true crime readers who may recognise traces of real crimes in the details.

I enjoyed this book and read it in a couple of evenings as I wanted to know what happened to Dora and the other characters. I loved the humour and I sympathised with Dora herself who is clearly not cut out to be a conventional woman of the era.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An odd book - I'd rate it highly for the details of buttoned-down 1920s life alone. The characters and plot are initially irritating, meandering and, when reaching a potential turning point, inevitably choosing the branch that stymies them, remaining undeveloped and unconnected. Eventually, though, it’s equal parts frustrating and refreshing that the main character doesn’t turn into the plucky brainy girl who solves crime and finds love, that none of the other standard set-ups pan out as expected. The characters’ dimly perceived disappointment at failing to live up to the stories they tell themselves is as precisely presented as the contents of a neglected office desk, and both become strangely compelling.

[Emily Littler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't tell if I liked this book or not. I certainly enjoyed reading it, but there were definitely times I got confused with goings-on, and I questioned whether I'd missed something. The characters although likeable were difficult to identify with, but were fleshed out enough to not feel as though they were just moving the plot along.

As a fan of forensics and one of those odd people interested in post-mortem work, I quite preferred the passages within the book involving Dr Kemble's work, twinned with his dark sense of humour.

Finally, the author seemed to hit 1920s life like a nail on the head. Overall, if you want a quick read that's isn't too difficult and is enjoyable, I recommend this book :)

[The Bookish Wombat · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 1920's London a young girl, Dora Strang, lives in a lodging house and starts a new job as a filing clerk in the office of a leading pathologist. The entire country is still trying to recover from the Great War and the public are fascinated by a series of grisly murders.

The period setting in this novel was done very well and I liked the vein of humour running through it, but somehow it wasn't as good as I had expected it to be. Dora is a bit wishy-washy and at times difficult to identify with. And while I enjoyed the book while I was reading it, it hasn't really stayed with me now that I've finished it.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book. Interesting in an odd way that it. The characters never quite reveal, though parts of them reveal quite deeply. The storyline slightly erratic and not smooth running, but intriguing at the same time.

Levene captured the era well. As I read it I could hear it all being said in the clipped tones so associated with those times.

[Mary Scott · Rating 1 out of 5]

A very strange book, sometimes funny, sometimes erotic and sometimes interesting. But mostly odd and left me not really caring what happened to Dora. Doubt that I will read another book by Louise Levene.

[Helen Farrow · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up randomly whle at the library. It was very amusing despite the gory descriptions of the work of a pathologist. I thought it was cleverly written & was very atmospheric of a foggy 1920's London. Will watch out for more of Loiuse Levene's writing.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ghastly Business was funny, bizarre and strangely compelling. I loved the era - London in the 1920's.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite entertaining, and better than her last book. I'm impressed by how well she creates the sense of period and place.

[Esparkinson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love elements of her turn of phrase but the story made no sense and I cared less

[Debby Kean · Rating 4 out of 5]

The characterisation is brilliant, and there are definite twists in the tale - it was not at all what I expected - although it was, as I hoped, delightfully clever.

[Queenofthefaeries · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creative and funny, but darker than you initially expect (not surprising with the grim subject matter).

[Mike Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://0651frombrighton.blogspot.co.u...

[Jane Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

The character of Kemble is obviously, though loosely, based on the life of Bernard Spilsbury, which Levene acknowledges. The writing is witty and inventive, but I'm glad it didn't go on any longer.

[Fiona · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was ok but disappointing and I didn't finish it - it didn't make me want to read it and only got to page 130 after 2 weeks

[Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a great story. Some humour made it readable but storyline was not really cohesive. Made it to the end but not interested in reading anything else by this author.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my normal read, but it was entertaining.