Fall From Grace: An Inspector McLevy Mystery 2

Inspector McLevy #2

by David Ashton

The second in a new series of McLevy books, Fall from Grace revolves around the terrible Tay Bridge disaster. The story begins with a break-in and murder at the Edinburgh home of Sir Thomas Bouch, the enigmatic, egotistical builder of the Tay Bridge. McLevy is brought in to investigate. With the help of brothel madam Jean Brash, McLevy finds the murderer, but there is much, much more to unfold: murder, arson, sexual obsession and suicide.

Genres: Crime, Fiction, Mystery, Historical Fiction, Audiobook, Historical Mystery, Ebooks

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

David Ashton (born 10 November 1941 in Greenock) is a Scottish actor and writer. Trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, 1964–67, he has acted in a wide variety of film, television, theatre and radio roles. He has also developed a parallel career as a writer of fiction, film and television screenplays and plays for theatre and radio. His radio play The Old Ladies at the Zoo, which starred Peggy Mount and Liz Smith, won the Radio Times Drama Award in 1985.

Reviews

[David Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't hand out five stars lightly and I can't quite put my finger on why I found this particular installment in the series so involving but I found myself totally immersed in the doomed romances that drive all of the events of the novel.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second Inspector McLevy novel centres around the Tay Bridge disaster of 1879. It's a delightful mix of burglary and murder.

I love David Ashton's characters. James McLevy is braw Scotsman: delightfully argumentative. He has excellent foils in Constable Mulholland, Lieutenant Roach, and Jean Brash, the madam of the brothel "The Just Land". All the characters are well-rounded and realistic.

Ashton's research is impeccable. The facts of the Tay Bridge disaster balance out nicely against the story.

I have two quibbles. The first one is that the story was non-linear. I prefer to read stories that progress along a time line. I found the jumping backwards and forwards confusing. But that is just me and the way my brain works. My personal preference, really.

The other thing was of more concern. A lot of the book was typeset using italics. I have vision problems and the italics made the book very hard to read, especially in artificial light.

However I still recommend the book to anyone who enjoys Victorian period crime or Scottish crime fiction.

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

This second entry in the Inspector McLevy series is a little more personal and hits closer to home as the inspector's childhood nemesis, Hercules Dunbar, is involved in a robbery-turned-murder and Constable Mulholland's prospective father-in-law, an insurance adjuster, is implicated in an arson case that also involves bawdyhoose keeper, Jean Brash. Written into the investigations is the tragedy of the collapsing of a railroad trestle over the River Tay, Mulholland's attempts to gain some glory for himself to help him win his beloved Emily, and McLevy's own attraction to the wife of Sir Thomas Bouch. It's a tangled web in which all the threads are brought together at the end.

Though I enjoyed this one tremendously, feeling it offered more insight into McLevy and humanized him much more than the initial novel, especially through the flashbacks, I did find myself wishing that Hercules Dunbar had received a much better fate, especially after his "transformation" after meeting the widow. This novel is well-written and the entries in McLevy's diary give a side of the inspector he himself doesn't allow those he works with to see, a melancholy, introspective, and lonely individual, over whom the fear of madness hovers, a man with a great deal of poetry in his soul. Since this character is based on a real person, it would be interesting to discover how much literary license has been taken in created the fictional McLevy as opposed to the actual one.

There are a good many "Scottishisms" and slang of the times with which the reader may not be familiar (and some of them are downright entertaining) but taken in context, it's easy to determine their meaning and don't detract from the story a bit.

Looking forward to #3 in the series.


This novel was purchased by the reviewer and no remuneration was involved in the writing of this review.

[Susan Wight · Rating 3 out of 5]

A burglary gone wrong or something more sinister? This is the question that occupies our detective McLevy as she investigates a murder at the home of the architect of the Tay Bridge, Sir Thomas Bouch. Shortly after the murder, both the bridge and Bouch are doomed to fall. Are the two events connected?
This is sometimes overly dramatic but has a good sense of 1880s Edinburgh. Readers of The Last Train will find it complements that quite well and if you enjoyed Shadow of the Serpent, this one will satisfy a hunger for more Inspector McLevy adventures.

[Cody · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was a mixed bag. The writing and McLevy were as good as usual, and we got to see a new side of McLevy we hadn't seen before. However, a lot of the storylines I quite frankly wasn't interested in. I didn't care about Jean's love story or Mulholland's. I get characters need to grow, and I do like some romance in the books I read, but these felt so unnecessarily forced and honestly annoying. Mulholland especially was a love sick puppy who just became a chore to read, especially considering his somewhat conflicting decisions considering his experience on the force. I get that was the point, but it wasn't believable to me. On the flip side, the main plot was interesting, and how it interwove with McLevy's past. The ending was a bit of a disappointment. While there was a major conclusion for McLevy himself, I felt let down with how laissez-faire the wrap up was considering McLevy's sense of justice. All that being said, I enjoyed it enough, but I didn't walk away loving it nearly as much as the first book. I will check out the next book, as this feels more like a hurdle than expectation going forward. If you like historical mysteries with interesting characters, and history, I'd recommend you give this a shot.

Quick hits:
+ McLevy is still great.
+ The main plot and McLevy's past were well explored and interwoven nicely.
+ McLevy's character development continues to be good.
- The side stories or characters roles in the story were overdone and unenjoyable. This is personal preference though.
- The ending felt a little underwhelming and didn't pack much of a punch.

Enjoyable enough, 3/5 stars.

[GaP · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspector McLevy gets put through the wringer this time. The gruff, stout, streetwise dispenser of justice in Leith, Scotland contends with an auld childhood foe who becomes involved in his current case...which involves the building and the crashing of the FORTH rail bridge. Shortcuts in its construction, cutting corners with regulations result in a train wreck that McLevy witnesses. At least 50 deaths. And of course, McLevy does his little two-step with the owner of the Happy Place, a bawdy hoose owned by Jean Branch, catering to all carnal tastes, half of which are the city's fathers. Two sides of the same coin, law and criminality, they are. They almost define each other. Based on the excellent BBC audio dramatizations starring the great Scotsman Brian Cox...also written by David Ashton...a.Scot himself. Both books and drama series are a guid crash course in Scottish colloquialisms.

[Charles L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellently written story from an exceptional author, sure to please!

David Ashton is a brilliant and entertaining author, one of my favorites to follow. With Fall from Grace he returns to the exploits of police Detective McLevy in 19th century Scotland. The story is clever and delightfully told with some nice twists and turns. From a master architect's mansion office to a "bawdy house" with "whoors",the period settings and behaviors are nicely described, and the characters range from pathetic and sad to hilarious and outrageous. We encounter long-held enmity, shameful corruption, untimely death, unbridled lust, and laugh-out-loud characters and situations for the reader to savor. This author is a treasure and the book is sure to please.

[Gary and Sandra Sims · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting

This is the second book in the series which tells the story of two crimes one year apart that Investigator McLeavy narrates and solves. In this book we get a better understanding of the world McLeavy inhabits and his perception of it. Interesting crimes and a satisfying conclusion.

[Andy Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent book in this series. The author conjures up an absorbing story set in 19th century Edinburgh or, to be more precise, Leith. The subplots interweave seamlessly, with a real-life tragedy an essential ingredient. Humour features throughout, as well as the more brutal part of life. Strong characters help make this a thoroughly believable tale.

[Mike Vines · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspector McLevy returns in another evocative visit to 19th century Edinburgh. An arson case turns deadly for some, tragic for others. And Jamie has a score to settle with a suspect who is also an enemy from the past. And coffee, we all need coffee. Highly recommended book and series! And remember, shop Indie bookstores, now more than ever...

[Pattie Tierce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great entertainment and mystery to boot!

This Inspector McLevy tale fit perfectly together! The past and present were tied together by the frailties of love and the perversity of pride. And McLevy’s perseverance pushes the story forward with humor and rancor as needed. A terrific read!

[Evie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chose Fall from Grace as I recognised Inspector McLevy and I had listened to the Radio 4 plays at sometime. I enjoy David's style and the writing holds you. Listen to the Radio Plays too if you can. Recommended.

[Thebroadgrumps · Rating 4 out of 5]

well written and enjoyable

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another interesting plot.

[Martina Fagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable read...

[Belinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, couldn't put it down. Loved the way the story goes into the past and how it has more than one drama going on at the same time.

[Fiona Paton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant series

[John McCaskey · Rating 3 out of 5]

An undemanding read. A bit far-fetched.

[Ross Cameron · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read, but the dual narrative doesn’t quite work and the author doesn’t quite nail the main character as a likeable rogue. Elements peak through where you find him less likeable than you perhaps should.

[Adrienne B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fall from Grace is the second book in David Ashton's Inspector McLevy series. The first book of the series is Shadow of the Serpent. With several merging storylines, this novel took me a little bit to get into but by the end of the book I was sucked into the story of Inspector McLevy. The setting is Edinburgh, Scotland and the plot thickens around a suspicious bridge construction which will ultimately lead to the Tay Bridge disaster. Inspector McLevy weaves together fraud, theft, murder and faulty bridge construction to bring to justice all involved. His counterparts Constable Mulholland and Lieutenant Roach both have their own share of troubles but all work separaretly to fit the pieces of the puzzle together. Inspector McLevy comes across as a strange, unsympathetic and unkempt man but his character is well constructed and believable. There is also enough action and conflict in the plot of Fall from Grace to keep the reader engaged although at times it can be difficult to follow. I have not yet had the chance to read the first book of the series Shadow of the Serpent but will definitely be excited to read it once I am able to obtain a copy!

[Kerrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book begins in Edinburgh in 1880 with the closure of a case that began with the murder of a butler nearly a year before. The story is told with the narration flitting between current events and those that had taken place in the previous year. Occasionally we also get a glimpse of McLevy's childhood for one of the characters in the current tale is Herkie, his childhood nemesis.

McLevy's sergeant, Martin Mullholland, is in love, and he has bought the ring, but his beloved, Emily is well below him in social status, and as luck would have it, her father is an unbending and unsympathetic man.

A warehouse fire has resulted in the contents of the warehouse being incinerated and in the middle of the ashes, a very charred corpse. The warehouse owner is filing an insurance claim and the insurance assessor is Robert Forbes, Emily's father. McLevy believes the fire is arson, and that the warehouse owner is involved in fraud. However Forbes, a former policeman, decides to approve the claim.

This is a multi-stranded plot, and it took me a time to grab hold of the individual strands, so to speak. They are cleverly manipulated towards a conclusion, but things do not always go well for Inspector McLevy. Along the way we have time to consider how policing methods have changed.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my second McLevy book and I preferred it to the first, partly because the characters had been introduced in the previous one so I found in this a pacier story. I love the language and style of the writing and it's good to read something set in a place you know (even if the setting is historic).

I also love the few lines of poetry at the start of each chapter.

I will certainly be reading further McLevy mysteries.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable book, set around the Tay bridge disaster of 1879 in Scotland. It weaved together many sub-plots and I loved the fact that it used authentic Scottish phrases, words and songs. Best of all it contains quotations and a characterisation of William McGonegall (the world's worst poet) - too funny. Overall a dark book, well written and I will definately be checking out more by this author.

[Sandy Buchanan · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the Inspector McLevey series (3 so far). Set in teh criminal underbelly of Victorian Edinburgh. Ashton creates a very atmospheric picture of what life was like for the criminal element in Edinburgh and Leith. Converted to a very successful radio series featuring Brian Cox as McLevey ( The actor not the astrophysicist!)

[Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read the whole series available and I loved these books. The mysteries are just intriguing enough, the characters are very believable and the one liners made me laugh out loud. Some of the terminology may be a little modern but this was easy to overlook in view of the fact that the books are very engaging. I've even ordered some of the radio shows from Audible!

[Amanda Meggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a few sub plots to this novel. I found the timeline a little confusing at times with various deaths and the order that McLevy discovered the facts of the case. It didn't really matter, as it flowed well enough. McLevy is a good character, strong yet humourous. As are Jean and her 'girls', even the bad guys have well developed characters. I will certainly read more of this series.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was alright - some intersting ideas about why the first Tay Bridge collapsed and the main characters were intersting. I would read another by the same author to see if it was better. I am prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt as I have read 5 star reviews of this author.

[Karen Lowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this second book in the Inspector McLevy series. A great sense of atmosphere of Victorian Edinburgh, with its bawdy houses, slums, and the secret vices of 'respectable' middle classes. Inspector McLevy is a compelling character.

[Robin H-R Holmes Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

McLevy #2

The second book in the James McLevy series was as entertaining as the first. I so enjoy the interaction between the main characters, the sarcasm of McLevy, the lieutenant 's golf on the brain, the comebacks from Jean Brash...Looking forward to book three!

[Anette · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Ashton is masterful at weaving Victorian crime fiction around real people and events. Written with insight and humour, it's a real page turner.