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Edmund Whitty #1
The Fiend in Human
Journalist Edmund Whitty, the dissolute protagonist in John MacLachlan Gray's gloomily atmospheric mystery, The Fiend in Human, knows how to feed the public's appetite for lurid sensationalism. His latest success is Chokee Bill, "The Fiend in Human Form," a diabolical caricature of the serial strangler who's been attacking "women of low character" in 1852 London, ending their lives with white silk scarves. However, the arrest of coiner William Ryan for these crimes threatens to cool demand for Whitty's work--and thus deprive him of the income he needs for lodging, gin, and opium. So when he's approached by Henry Owler, an impoverished but proud balladeer, who hopes to ring a "last confession" from Ryan before his hanging, Whitty sees the chance again to best his competitors. What he doesn't expect, though, is for the stranglings to continue, raising doubts about Ryan's guilt and leading him--in the interests of his own pocketbook, of course--to turn detective in search of the factual fiend.
Gray, a Canadian columnist and playwright, captures Victorian London in the breadth of its grandeur and decay, shining an especially bright but sympathetic light on the city's outcast populace. A destitute woman here eyes a stray cat, "mumbling to herself that there walks two pounds of meat." An executioner's "facial pores appear to have been pricked repeatedly with pointed sticks." Pursuing his investigation, despite warnings from police and others, leads to Whitty being "thrown headlong from [a] swiftly moving carriage" and having an irate rat stuffed down the front of his trousers. However, this egocentric scribbler considers the pain worth the price, as he goes on to confront an unconvicted murderess, enlist a daring prostitute in searching for the suspicious owner of a silver flask, and face the scorn of his professional brethren--all to prove that Ryan isn't Chokee Bill, after all. Or is he? The Fiend in Human resolves this mystery amid elegant prose, frequent bursts of wit, and integral commentary on the failures of the press that reveals just how little has changed in a century and a half. --J. Kingston Pierce
342 pages, Paperback
First published March 7, 2002
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555 people want to read
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August 21, 2025
A gritty portrayal of a predator in the underbelly of Victorian London!
With no small amount of national pride, I'm thrilled to report that mere superlatives somehow seem insufficient to convey Gray's debut success with THE FIEND IN HUMAN.
Edmund Whitty is a profligate, dissolute freelance journalist who has succumbed to every known Victorian vice save womanizing - snuff, cigarettes, gin, opium, laudanum, and Acker's Chlorodine (a potent mixture of opium, marijuana and cocaine in alcohol!) Despite having achieved a measure of journalistic fame and public notoriety by assigning the moniker "Chokee Bill" to William Ryan, currently awaiting execution for the strangulation and grisly mutilation of five ladies of questionable virtue, Whitty struggles with an ongoing desperate need to produce the income required to stave off gambling debtors who won't hesitate to use a physical beating to persuade payment. In the course of searching out new "crisp copy", lurid sensational pieces he can submit to his tight-fisted editor, he meets the impoverished Henry Owler, a "patterer" who wishes to render Ryan's last confession before his hanging into "true crime" verse. But Ryan (not unlike other convicted criminals, of course) protests he is innocent and circumstances begin to persuade Owler and Whitty that Ryan is indeed telling the truth. The signature white scarf killings have continued, swept under the carpet and hushed up by one and all - the police, the merchants, the petty criminals and even the poverty stricken residents of the local neighbourhood! Whitty in a desperate bid to achieve real fame in a fading, limpid journalistic career and financial freedom from the debtors who are relentlessly hounding him, decides to stake all on proving Ryan's innocence.
Gray has masterfully married the ascerbically witty, comic and always flowery Dickensian dialogue with Anne Perry's superb, elegant atmospheric descriptions of Victorian London life and then improved both by taking a step down into a much grittier, earthier representation of real characters living real lives. Two gentlemen Oxford swells pass wastrel days around gaming, sex and booze. The pain and wretched difficulties of daily life in a London slum are portrayed in exquisite, graphic detail that might warrant a warning to sensitive viewers were the medium television instead of a novel. Older female chaperones, quaintly termed "confidential friends", are employed to protect the nominal virtue of young ladies of marriageable age. The surviving local champion bare-knuckles boxer is portrayed as a friendly publican quite capable of acting as his own bouncer. Steet walkers and hookers are picked up by "gentleman" johns with a ritualized stylized dialogue and negotiation that, by today's standards, is absolutely hilarious.
You'll be treated, for example, to Gray's wonderful Dickensian variation on a simple theme that you and I would have written as simply "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder":
"For in truth there exists no young female (charwoman or countess, schoolgirl or flower-seller) in London who does not exist in some male mind as a tantalizing fantasy, in whose honour some schoolboy does not regularly engage in self-abuse - fantasy which, when he becomes an old boy, he will seek to make real. Hence, the relation between the brothel and the theatre: success in both depends upon one's observation of the world, of the human mind, as well as one's own outward identity in the calligraphy of sex."
The whodunit succeeds admirably with a couple of superb twists reserved until the final pages. In fact, the final twist, a brilliant piece of mis-direction by Gray, is held in reserve until the very last paragraph! On a somewhat deeper level, Gray manages, like Dickens, to also make probing critical comment on a number of issues without disrupting the flow of the story in the slightest. For example, his criticism of the ethics of journalists and the vested interest they have in creating news where none necessarily exists is quite apparent.
What a find! THE FIEND IN HUMAN qualifies as perhaps the finest, most enjoyable read I've had the good luck to encounter over the last few years!
Paul Weiss
With no small amount of national pride, I'm thrilled to report that mere superlatives somehow seem insufficient to convey Gray's debut success with THE FIEND IN HUMAN.
Edmund Whitty is a profligate, dissolute freelance journalist who has succumbed to every known Victorian vice save womanizing - snuff, cigarettes, gin, opium, laudanum, and Acker's Chlorodine (a potent mixture of opium, marijuana and cocaine in alcohol!) Despite having achieved a measure of journalistic fame and public notoriety by assigning the moniker "Chokee Bill" to William Ryan, currently awaiting execution for the strangulation and grisly mutilation of five ladies of questionable virtue, Whitty struggles with an ongoing desperate need to produce the income required to stave off gambling debtors who won't hesitate to use a physical beating to persuade payment. In the course of searching out new "crisp copy", lurid sensational pieces he can submit to his tight-fisted editor, he meets the impoverished Henry Owler, a "patterer" who wishes to render Ryan's last confession before his hanging into "true crime" verse. But Ryan (not unlike other convicted criminals, of course) protests he is innocent and circumstances begin to persuade Owler and Whitty that Ryan is indeed telling the truth. The signature white scarf killings have continued, swept under the carpet and hushed up by one and all - the police, the merchants, the petty criminals and even the poverty stricken residents of the local neighbourhood! Whitty in a desperate bid to achieve real fame in a fading, limpid journalistic career and financial freedom from the debtors who are relentlessly hounding him, decides to stake all on proving Ryan's innocence.
Gray has masterfully married the ascerbically witty, comic and always flowery Dickensian dialogue with Anne Perry's superb, elegant atmospheric descriptions of Victorian London life and then improved both by taking a step down into a much grittier, earthier representation of real characters living real lives. Two gentlemen Oxford swells pass wastrel days around gaming, sex and booze. The pain and wretched difficulties of daily life in a London slum are portrayed in exquisite, graphic detail that might warrant a warning to sensitive viewers were the medium television instead of a novel. Older female chaperones, quaintly termed "confidential friends", are employed to protect the nominal virtue of young ladies of marriageable age. The surviving local champion bare-knuckles boxer is portrayed as a friendly publican quite capable of acting as his own bouncer. Steet walkers and hookers are picked up by "gentleman" johns with a ritualized stylized dialogue and negotiation that, by today's standards, is absolutely hilarious.
You'll be treated, for example, to Gray's wonderful Dickensian variation on a simple theme that you and I would have written as simply "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder":
"For in truth there exists no young female (charwoman or countess, schoolgirl or flower-seller) in London who does not exist in some male mind as a tantalizing fantasy, in whose honour some schoolboy does not regularly engage in self-abuse - fantasy which, when he becomes an old boy, he will seek to make real. Hence, the relation between the brothel and the theatre: success in both depends upon one's observation of the world, of the human mind, as well as one's own outward identity in the calligraphy of sex."
The whodunit succeeds admirably with a couple of superb twists reserved until the final pages. In fact, the final twist, a brilliant piece of mis-direction by Gray, is held in reserve until the very last paragraph! On a somewhat deeper level, Gray manages, like Dickens, to also make probing critical comment on a number of issues without disrupting the flow of the story in the slightest. For example, his criticism of the ethics of journalists and the vested interest they have in creating news where none necessarily exists is quite apparent.
What a find! THE FIEND IN HUMAN qualifies as perhaps the finest, most enjoyable read I've had the good luck to encounter over the last few years!
Paul Weiss
January 6, 2015
Challenging At First, But Funny, Interesting And Enjoyable
I enjoyed this novel very much though I can see why some readers would be put off by the writing. While the writing in my opinion is very good, it's not going to be to the taste of those who choose their fiction primarily from the best sellers lists. Nothing against the best-sellers list, the books found there are best sellers after all, I've found books I've enjoyed there myself. But for the most part you can sit down with a best-seller and get right into the story, the writing doesn't tend challenge the reader, it generally appeals to the masses and most people don't like to have to work too hard at what they read for pleasure.
I did find this book a challenge at first. What kept me reading was the subtle and often not so subtle humor that had me laughing out loud multiple times during the first chapter. Though other readers might not care for the intoxicated, opium-eating under achiever of a protagonist, I thought Edmund Whitty was clever and charming. The narration is in the present tense and while I know it's not Whitty telling the story I found myself attributing the amusing sense of humor the narrator has to the character of Edmund Whitty.
I liked that characters seemed to arrive in pairs, homely, introverted Walter Sewell and handsome, extroverted Reginald Harewood both well to do gentlemen who were classmates of Whitty's at Oxford, the prostitutes, tall and experienced Flo, short and naive Etta, the shoplifters, Dorcas wild and daring, Phoebe controlled and discriminating. Each seems to possess the opposite traits or experience of the other. These characterizations illustrate the fact that you often see what you want to see, the good or the bad in someone depending on what you are looking for and once you've made certain observations, assumptions about the rest of a person's character are further made. This for Whitty turns out to be an important mistake.
It took some effort to settle into this book but I'm happy I did. I'm still laughing at certain passages. Here is one:
"Nothing is more incendiary to an ill-advised, unanticipated tryst than to be enclosed in a darkened, plush-upholstered, moving chamber. Privacy, Intimacy, Darkness, Transience: the Four Whorsemen of the Apocalypse."
I wouldn't recommend this novel for everyone; however I would recommend it for fans of historical fiction who enjoy something more challenging than what's typically found in the mainstream. While part of the mystery wasn't very mysterious to readers who were paying attention the story itself was still very enjoyable.
I enjoyed this novel very much though I can see why some readers would be put off by the writing. While the writing in my opinion is very good, it's not going to be to the taste of those who choose their fiction primarily from the best sellers lists. Nothing against the best-sellers list, the books found there are best sellers after all, I've found books I've enjoyed there myself. But for the most part you can sit down with a best-seller and get right into the story, the writing doesn't tend challenge the reader, it generally appeals to the masses and most people don't like to have to work too hard at what they read for pleasure.
I did find this book a challenge at first. What kept me reading was the subtle and often not so subtle humor that had me laughing out loud multiple times during the first chapter. Though other readers might not care for the intoxicated, opium-eating under achiever of a protagonist, I thought Edmund Whitty was clever and charming. The narration is in the present tense and while I know it's not Whitty telling the story I found myself attributing the amusing sense of humor the narrator has to the character of Edmund Whitty.
I liked that characters seemed to arrive in pairs, homely, introverted Walter Sewell and handsome, extroverted Reginald Harewood both well to do gentlemen who were classmates of Whitty's at Oxford, the prostitutes, tall and experienced Flo, short and naive Etta, the shoplifters, Dorcas wild and daring, Phoebe controlled and discriminating. Each seems to possess the opposite traits or experience of the other. These characterizations illustrate the fact that you often see what you want to see, the good or the bad in someone depending on what you are looking for and once you've made certain observations, assumptions about the rest of a person's character are further made. This for Whitty turns out to be an important mistake.
It took some effort to settle into this book but I'm happy I did. I'm still laughing at certain passages. Here is one:
"Nothing is more incendiary to an ill-advised, unanticipated tryst than to be enclosed in a darkened, plush-upholstered, moving chamber. Privacy, Intimacy, Darkness, Transience: the Four Whorsemen of the Apocalypse."
I wouldn't recommend this novel for everyone; however I would recommend it for fans of historical fiction who enjoy something more challenging than what's typically found in the mainstream. While part of the mystery wasn't very mysterious to readers who were paying attention the story itself was still very enjoyable.
July 18, 2009
This is a delicious journey through fog-shrouded Victorian London from the idle wealthy to the down-and-outs.
Edmund Whitty is a journalist, but he is also a down-and-out. His work days are occupied with covering less than plum assignments and his days and nights filled with substance abuse. Ironically and eventually, his circumstances change slightly for the better by his association with the underside of London and, finally, a purpose.
While reading The Fiend in Human, I kept expecting Jack the Ripper to show and he does in a way.
The book is extremely well written and plotted and holds reader interest to an end with a twist.
Quotes: "Mr. Darwin...is only half-correct when he postulates the necessary evolution of the species. It is possible to devolve as well as to evolve."
On Marriage: "You're leaving out of account the thrill of the chase. What would become of fox-hunting, if it were always the same fox?"
On the demise of newspapers: "When there is an electric telegraph situated in every home receiving instant news by the hour, I ask You - who will need newspapers then."
This is the kind of writing that makes "Fiend" so delicious:
"By half-past four the London afternoon is transformed utterly by fog, an almost daily occurrence, in which a thick, sooty curtain drops between everyone and everything, noon becomes night, and the city assumes the cloistered gravity of a confession-booth; in which nobody sees anyone else but as a shadow in the mist; when the immanent roar of machines and men is silenced, leaving only the muffled clatter of nearby horseshoes on stone, and the occasional disembodied voice, whose speaker remains anonymous and untouchable.
"...When it is the yellow fog, people and objects may be discerned and recognized, albeit with difficulty; but once the grey sets in, the city becomes a well-kept secret, even from itself."
Fact: "red velvet being at one time restricted to the gentry by law."
"Surely there is nothing more hilarious to God than a praying agnostic"
About Whitty: "Hit your head, you did, in the fall from the carriage. Might do you good, a few less brains - think of it as a form of pruning."
Edmund Whitty is a journalist, but he is also a down-and-out. His work days are occupied with covering less than plum assignments and his days and nights filled with substance abuse. Ironically and eventually, his circumstances change slightly for the better by his association with the underside of London and, finally, a purpose.
While reading The Fiend in Human, I kept expecting Jack the Ripper to show and he does in a way.
The book is extremely well written and plotted and holds reader interest to an end with a twist.
Quotes: "Mr. Darwin...is only half-correct when he postulates the necessary evolution of the species. It is possible to devolve as well as to evolve."
On Marriage: "You're leaving out of account the thrill of the chase. What would become of fox-hunting, if it were always the same fox?"
On the demise of newspapers: "When there is an electric telegraph situated in every home receiving instant news by the hour, I ask You - who will need newspapers then."
This is the kind of writing that makes "Fiend" so delicious:
"By half-past four the London afternoon is transformed utterly by fog, an almost daily occurrence, in which a thick, sooty curtain drops between everyone and everything, noon becomes night, and the city assumes the cloistered gravity of a confession-booth; in which nobody sees anyone else but as a shadow in the mist; when the immanent roar of machines and men is silenced, leaving only the muffled clatter of nearby horseshoes on stone, and the occasional disembodied voice, whose speaker remains anonymous and untouchable.
"...When it is the yellow fog, people and objects may be discerned and recognized, albeit with difficulty; but once the grey sets in, the city becomes a well-kept secret, even from itself."
Fact: "red velvet being at one time restricted to the gentry by law."
"Surely there is nothing more hilarious to God than a praying agnostic"
About Whitty: "Hit your head, you did, in the fall from the carriage. Might do you good, a few less brains - think of it as a form of pruning."
March 29, 2024
I enjoyed it was a very cute historical romance to pass the time
Even if it was shot i had fun reading it
Thank you netgalley for the arc🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻
Even if it was shot i had fun reading it
Thank you netgalley for the arc🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻
February 12, 2008
This is one of those books where the whole thing doesn't make sense until you've finished it. Written in a definitely Victorian mode, it is both a tour of Victorian London and a mystery. If you're not used to writing done in this style, it can be a bit off-putting, to say the least.
The characters are well drawn and the story is a good one. The main character is a Mr. Edmund Whitty, a reporter for The Falcon, a newspaper that has no qualms with sensationalizing to try to outdo the rival papers. Sadly, Mr. Whitty is most times down on his luck, and in debt to some creepy character known as The Ratter, who has a very bizarre way of getting back at those who don't pay up. That scene made me cringe just thinking about it! Whitty also puts away a little too much alcohol, enjoys being a part-time opium eater, and is just an inventive ploy away from being tossed out of his rented room. In this story, the buzz on the streets is that a serial killer is roaming the streets of London, strangling his victims with a white gentleman's scarf. While the infamous "Chokee Bill" is put away in prison, however, the crimes continue, and Whitty, along with a very strange "patterer" named Mr. Owler, are trying to see that justice is done. Their quest: to get the wrong guy out of prison and put the right one in. I won't say more.
Quite well done, but it does have a tendency here and there to drag so that I found myself skimming a little to move things along. Overall, a pretty first in series. I would recommend it to those who enjoy a good novel set in Victorian London; people who pick this up expecting a cozy or easy read might be disappointed.
read: 12/03/2006
The characters are well drawn and the story is a good one. The main character is a Mr. Edmund Whitty, a reporter for The Falcon, a newspaper that has no qualms with sensationalizing to try to outdo the rival papers. Sadly, Mr. Whitty is most times down on his luck, and in debt to some creepy character known as The Ratter, who has a very bizarre way of getting back at those who don't pay up. That scene made me cringe just thinking about it! Whitty also puts away a little too much alcohol, enjoys being a part-time opium eater, and is just an inventive ploy away from being tossed out of his rented room. In this story, the buzz on the streets is that a serial killer is roaming the streets of London, strangling his victims with a white gentleman's scarf. While the infamous "Chokee Bill" is put away in prison, however, the crimes continue, and Whitty, along with a very strange "patterer" named Mr. Owler, are trying to see that justice is done. Their quest: to get the wrong guy out of prison and put the right one in. I won't say more.
Quite well done, but it does have a tendency here and there to drag so that I found myself skimming a little to move things along. Overall, a pretty first in series. I would recommend it to those who enjoy a good novel set in Victorian London; people who pick this up expecting a cozy or easy read might be disappointed.
read: 12/03/2006
January 7, 2011
This novel is essentially a Victorian murder mystery: who is really Chokee Bill, the murderer of prostitutes in London? Is it the man jailed for it, or is it some other individual on the loose?
The heavily flawed protagonist in this novel is the journalist Edmund Whitty. A womanizer, drunk, drug-user, debtor, etc., there really is not much to like about his character. Given all these flaws, his motivation for making sure an innocent man does not hang for the Chokee Bill murders seems inconsistent.
MachLachlan, in my opinion, despite an award-winning playwright, needs the heavy hand of an editor. The novel is fattened with excess description, and while written in the third person, the interjections of an omniscient narrator are annoying. Further, I could not figure out if the book was a pastiche/homage to the Doyle Sherlock Holmes stories and/or Dickens’s novels, or something else. The varying tone is also annoying—at times satirical, at times serious, and at other times moralistic.
The heavily flawed protagonist in this novel is the journalist Edmund Whitty. A womanizer, drunk, drug-user, debtor, etc., there really is not much to like about his character. Given all these flaws, his motivation for making sure an innocent man does not hang for the Chokee Bill murders seems inconsistent.
MachLachlan, in my opinion, despite an award-winning playwright, needs the heavy hand of an editor. The novel is fattened with excess description, and while written in the third person, the interjections of an omniscient narrator are annoying. Further, I could not figure out if the book was a pastiche/homage to the Doyle Sherlock Holmes stories and/or Dickens’s novels, or something else. The varying tone is also annoying—at times satirical, at times serious, and at other times moralistic.
Want to read
May 8, 2015I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12782935
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12782935
February 9, 2024
This tale of a serial killer is set in 1852 London and author Gray does a pretty good job of channeling Dickens in a well-written story that may or may not have the wrong man imprisoned for strangling and mutilating several women in night's dark alleys. Edmund Whitty a down and out alcoholic, drug addicted newspaperman thinks he may have found the story to redeem his reputation with the true story behind the arrest of William Ryan accused of being Chokee Bill, the murderer and somewhat the invention of Whitty's repoorts. But when the murders continue while Ryan is imprisoned and then escapes soon afterward, the question arises as to just how guilty the man is and what his motivations may have been. Filled with atmosphere and highly recommended, this book is the first in a new series of Whitty mysteries.
March 19, 2024
This is set in France with the main characters being English. The young lady was known to not dally d has a sterling reputation until a certain English aristocrat charges into her life trying to find the same thing she is.. and it’s not love. I really wanted to love this book but to me it started out slow after the intro. The ending I liked. But the middle I was trudging through.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with guidelines.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with guidelines.
March 21, 2024
A truly wonderful story wrapped around French history during the rise of Napoleon. Interwoven into this spy story is a romance between Kane and Raven. What was most Intriguing was the spy plot. The blend of characters was a perfect foil for the spies and the depth of the story fully engaging. A nice blend also of historical and fictious facts. The first of a series with more adventures to follow. This is one series worth following.
February 9, 2018
Sehr interessanter, pompöser Schreibstil, an den ich mich erst gewöhnen musste. Den Charakteren fehlt etwas Tiefe, der Plot ist hübsch ausgetüftelt, auch wenn man relativ früh wusste, wer der wahre Chokee Bill ist. Sehr atmosphärisch, manchmal etwas übertrieben. Alles in allem ein Buch, auf das man sich schon konzentrieren muss, aber durchaus lesenswert.
December 27, 2016
Definitely a good one! Finely researched (although sometimes I thought the author had made a list of all things in 19th century London that HAVE to appear and than almost copied them from some book on the topic) and a good story with many twists and turns until the very end. I loved it.
March 21, 2024
Alibi's and spies...
Complicated spying, alibi's and history.
Set in a tempestuous time, Gus needs to rescue her friend.
Since she's in over her head, she gets help in the form of Kane.
Kane is too sweet to be a spy. Kane and Gus are great together.
Intrigue abounds.
Recommend.
4.5
Complicated spying, alibi's and history.
Set in a tempestuous time, Gus needs to rescue her friend.
Since she's in over her head, she gets help in the form of Kane.
Kane is too sweet to be a spy. Kane and Gus are great together.
Intrigue abounds.
Recommend.
4.5
May 11, 2021
A well written and entertaining murder mystery.
November 27, 2021
Different and Put me in my mind of Wilkie Collins , Whitty is a loveable unlovable character, give it a go in front of the fire on a winter evening…
June 13, 2014
I had a very slow start with The Fiend In Human by John MacLachlan Gray, and for a time I started to wonder if I would actually finish it. I'm not even sure why because it's rather brilliant, but it had a long build-up establishing the settings - the foggy streets of London anno 1852, a serial killer ”The Fiend In Human” who strangles prostitutes with white scarves and disfigures their faces, and Edmund Whitty, journalist at the Falcon, in debth over his head to ratters and addicted to almost anything that can be smoked, drank or partaken as a medical.
London is in a uproar over the unsettling murders on prostitutes, but a man called William Ryan has been locked up and believed to be The Fiend In Human, and while the police seems convinced he is the murderer, others are not so convinced, even more so when the murders continue while the suspect is under lock. Whitty has written about the case earlier and given the murderer yet another nickname - Chokee Bill and is approached from different sides, for different reasons about his involvement in the case. Driven mostly by the desire to earn money to escape his debtors and their threats Edmund Whitty finds himself ingolfed in figuring out the truth and setting an innocent man free. He gets help from the people who know what's going on in the streets of London such as wellinformed editors, balladeers, thieves, prostitutes and bar owners. He also gets into a lot of trouble and a little bit of amourous complications as well, which hints he might not be that hopeless a loser as we are presented to believe at the beginning of the book.
Despite a slow start I hung on and was rewarded as I halfway through the book suddenly couldn't stop reading. Not so much because of the murder mystery, because it's not that complicated to guess, (although it had a nice little plot twist toward the end, that I hadn't seen coming) but more because of the character Whitty, who gets unfolded more as the story processes and the vivid description of Victorian London.The book has a lot of atmosphere, created not only by the description and plot, but by the very style its written in, very true to the time period and setting. The writing is excellent and at times elaborate, but always spot on with an eye for detail and dry-witted humour. It's actually very funny at times, to the point where you have to laugh out loud.
So if you like me have a slow start with this book, and need a little time to get into it, hang on. It might grow on you, and before you know it, you have ordered the next Edmund Whitty book - Stone White Day and are eager to meet that opium-eating journalist once more..
London is in a uproar over the unsettling murders on prostitutes, but a man called William Ryan has been locked up and believed to be The Fiend In Human, and while the police seems convinced he is the murderer, others are not so convinced, even more so when the murders continue while the suspect is under lock. Whitty has written about the case earlier and given the murderer yet another nickname - Chokee Bill and is approached from different sides, for different reasons about his involvement in the case. Driven mostly by the desire to earn money to escape his debtors and their threats Edmund Whitty finds himself ingolfed in figuring out the truth and setting an innocent man free. He gets help from the people who know what's going on in the streets of London such as wellinformed editors, balladeers, thieves, prostitutes and bar owners. He also gets into a lot of trouble and a little bit of amourous complications as well, which hints he might not be that hopeless a loser as we are presented to believe at the beginning of the book.
Despite a slow start I hung on and was rewarded as I halfway through the book suddenly couldn't stop reading. Not so much because of the murder mystery, because it's not that complicated to guess, (although it had a nice little plot twist toward the end, that I hadn't seen coming) but more because of the character Whitty, who gets unfolded more as the story processes and the vivid description of Victorian London.The book has a lot of atmosphere, created not only by the description and plot, but by the very style its written in, very true to the time period and setting. The writing is excellent and at times elaborate, but always spot on with an eye for detail and dry-witted humour. It's actually very funny at times, to the point where you have to laugh out loud.
So if you like me have a slow start with this book, and need a little time to get into it, hang on. It might grow on you, and before you know it, you have ordered the next Edmund Whitty book - Stone White Day and are eager to meet that opium-eating journalist once more..
July 2, 2009
Edmund Whitty is a journalist in Victorian London. Not just any journalist however, for "among his colleagues, with the possible exception of Mr. Hicks the contrarian (who, it is said, keeps beetles in his pockets), Whitty is the most despised correspondent in London." In addition to covering public hangings, sex scandals in girl's schools, and other newsworthy items, Whitty recently created a sensation by dubbing London's latest killer of prostitutes "Chokee Bill". Since that moment of glory, however, Whitty has been floundering in a sea of gin, opium, wine, and any other substance he can get his hands on. He is also in debt to the owner of a local rat fighting pit, and it has reached the point where knees may be broken if he can't begin making payments soon.
Ostensibly The Fiend in Human is the story of Whitty's unraveling of the truth about Chokee Bill, with interesting interplay between the forces of journalism, public opinion, and London's Metropolitan Police force in the person of one Inspector Salmon. I say "ostensibly" because it is really a story of Victorian London, and in my opinion the mystery plot takes second place to the city and its inhabitants, which Mr. Gray renders almost tangible in his descriptions.
As just a quick example, Mr. Gray writes excellent character sketches and Inspector Salmon is described as "tall and thin, like a whipping-post in chin-whiskers and top hat", while Mr. Whitty's disapproving landlady "entirely fills the entry as she glares at him, wearing an expression calculated beforehand to inspire miscellaneous guilt."
I would compare The Fiend in Human to Charles Palliser's The Quincunx in terms of writing style. Palliser's book has a more intricate plot, but then The Quincunx is 800 pages long, compared to The Fiend's 352 pages. In my opinion the joy of reading either book is in the writing itself, and the plot takes a backseat to the wonderful things that the author can do with words. Yes, there are a few small plot holes in The Fiend but I was having so much fun reading it that I really didn't care.
Ostensibly The Fiend in Human is the story of Whitty's unraveling of the truth about Chokee Bill, with interesting interplay between the forces of journalism, public opinion, and London's Metropolitan Police force in the person of one Inspector Salmon. I say "ostensibly" because it is really a story of Victorian London, and in my opinion the mystery plot takes second place to the city and its inhabitants, which Mr. Gray renders almost tangible in his descriptions.
As just a quick example, Mr. Gray writes excellent character sketches and Inspector Salmon is described as "tall and thin, like a whipping-post in chin-whiskers and top hat", while Mr. Whitty's disapproving landlady "entirely fills the entry as she glares at him, wearing an expression calculated beforehand to inspire miscellaneous guilt."
I would compare The Fiend in Human to Charles Palliser's The Quincunx in terms of writing style. Palliser's book has a more intricate plot, but then The Quincunx is 800 pages long, compared to The Fiend's 352 pages. In my opinion the joy of reading either book is in the writing itself, and the plot takes a backseat to the wonderful things that the author can do with words. Yes, there are a few small plot holes in The Fiend but I was having so much fun reading it that I really didn't care.
December 1, 2013
I absolutely head-over-heels loved this book - so this is not going to be a very objective review.
So I will just list the reasons I loved it.
Period detail and level of research. I learned so much more about the Victorian era, particularly the less salubrious aspects, and aspects peculiar to the era e.g. Ackers Chloridine.
Mr Whitty himself. He is a total reprobate in many ways, and yet at heart a decent enough man, and likeable despite everything.
The 'mystery" itself, and everything related to the Chokee Bill matter. That a balladeer - who is as much into sensationalising and fictionalising Bill's murders as Whitty himself - should strive to find the truth with the help of Whitty is fascinating just as a concept. How Owen chooses to go about this adds to the whole.
The ending, and how it rounds off everything that came before.
This is a story that is fascinating as it unfolds, endlessly interesting in the details that occur along the way, and concluded in the most satisfactory of ways, if not the one expected.
I loved it, and I am thoroughly annoyed that Mr Gray's sequel is not available on Kindle. Or his other novels, for that matter. I am not sure how much longer I can wait before coughing up at least $25 for a paperback copy.
So I will just list the reasons I loved it.
Period detail and level of research. I learned so much more about the Victorian era, particularly the less salubrious aspects, and aspects peculiar to the era e.g. Ackers Chloridine.
Mr Whitty himself. He is a total reprobate in many ways, and yet at heart a decent enough man, and likeable despite everything.
The 'mystery" itself, and everything related to the Chokee Bill matter. That a balladeer - who is as much into sensationalising and fictionalising Bill's murders as Whitty himself - should strive to find the truth with the help of Whitty is fascinating just as a concept. How Owen chooses to go about this adds to the whole.
The ending, and how it rounds off everything that came before.
This is a story that is fascinating as it unfolds, endlessly interesting in the details that occur along the way, and concluded in the most satisfactory of ways, if not the one expected.
I loved it, and I am thoroughly annoyed that Mr Gray's sequel is not available on Kindle. Or his other novels, for that matter. I am not sure how much longer I can wait before coughing up at least $25 for a paperback copy.
November 17, 2013
The Fiend in Human (form) by John MacLachlan Gray is a crime and criminal situation in Victorian London where privilege was known to get more than it's due, especially freedom from prosecution to it's senior members unless the prosecuting person has alot of facts and proof to make something stick. Perhaps this is still true, but something about the public morals of this period and it's willingness to overlook in large numbers renders the subject a little more poignant. The book has a very good social commentary about it, and it does go into the lives of the impoverished and lower paid working class citizens, also quite heavily into the place and roles of men and women of the time. The plot revolves around a newspaper account of a guilty verdict for a person accused of being a serial killer when the killings keep on even as he waits in jail for the execution. The journalist is sort of the detective and he gains a partner in this. It's a thriller, although slow at times, too. Portrayals of some people and some situations may remain with you well beyond the book.
June 30, 2011
Wow. I really enjoyed this book. The narrative is well-worked, and the perspectives are neatly arrayed. The mystery is set up beautifully, though I'm sad to say that the person I wanted least to be the villain is indeed the villain. It always works out that way. :/
Has a lot of newsfolk stuff. Victorian London, the rougher side. I thought of a journalist friend of mine often when I read familiar sentiments from the editor and correspondent. he protagonist is a reporter, one who's sort of fallen from grace, so he has to pitch ideas to his editor, the editor has to figure out how to sell the stories and the proprietor is up in arms about the advertisements. It was amusingly familiar--newswork really hasn't changed that much in centuries.
It was unusual in that it tied up several fragment ends in a way most stories don't, and I really liked that. Started and finished the same day--it was so engrossing that I hadn't noticed that five hours had gone by while I was reading it.
Has a lot of newsfolk stuff. Victorian London, the rougher side. I thought of a journalist friend of mine often when I read familiar sentiments from the editor and correspondent. he protagonist is a reporter, one who's sort of fallen from grace, so he has to pitch ideas to his editor, the editor has to figure out how to sell the stories and the proprietor is up in arms about the advertisements. It was amusingly familiar--newswork really hasn't changed that much in centuries.
It was unusual in that it tied up several fragment ends in a way most stories don't, and I really liked that. Started and finished the same day--it was so engrossing that I hadn't noticed that five hours had gone by while I was reading it.
February 6, 2015
Hmmm. This book was OK but it was a heavy read, and even after almost 400 pages I still do not feel as if I ever got into the flow of it.
The book was very dense: dense with misery of the poor of the times, dense with jargon, dense with side plots, dense with bits of 'fascinating trivia', dense with little poems and verses, dense with the author's need to show off his own cleverness, I think. Further, I never warmed up to the protagonist Edmund Whitty and for the first two thirds of the book, or more, actively disliked him. Whitty is portrayed in a way that the reader is supposed to feel sympathy for him but that is difficult to do when he is such a jerk and largely the maker of his own troubles, unlike some of the others in the book who were just born into poverty and doing their best to survive.
I know that there is at least one other book in this series, but I also know I have no excitement to look it up or to read it.
The book was very dense: dense with misery of the poor of the times, dense with jargon, dense with side plots, dense with bits of 'fascinating trivia', dense with little poems and verses, dense with the author's need to show off his own cleverness, I think. Further, I never warmed up to the protagonist Edmund Whitty and for the first two thirds of the book, or more, actively disliked him. Whitty is portrayed in a way that the reader is supposed to feel sympathy for him but that is difficult to do when he is such a jerk and largely the maker of his own troubles, unlike some of the others in the book who were just born into poverty and doing their best to survive.
I know that there is at least one other book in this series, but I also know I have no excitement to look it up or to read it.
November 9, 2012
What distinguishes The Fiend in Human from the myriad other Victorian thrillers, to the point that it's one of my all-time favorite books?
1) The protagonist. Edmund Whitty is dissolute, insolvent, and hapless--yet aware of these shortcomings to comic yet poignant effect. He's also articulate, intelligent, intuitive, and despite an exterior of skepticism and degeneracy, a highly moral being. All of which makes him someone you want to spend as much time with as possible.
2) The writing. By combining the arch floridness of Victorian prose with a present-tense, subtly ironic style, Gray has created a distinctive voice.
3) The supporting characters. Not a cliche or stock character among them.
4) The humor. Yes, the story revolves around a Jack the Ripper type, but the book is damn funny nonetheless.
1) The protagonist. Edmund Whitty is dissolute, insolvent, and hapless--yet aware of these shortcomings to comic yet poignant effect. He's also articulate, intelligent, intuitive, and despite an exterior of skepticism and degeneracy, a highly moral being. All of which makes him someone you want to spend as much time with as possible.
2) The writing. By combining the arch floridness of Victorian prose with a present-tense, subtly ironic style, Gray has created a distinctive voice.
3) The supporting characters. Not a cliche or stock character among them.
4) The humor. Yes, the story revolves around a Jack the Ripper type, but the book is damn funny nonetheless.
June 17, 2008
First off, I was impressed by the author's virtuosic ability to carry the entire narration in the present-tense. It's a difficult thing to do, as a writer, and as a reader, it's the kind of thing you notice only partway through the book and then exclaim over. It works well here, too, as the text of the novel merges seamlessly with the text of the articles written by the fictional characters in the course of the book.
Apart from admiring the technical skill on display, I also enjoyed the story itself. The characters are, for the most part, well-written and sympathetic, even when they're displaying villanous behavior. Definitely recommended for fans of Carr's The Alienist and, to a lesser extent, O'Neill's The Lamplighter.
Apart from admiring the technical skill on display, I also enjoyed the story itself. The characters are, for the most part, well-written and sympathetic, even when they're displaying villanous behavior. Definitely recommended for fans of Carr's The Alienist and, to a lesser extent, O'Neill's The Lamplighter.
July 3, 2014
An enjoyable book, but not without its problems.
It took me ages to finish The Fiend In Human, not because it was boring, but because it was so rich and dense with characters and period detail. I had to take breaks in order to take it all in.
There were some problems with the pacing, and some characters seemed interchangeable, but overall it was an entertaining book.
Beware, though, Gray stays true to the attitudes of Victorian England, so there are some references that might trip a reader up. References to people being in the 'n***er line of work', where they paint their skin brown and play instruments with ivory carved to look like bones, or the many references to the subtle misogyny of the age may be too much for some readers. I give this as a warning.
It took me ages to finish The Fiend In Human, not because it was boring, but because it was so rich and dense with characters and period detail. I had to take breaks in order to take it all in.
There were some problems with the pacing, and some characters seemed interchangeable, but overall it was an entertaining book.
Beware, though, Gray stays true to the attitudes of Victorian England, so there are some references that might trip a reader up. References to people being in the 'n***er line of work', where they paint their skin brown and play instruments with ivory carved to look like bones, or the many references to the subtle misogyny of the age may be too much for some readers. I give this as a warning.
September 16, 2011
An historically-set murder mystery. It is an interesting peek into the under-belly of Victorian-era London. I did enjoy it for that reason, but the story itself was not very inspired: okay--just not great. I did not sympathize with any of the characters really. They all had such flaws and lacked development such that I did not much care what happened to any of them.
This was definitely written in a Victorian style. And at one point I gave up and started keeping a pocket dictionary near me: to no avail. Half the words were only to be found in a full-sized dictionary. If you are looking for an easy read, consider yourself warned. But it was entertaining and informative.
This was definitely written in a Victorian style. And at one point I gave up and started keeping a pocket dictionary near me: to no avail. Half the words were only to be found in a full-sized dictionary. If you are looking for an easy read, consider yourself warned. But it was entertaining and informative.
March 22, 2015
The book probably deserves another half star but I found the prose a bit over wrought and pretentious. Gray does spend a considerable amount of time setting the scene and if you are already interested in this genre you probably all too familiar with "turn of the century" London and I found the description a bit laborious. Nonetheless, he presents a decent story with well developed characters emblematic of a forgotten age. There are some nice but perhaps too foreseeable plot that also seem to hamper an elegantly written book.
January 25, 2009
This is, in some respects, a damned near flawless book. It is especially effective at creating settings that the reader feels he or she has actually inhabited. One forgets that the novelist didn't actually live on the seamier side of Victorian London. Characters are full and fascinating. The weakest point (which is still strong) is the mystery plot. The poetry of the writing is so tasty it makes you wish at times that the plot would get out of the way.
April 6, 2011
I listened to this story on Audible - and enjoyed every minute of the 15 hours! True the plot did, at times become subsumed by the evocative descriptions of Victorian London, but in an odd way that further enhanced the whole experience. I normally get bored with extensive descriptive passages, but the reader, Patrick Romer came over as the very essence of a Victorian gent, subtly transporting the readers/listeners back to the mid 19th Century.
June 1, 2011
This was great fun. It is a crime thriller set in 1850s Victorian London that pays conscious homage to the 19th century 'blood & thunder' melodramas in its style.
Its well-named central villain of 'Chokee Bill' is sort of a pre-Ripper serial killer praying on women of 'low character' on the fog-bound streets of London.
Though I did have the book to hand from the library, I did listen to most of it via Audible. The narrator did an excellent job throughout.
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