The Devil's Making

by Seán Haldane

Winner of the Arthur Ellis Award, an historical mystery in which an alienist is found murdered near an Indian camp and a British constable must navigate the conflicting cultures to discover why.

Victoria, 1869. The ramshackle capital of British Columbia, the last colony in North America, where a few thousand settlers aspire to the values of the Victorian age while coexisting beside the native Indians that vastly outnumber them. That peace is challenged when a mutilated body is discovered: Dr. McCrory, an American alienist whose methods include phrenology, Mesmerism, and sexual-mystical magnetation.

Chad Hobbes, recently arrived from England, is the policeman who must solve the crime. At first it's assumed the murderer was a Tsimshian medicine man, Wiladzap, who has already been arrested. It would be easy for Hobbes to let Wiladzap swing for the murder, but his own interest in an Indian woman causes him to look at the case in more detail. And once he does, he discovers that everyone who knew McCrory seems to have something to hide.

Published by a small Irish press, The Devil's Making was the surprise winner of the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel. Its detailed depiction of a frontier where the cultures of Native Americans, Americans, Europeans, and Asians clashed offers a fresh view of a little-known historical era.

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Canada, Historical Mystery, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Fiction

368 pages, Hardcover

First published May 9, 2013

About the author

Seán Haldane can hold three passports: British(he was born in Sussex, in 1943), Irish (through his father, and he grew up mainly in Northern Ireland), and Canadian (through a long period of residence , 1967-94, in Québec, Prince Edward Island and British Columbia). By ancestry he is something of a human compass: a quarter each English, German, Scottish and Irish.

He was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution, University College, Oxford (B.A., First Class Hons. in English) and Saybrook Institute, San Francisco (Ph.D.in Psychology). When he first found himself writing poetry he resolved never to make a living from it or by teaching it, and that any incidental earnings from poems would go towards publishing poetry by himself and others. He has worked as a lecturer, part time farmer, small press publisher, psychotherapist, consultant clinical neuropsychologist in the NHS and Canadian health services, and as an expert witness in criminal and civil cases. He lives in London where he has a part time practice in neuropsychology and psychotherapy supervision (See neuropsychology.sh) and does occasional neuropsychology supervision in the NHS. Since 2013 he has been publisher at Rún Press, Cork, Ireland, www.runepress.ie.

He is a competitive field archer.

Reviews

[LibraryCin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chad Hobbes went to law school in England, but never wrote the bar exam. In 1868, he has come to British Columbia, a British colony, but not yet part of Canada (which was just recently formed in the east), but without having written the bar, he cannot practice as a lawyer, so he gets a job as a constable in Victoria. When an American “alienist” (psychiatrist - I had to look it up!) is found murdered in a very gruesome way, everyone assumes it’s the First Nations people who are closeby who killed him. One is arrested and it is assumed he will soon hang for it. Hobbes, though, doesn’t think he (nor any of the other natives) did it, and he sets out to find who really did it. In the meantime, Hobbes finds himself attracted to the sister of the man who was arrested.

Be warned: this was quite gruesome in the details. Also, there was a lot of investigation into sexual things. There is definite racism here, primarily against native people. Overall, I’m rating this ok. There were parts that just didn’t interest me, so I kind of tuned out, but other parts were fine and I followed without an issue. I’m thinking maybe the writing style? The odd thing is that I love historical fiction, I also like mysteries (though some types more than others), but oddly, more often than not, historical mysteries don’t interest me as much. I have no idea why.

I did like the Canadian background in this, though. I’ve been to Victoria a couple of times, so I could picture some of the places mentioned. There was an odd (I thought) twist and I felt like the end was a bit too much all tied up – except for one thing. That one thing wasn’t a happy one (and it was apparently a real event). The brief afterword also explained that many of the people were real people.

[Cynthia Raleigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the historical content, personalities, social customs, the mystery, and the story being told during a time when many differing cultures existed in one location. The vivid descriptions of Victoria and its surrounds were bright and served to clearly illustrate in my mind's eye how the settlement must have appeared. The author was very knowledgeable about the various groups of native people, their customs, traits, as well as the use of Chinook as a bridge language. I liked that Mr. Haldane consistently gave both the Chinook verbiage and the translation. The only drawback for me was that, while there was a lot of good information on many subjects put forth in the Devil's Making, as a mystery it went on a bit longer than I felt would have been optimal. Because of the space needed to present the information in a way that tied to the story, the mystery would sometimes wander off and become lost in the forest of medical, military, and lifestyle discussions. It always reappeared, but I felt that the digressions diminished the interest I had in solving the mystery.

[Barb · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have any interest in Canadian history this book is for you. One feels like they are living in 1869 Victoria, one of the last colonies in Canada. Through numerous story lines the reader views the attitudes etc of the time.

[NinjaMuse · Rating 3 out of 5]

In brief: Chad Hobbes is new to the British colonial city of Victoria and equally new to police work. Now he must sort out his place in the world and get a handle on the colony’s dynamics while investigating a brutal murder and proving the Native suspect didn’t do it.

Thoughts: This is a very good work of historical fiction and a marginally less good historical mystery. Haldane takes his time with the setting and the characters, which really fleshes out the book and brings the past to life, and there’s at least as much “development of Chad Hobbes” as there is “development of mystery”. I liked that, but then, I usually do. The murder mystery also works pretty well, in the slow British police procedural way, and wends its way through all areas of colonial life, and the clues didn’t really slot into any particular shape until the very end. (I like that in a mystery too.) However, there were a few moments where the clues ended up feeling justified after the fact, or deliberately obtuse to keep the mystery going, and that’s where this book dropped a half-point for me.

Also, there’s historical racism, mostly anti-Native but some anti-Black, but Hobbes never quite subscribes the way everyone else does and learns to see past the prejudices in any case. Haldane definitely has no patience for racism.

6.5/10

[Alison C · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Devil's Making: A Victorian Detective Mystery, by Sean Haldane, tells the story of Chad Hobbes, in 1869 a recent graduate from Oxford with a law degree but not yet with the training necessary to become a barrister; he takes a ship to Victoria, a new town in Canada's British Columbia, where he finds work as a policeman. When a rather shady but professional American, an "alienist" or psychologist, is foully murdered, it takes the town no time at all to pin the crime on the chieftain of a visiting trading group of First Nations people, but Hobbes thinks something doesn't quite add up and as he investigates, he begins to learn just how many people had very good reasons to want to kill the man. He must work quickly, however, for the circumstantial evidence will surely get the Native hanged within a few weeks, guilty or not.... I don't know much about Victoria, B.C. (aside from having visited once and currently thinking about moving there), but I'm assuming the landscape, buildings and blend of English and American settlers, as depicted in this book, are historically accurate; the novel gives one a very strong sense of the place, which is important in a book like this. The plot is fairly straightforward, and the interactions between the various individuals and ethnic groups are appropriately complex and well-drawn. I very much enjoyed this novel, and look forward to going back to Victoria next winter to see if any of the streets or buildings depicted here still exist! Recommended.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Historical, British author – set in Canada) 3 star rating

It might be stretching it a bit to say this was set in Canada because in 1869, the Pacific-bordering territory of British Columbia had not yet joined Confederation. Nonetheless, Chad Hobbes, newly arrived in Victoria, finds himself made a police detective and sent to investigate the death of Dr. McCrory, a new age doctor who was found stabbed with his cut-off penis in his hand (it had been in his mouth).

My notes tell me that I thought the period details were incredibly well-researched but that the author was trying too hard to be crude. There were heavy-handed red herrings to one of the suspects, and the actual murderer was someone only on the very peripheral of the story.

I was also disturbed by the details of Chad’s awareness of women as sexual beings once he was no longer a virgin. Are men so constantly thinking these things?

Overall, as a period history perhaps, but as a murder mystery poorly done.

[Robert Mackay · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Devil's Making" is terrific historical fiction. Seán Haldane has blended fictional characters with historic personalities in a real setting (Victoria, BC) to great effect. A who-done-it murder mystery with excellent character development.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

1868 Victoria, British Columbia, is the setting for this interesting if slightly lengthy story of Chad Hobbes, a rather naïve young Oxford Law graduate, influenced by Darwin, who, arrives and is charged with finding the murderer of an “alienist”, a murder seemingly committed by Tsimshian Indians. His interviews with the locals slowly uncover the truth and some sordid revelations as Hobbes himself becomes far less naïve. One historical blunder about Sitting Bull but otherwise authentic with convincing descriptions.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started kind of slow, but got better. I really enjoyed the characters, and I really enjoyed reading about the US/Canadian relationships back in the 1800s, and I really enjoyed getting the Canadian perspective on Americans in those days. I also enjoyed learning more about the "Indian" cultures (as they were called then), of the Pacific Northwest. This is good historical fiction, written in a more politically correct manner than would have been done just a few years ago, treating the Indian characters as real people, not just "savages".

[Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Being that I love British Columbian history and books about her indigenous peoples, I really wanted to enjoy this book that shows a fairly typical clashing of English colonialism and the traditional lives of the province's earliest inhabitants. That being said, I just couldn't get into it. I persevered, but can't say it's a book I would return to. The mystery itself is just ok, not spectacular or riveting by any means.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this. Historical fiction. Fascinating combo first person and epistolary pov. Touch revisionist history verging on unrealistic, but great detail and character development. Good plotting and suspense, but great treatment of
class politics, gender dynamics, and colonialism.

[Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book took me home again. Sean Haldan's writing is so descriptive that I was able to identify the locations before he said what they were. If you live in Victoria, BC, Canada or ever lived there do read this book. A very intricate plot & great characters...Victoria in 1869

[Kay Churgel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 3.8. Very interesting historical fiction about the late 1800’s before British Columbia became part of Canada (in 1872). Pretty densely written, so sometimes a bit tedious. Interesting plot and interesting background information about the many tribes in the Pacific Northwest.

[Jack Eagle · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75/5. Wonderful how history is incorporated. The mystery isn't much of one -- the challenge to dealing with the puzzle, and justly, lies in the societal behaviour of the time. Reading it feels like going to an alive and adult-rated "Pioneer Village", which I adored doing in my youth.

[Melody · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found it dragged out and I had to force myself to finish it.

[Mike Vines · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enthralling historical mstery, fascinating characters, deadly surprises. Highly recommended!

[Ian MacIntyre · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very enjoyable book. I have quite alot to learn about colonizing the west coast. Damned Yankees!

Haldane settings and characters were very good.

[Deb · Rating 1 out of 5]

Only read approximately 100 pages. Too much time was spent on setting. (Although the setting is Canada, I marked the setting as Western.) It was interesting, just too much description. If there is an abridged version, I'm interested!

[Vintagebooklvr · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think it was very well written. The meeting and clashing of so many different cultures provides a rich source of drama and provides information about a historical period in this area of Canada that I don't think many people know much about (I know I didn't). However, I thought the journal entries in the beginning go on for too long and detracts from the pacing of the novel and make it difficult to get into it.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Historical novel can offer much to a reader. From transporting one to a different place and time, to re-imagining and then recreating as accurately as possible people and events, this genre well-deserves its popularity. When you add in the fact that you live in the present day city of the novel's plot, the reader gets an added bonus.

The Devil's Making is set in Victoria, British Columbia in 1869. At that time Victoria is a frontier town, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say it is on the edge of the frontier, since it sits on the west coast of Canada. To the west is the Pacific Ocean. Its protagonist is Chad Hobbes, one of many who have left England for a new life, a promising future, a place to set roots in. Young and over-qualified for most available jobs in Victoria, Hobbes finds himself on the police force, and, of course, a corpse is soon part of the plot.

To me, the strength of the book was its portrayal of place. The author, Sean Haldane, who once lived here on Vancouver Island, captures the wild, mysterious beauty of the land, the ever-present duel worlds of the First Nations' peoples and the white settlers, and the conflicts that existed then, and, candidly, still exist to a small extent today. The plot has layers of complexity such as 19c treatments for physical (sexual) disorders, touches of Darwinism, and class struggles and relationships between the races and cultures that were part of the early melting pot which was Victoria.

There are, of course, plenty of suspects, and we do get a happy ending for Hobbes. Bits of historical interest such as the famous(?) Pig War between The United States and the British add to the novel's interest.

The novel is an interesting look at the past, a primer for some of the history of the time, and a fascinating look at my home city as it could be imagined in 1869.

[T de V · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew I’d be writing a review by the middle of THE DEVIL’S MAKING by Sean Haldane because it’s a fascinating story. Sadly the moment passed when I could write knowledgeably about the story, but I’m unwilling to let it go. Everyone should read this book!

THE DEVIL’S MAKING won the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel (2014).

The book opens in 1868 when Chad Hobbs travels from Britain to the tiny outpost of Victoria, capital of British Columbia. The trip takes four months because they must travel around Tierra del Fuego, the southern tip of South America. This is but one of the many “oddities” of life in the late 19th century and it doesn’t take long for the reader to feel like they belong to those rough and muddy times.

Chad becomes a policeman who must solve the murder of a local man. Naturally the townsfolk are quick to blame a native Indian and incarcerate him, but Chad is unwilling to accept such a “desirable” outcome without more facts.

One of the story’s joys is Chad’s philosophical understanding of what he discovers and what this means about life. Although I’ve never been much interested in history, I found this book delightful.

[Vontel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book! It was a bit slow to get into, likely a feature of it attempting to be written in the style of a Victorian mystery, taking place in 1869 in Victoria and environs of the colony of BC. It's also a fairly accurate historical novel, as well as a mystery, placing itself within the framework of the 'Western world' of the mid 1800's, and within the development of 'detectives' and police forces. The protagonist is Chad Hobbes, a young Englishman, who read law in England, but didn't practice it, sailing around South America to Victoria with a letter of introduction to the Governor, to 'find his niche'.

Great interplay of personalities, as well as frontier era and colonial times(with all the sad sides to that), with the American, British, Chinese, and First Nations people, and with a Canadian flavour. British Columbia didn't join Canada until a few years after this book is taking place.

[Joanne]

Excellent mix of mystery and local [Victoria, BC] history! Seems well-researched.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was very interesting. It takes place in 1860s Victoria, BC area, and I think accurately describes the physical geography and the life of the the people in this pre-confederation (BC joining) part of Canada. The mystery was OK but not the main thrust of the story. The love story between a nerdy Englishman and an Indian maiden was a bit drippy but had its moments. The brutal interactions between the white settlers and the natives was probably quite accurate and excellently described. Not a book for the squeamish and some of the descriptions were brutal and had sexual overtones.

[Laurie Frost · Rating 2 out of 5]

The setting and concept of this novel are compelling: the settlement of British Columbia in the second half of the 20th century, the contrast between the American and British style of colonialism, and the uneasy co-existence of the settlers with the First Nations. An untried British detective investigates the murder of a charlatan American, convinced that the Medicine Man charged with the crime is innocent. An unconvincing romance ensues -- two unconvincing romances, actually -- and the detective story becomes an excuse for bringing together a quartet of too-good-to-be-true benevolent settlers and noble savages.

[Dee Halzack · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was good. It was interesting, because it's a period and place in history that was new for me. And the story kept me reading to find out what would happen next. Sympathetic character who's in a jam looks to be unsaveable.

But it's written in the style of the Victorian period, which for me is too wordy and convoluted. If the story itself hadn't kept me going, I probably wouldn't have been able to finish it.

[Veronica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this novel began well and it was nice to find a mystery about Canada, it began to become tedious with endless questioning by the protagonist. The plot also seemed to slow down and the characters became flat.

[Ellen Dark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the book enough that I would read another by Sean Haldane. The book is bittersweet. Haldane mixes a fictional story with many characters who were real people who were a part of Victoria's history.

[Kirk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read a lot of mysteries, and love finding new sub-genres and remote locations. This was one of my favorites of the past few years. Well-plotted and researched, plus the idioms match that of Victorian English.

[Trevor · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent crime mystery set in colonial Victoria BC in 1868 with lots of suspects and their secrets. I learned a lot about our First Nations and the era and perhaps a bit too much about the victim, a sexually perverted alienist.