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The Gower Street Detective #5
Dark Dawn Over Steep House
London, 1884: 125 Gower Street, the residence of Sidney Grice, London's foremost personal detective, and his ward March Middleton, is at peace.
Midnight discussions between the great man and his charge have led to a harmony unseen in these hallowed halls since the great frog disaster of 1878.
But harmony cannot last for long. A knock on the door brings mystery and murder once more to their home. A mystery that involves a Prussian Count, two damsels in distress, a Chinaman from Wales, a gangster looking for love and the shadowy ruin of a once-loved family home, Steep House...
Midnight discussions between the great man and his charge have led to a harmony unseen in these hallowed halls since the great frog disaster of 1878.
But harmony cannot last for long. A knock on the door brings mystery and murder once more to their home. A mystery that involves a Prussian Count, two damsels in distress, a Chinaman from Wales, a gangster looking for love and the shadowy ruin of a once-loved family home, Steep House...
480 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2017
83 people are currently reading
1698 people want to read
About the author
M.R.C. Kasasian
30 books515 followersMartin Kasasian was raised in Lancashire. He has had careers as varied as factory hand, wine waiter, veterinary assistant, fairground worker and dentist. He lives with his wife in Suffolk in the summer and in a village in Malta in the winter.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 118 reviews
August 12, 2020
Perchè considero il libro un flop da parte mia:
○ Mr Grice mi urta i nervi ogni volta che parla. È maleducato, offensivo e non solo nei confronti delle donne ma verso tutti. Mi fa venire l'orticaria ogni volta che parla e ci sono 100 capitoli nel libro. Ora ok siamo alla fine del 1800 ma che cavolo è offensivo in ogni capitolo. Fosse una ogni tanto potrei capire e dire "è l'epoca" ma così ...
○ Paragonarlo a Sherlock non ci penso neanche. Forse Sherlock avrà certi modi di fare, è tanto che non ne leggo uno, ma si legge che è una meraviglia. Forse è questo essere sulla falsa riga che mi da pure fastidio. Il voler far fare lo Sherlock a un altro.
○ C'è poi tutta una serie di personaggi pure che non si sopporta dopo Mr. Grice. Tra i quali pure March. O meglio tutti?
○ La storia è poi alquanto confusionaria.
○ La fine è assurda
Risparmiate i vostri €0,99 se lo vedete in offerta. Ci sono libri migliori per quanto mi riguarda come thriller storici.
Si può dire che è stato un inferno leggerlo. Spero che al libro piaccia la cartella dei FLOP!! sul Kobo.
○ Mr Grice mi urta i nervi ogni volta che parla. È maleducato, offensivo e non solo nei confronti delle donne ma verso tutti. Mi fa venire l'orticaria ogni volta che parla e ci sono 100 capitoli nel libro. Ora ok siamo alla fine del 1800 ma che cavolo è offensivo in ogni capitolo. Fosse una ogni tanto potrei capire e dire "è l'epoca" ma così ...
○ Paragonarlo a Sherlock non ci penso neanche. Forse Sherlock avrà certi modi di fare, è tanto che non ne leggo uno, ma si legge che è una meraviglia. Forse è questo essere sulla falsa riga che mi da pure fastidio. Il voler far fare lo Sherlock a un altro.
○ C'è poi tutta una serie di personaggi pure che non si sopporta dopo Mr. Grice. Tra i quali pure March. O meglio tutti?
○ La storia è poi alquanto confusionaria.
○ La fine è assurda
Risparmiate i vostri €0,99 se lo vedete in offerta. Ci sono libri migliori per quanto mi riguarda come thriller storici.
Si può dire che è stato un inferno leggerlo. Spero che al libro piaccia la cartella dei FLOP!! sul Kobo.
June 29, 2017
To read all my book reviews plus author interviews and book excerpts, visit my blog: https://whatcathyreadnext.wordpress.com/
I’ve been aware of this series for some time (especially their gorgeous covers) but never got around to reading one although I’m a great fan of historical mysteries. Therefore, I was delighted to be given the opportunity by Clare at Head of Zeus to read the latest in the series, Dark Dawn over Steep House. Having done so, I’ve now added all four of the previous books in the series to my wishlist!
The story is narrated by March Middleton, goddaughter of Sidney Grice. March also acts as chronicler of Grice’s cases in the manner of Dr John Watson for Sherlock Holmes. In fact, Grice holds a similarly low opinion of March’s literary efforts as does Holmes of Watson’s. Grice has the peculiar mannerisms, pedantic mode of speech and keen powers of observation and deduction worthy of his fictional counterpart. He is also socially inept, rude, possesses odd phobias and is apt to pounce on any lazy use of figurative speech. However, he is also the man to have in a crisis not least of which because of his superior hearing and sense of smell and seemingly endless range of canes adapted for use as weapons, mechanical devices and goodness knows what else.
I found some of Grice’s bon mots laugh out loud funny. When a client describes having fallen into an opium-fuelled stupor during an assault as being ‘almost asleep but still aware of what was going on’, he quips, ‘Like an evening at the opera.’
March acts as the yin to Grice’s yang being equipped with the normal social graces. She is plucky, resourceful and independent and being a woman, she can gain access to people and situations that Grice cannot (she has no aversion to the colour green). Furthermore, unlike her illustrious godfather, she can hold a conversation with someone without being rude to them but she has a sharp tongue when needed. Marsh has experienced tragedy in her life and has survived some perilous encounters in previous cases.
There are intriguing and enticing references to these earlier cases scattered throughout the book but, sadly, no further information on the Great Frog Disaster of 1878 mentioned in the Goodreads blurb. I fear that, like the Giant Rat of Sumatra in the Sherlock Holmes tale ‘The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire’, this is ‘a story for which the world is not yet prepared’.
I loved the esoteric literary jokes such as the chapter entitled ‘The Empty House’ which, as Sherlock Holmes aficionados will know, is the title of one of his adventures. There is a brilliant scene where Sidney and March visit the office of solicitor, Silas Spry, and find his underemployed clerk whiling away his time by writing a novel. Glancing at the manuscript, they are unimpressed by it and advise him to write about something he knows instead.
‘I only know about being a clerk and not a very good one at that,’ he snuffled. ‘Who would be interested in the diary of a nobody?’*
[Finally, this last example is for those already lucky enough to own a copy of the book. Out of curiosity, March reads the first page of the clerk’s manuscript: ‘There was a message engraved in the locket,’ I read aloud. ‘That is not a very exciting beginning.’ Now turn back to Chapter 1 of your copy of the book. ]
The writing captures the atmosphere of the period and provided me with some new words to add to my vocabulary: ‘eldritch’ meaning weird, sinister or ghostly; and ‘sough’ meaning a whispering sound.
So by now you’re probably thinking this book is rather light-hearted, a bit too clever for its own good and a not very compelling murder mystery. Well, you’re wrong because as the book progresses it gets much darker, in fact fairly gruesome in places. The reader is transported to the seamy, squalid underbelly of 19th century London – its rat-infested slums, maze-like alleys, murky side streets and seedy opium dens ruled by gangs and criminals prepared to stop at nothing to protect their patch. And treachery, immorality and double-dealing reside behind the gentile facades of well-to-do London as well.
Dark Dawn over Steep House will bring you face to face with murder, kidnap, suicide, disfigurement and depravity. You’ll soon be immersed in the twists and turns of an intricately plotted mystery where nothing and no-one should be taken at face value. Grice and Marsh are not infallible and as they close in on the perpetrator there are mistakes whose consequences must be lived with for ever.
I found the mixture of quirky humour, eccentric characters and compelling plot really entertaining and I hope there will be another outing for Sidney Grice and March Middleton soon. In the meantime, I shall be catching up with the earlier books in the series.
I received a review copy courtesy of publishers, Head of Zeus, in return for an honest review.
I’ve been aware of this series for some time (especially their gorgeous covers) but never got around to reading one although I’m a great fan of historical mysteries. Therefore, I was delighted to be given the opportunity by Clare at Head of Zeus to read the latest in the series, Dark Dawn over Steep House. Having done so, I’ve now added all four of the previous books in the series to my wishlist!
The story is narrated by March Middleton, goddaughter of Sidney Grice. March also acts as chronicler of Grice’s cases in the manner of Dr John Watson for Sherlock Holmes. In fact, Grice holds a similarly low opinion of March’s literary efforts as does Holmes of Watson’s. Grice has the peculiar mannerisms, pedantic mode of speech and keen powers of observation and deduction worthy of his fictional counterpart. He is also socially inept, rude, possesses odd phobias and is apt to pounce on any lazy use of figurative speech. However, he is also the man to have in a crisis not least of which because of his superior hearing and sense of smell and seemingly endless range of canes adapted for use as weapons, mechanical devices and goodness knows what else.
I found some of Grice’s bon mots laugh out loud funny. When a client describes having fallen into an opium-fuelled stupor during an assault as being ‘almost asleep but still aware of what was going on’, he quips, ‘Like an evening at the opera.’
March acts as the yin to Grice’s yang being equipped with the normal social graces. She is plucky, resourceful and independent and being a woman, she can gain access to people and situations that Grice cannot (she has no aversion to the colour green). Furthermore, unlike her illustrious godfather, she can hold a conversation with someone without being rude to them but she has a sharp tongue when needed. Marsh has experienced tragedy in her life and has survived some perilous encounters in previous cases.
There are intriguing and enticing references to these earlier cases scattered throughout the book but, sadly, no further information on the Great Frog Disaster of 1878 mentioned in the Goodreads blurb. I fear that, like the Giant Rat of Sumatra in the Sherlock Holmes tale ‘The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire’, this is ‘a story for which the world is not yet prepared’.
I loved the esoteric literary jokes such as the chapter entitled ‘The Empty House’ which, as Sherlock Holmes aficionados will know, is the title of one of his adventures. There is a brilliant scene where Sidney and March visit the office of solicitor, Silas Spry, and find his underemployed clerk whiling away his time by writing a novel. Glancing at the manuscript, they are unimpressed by it and advise him to write about something he knows instead.
‘I only know about being a clerk and not a very good one at that,’ he snuffled. ‘Who would be interested in the diary of a nobody?’*
[Finally, this last example is for those already lucky enough to own a copy of the book. Out of curiosity, March reads the first page of the clerk’s manuscript: ‘There was a message engraved in the locket,’ I read aloud. ‘That is not a very exciting beginning.’ Now turn back to Chapter 1 of your copy of the book. ]
The writing captures the atmosphere of the period and provided me with some new words to add to my vocabulary: ‘eldritch’ meaning weird, sinister or ghostly; and ‘sough’ meaning a whispering sound.
So by now you’re probably thinking this book is rather light-hearted, a bit too clever for its own good and a not very compelling murder mystery. Well, you’re wrong because as the book progresses it gets much darker, in fact fairly gruesome in places. The reader is transported to the seamy, squalid underbelly of 19th century London – its rat-infested slums, maze-like alleys, murky side streets and seedy opium dens ruled by gangs and criminals prepared to stop at nothing to protect their patch. And treachery, immorality and double-dealing reside behind the gentile facades of well-to-do London as well.
Dark Dawn over Steep House will bring you face to face with murder, kidnap, suicide, disfigurement and depravity. You’ll soon be immersed in the twists and turns of an intricately plotted mystery where nothing and no-one should be taken at face value. Grice and Marsh are not infallible and as they close in on the perpetrator there are mistakes whose consequences must be lived with for ever.
I found the mixture of quirky humour, eccentric characters and compelling plot really entertaining and I hope there will be another outing for Sidney Grice and March Middleton soon. In the meantime, I shall be catching up with the earlier books in the series.
I received a review copy courtesy of publishers, Head of Zeus, in return for an honest review.
February 11, 2018
Some of these are better than others and this one, I think, is one of the weaker ones. Grice is just as pedantic, grumpy and rude as ever but the humour in it is starting to wear thin. And March just never seems to learn. The story meanders, the plot is confusing, and the sad, somber overtone doesn't work well with the humour. An OK read but I think the other books in the series are bettter.
July 28, 2017
Sometimes a writer appears to pay attention to reader criticisms, as in this case. The previous book in this series had been so flawed by over the top writing that even now I would say one could skip it entirely and not miss much. This story brings the series back on track.
While March is technically Grice's assistant, here he serves more as an advisor on a case of hers. Tough to say more without going into spoiler territory, but the latter part of book becomes very dark indeed. The villain turns out to be even more sadistic than expected, with a particularly gory final climax scene that was a bit tough for me to take in audio format. I will say that it's important for the reader to be aware that March and Grice do overcome the emotional upheaval of the story enough to pick themselves up and move on, shaken and scarred though they are by the events.
While March is technically Grice's assistant, here he serves more as an advisor on a case of hers. Tough to say more without going into spoiler territory, but the latter part of book becomes very dark indeed. The villain turns out to be even more sadistic than expected, with a particularly gory final climax scene that was a bit tough for me to take in audio format. I will say that it's important for the reader to be aware that March and Grice do overcome the emotional upheaval of the story enough to pick themselves up and move on, shaken and scarred though they are by the events.
July 4, 2017
This book nearly broke me, the ending truly devastated me but it was so good! This series keeps getting better and I can't wait for more!
July 11, 2017
Implied spoilers: Reluctantly, I must give this five stars. It is so well written! One of the best in Kasasian's series, but I just finished and my heart remains broken. That state is how March ends the book, and I'm right there with her. This was wonderful but I wish I had a little more catharsis at the end. I wish I had a little more, "it's gonna be ok."
December 21, 2020
A series that has run its course I think. Sidney and his sidekick try and discover who is brutally assaulting women. Miss March seems to get everyone she meets killed through ineptitude and there is a tragic loss - which is a shocker. Grice is a rude genius without the charisma of Holmes and, with March being an idiot, there is little to love. Shame.
December 13, 2017
Sydney Grice's lack of graciousness has begun to wear thin. The contrast between the rather dark story and the (childish, and at times, inappropriate) supposedly humorous retorts was unsettling and more often than not interrupted rather enhanced the narrative.
December 20, 2017
I was introduced to this series a couple of years ago by one of Deanna Raybourn's blog posts. I have absolutely loved reading it. I can see why Raybourn would recommend these books. March Middleton could have been one of her heroines. March is a sassy, unconventional Victorian woman, whose “secret” smoking and drinking binges are actually her way of coping with tragic events in her past.
Sidney Grice is so fastidiously annoying that it’s hard not to love him. His investigations with March get so twisted you don’t know which-way-is-up until the final scene when the brilliant Mr. G. pieces all the clues together. They feel like the literary equivalent of an Edward Gorey print.
Book 4, “The Secrets of Gaslight Lane,” was so over-the-top, I barely remember anything about the plot. But the grisly crimes are not why I read this series. It's March's narration and Mr. G's antics and the supporting characters like "Malaprop" Molly and March's stalwart suitor, Inspector Pound.
I did remember two takeaway questions from Book 4 that I needed Book 5 to resolve:
1. Is Mr. G March’s biological father?
2. Will March and Inspector Pound reconnect, despite the fact he’s never really recovered his full health and has been reassigned to a faraway post?
I can report that “Deep Dawn at Steep House” definitively answered both of these questions. And there was another investigative romp full of macabre detail. But then came the last 20 pages of the book…
I would not be surprised if this proves to be the last Gower Street Detective mystery because I don’t know where Kasasian would take it from here. “Old” March, who narrates the frame story from 1944, all but admits some of Mr. G.'s cases will just not be written about because she doesn’t expect to live long enough to write them. That makes this ending even sadder. Although, if this the end, I am glad the series is not going to go on past the point of where the author is sick of writing it.
Sidney Grice is so fastidiously annoying that it’s hard not to love him. His investigations with March get so twisted you don’t know which-way-is-up until the final scene when the brilliant Mr. G. pieces all the clues together. They feel like the literary equivalent of an Edward Gorey print.
Book 4, “The Secrets of Gaslight Lane,” was so over-the-top, I barely remember anything about the plot. But the grisly crimes are not why I read this series. It's March's narration and Mr. G's antics and the supporting characters like "Malaprop" Molly and March's stalwart suitor, Inspector Pound.
I did remember two takeaway questions from Book 4 that I needed Book 5 to resolve:
1. Is Mr. G March’s biological father?
2. Will March and Inspector Pound reconnect, despite the fact he’s never really recovered his full health and has been reassigned to a faraway post?
I can report that “Deep Dawn at Steep House” definitively answered both of these questions. And there was another investigative romp full of macabre detail. But then came the last 20 pages of the book…
I would not be surprised if this proves to be the last Gower Street Detective mystery because I don’t know where Kasasian would take it from here. “Old” March, who narrates the frame story from 1944, all but admits some of Mr. G.'s cases will just not be written about because she doesn’t expect to live long enough to write them. That makes this ending even sadder. Although, if this the end, I am glad the series is not going to go on past the point of where the author is sick of writing it.
August 5, 2017
I love this series and have to agree with some other reviewers - it is definitely getting darker! Kasasian writes so well that the reader becomes totally immersed in gloomy Victorian London and all of its colourful characters.
I am desperately hoping that there will be a volume 6.
I am desperately hoping that there will be a volume 6.
October 28, 2017
I really enjoyed this book and I will be looking for more by this author.
The narration was superb and had me listening into the early hours.
Very hard to put down. Highly recommended.
The narration was superb and had me listening into the early hours.
Very hard to put down. Highly recommended.
August 13, 2019
Al civico 125 di Gower Street, che corrisponde all’indirizzo di Sidney Grice, il più famoso detective privato della città, regna la pace. Dopo le consuete chiacchiere serali, il grande investigatore e la sua pupilla March Middleton si sono ritirati nelle loro stanze, lasciando la dimora in un silenzio carico di armonia. Ma questa condizione non è destinata a durare. Qualcuno bussa freneticamente alla porta e ben presto il mistero e la morte tornano a intrufolarsi dentro casa: sta per cominciare una nuova indagine. Un’indagine che coinvolge un principe prussiano, due donne con un passato difficile, un cinese che viene da Londra e un gangster dal volto ignoto. Ognuno di questi personaggi si muove tra le misteriose rovine di una casa un tempo rinomata: Steep House. Riusciranno, una volta ancora, il detective Grice e la sua assistente March a risolvere il mistero? E quale sarà il prezzo da pagare per riportare a galla tutta la verità?
Ancora una volta Mr G e March non mi deludono. I due personaggi più politicamente scorretti che abbia mai incontrato sono assolutamente inarrestabili. Quando si pensa che il detective personale più noto di Londra non possa essere più sgradevole, lui si supera con superbe uscite al vetriolo. Certe volte però verrebbe voglia di entrare nel libro e percuoterlo con uno dei suoi assurdi bastoni da passeggio.
La cara March, comunque, continua a tenergli testa e a imparare quanto più possibile dal suo tutore. Certo che la continua frequentazione con Mr G ha evidenziato alcuni aspetti spigolosi del suo carattere.
In questa storia March mostra però avventatezza e altre persone pagheranno le conseguenze di queste sue scelte.
Però sono esilaranti i nomi dei casi che Grice ha risolto e che vengono citati qui e là. Allo stesso modo sono comiche le strampalate deduzioni su diversi fatti che non attengono al caso.
Questa volta non c'è un assassino da fermare e il giallo ruota intorno a un principe prussiano che violenta giovani ragazze. Questo non fermerà assolutamente March e Mr G e il caro Ispettore Pound.
La storia quindi si sviluppa in modo diverso: certi dell'idea del loro colpevole devono trovare delle prove che siano inattaccabili in tribunale, dove il diplomatico è già scampato a un'inchiesta. Ma spesso le apparenze ingannano e la soluzione del mistero potrebbe essere più complicata.
Trovo sempre molto interessante è la ricostruzione storica, che sembra ben documentata. Mentre mi sgomenta il modo in cui Grice tratta i ceti inferiori... in cui lui ricomprende anche le donne.
Il romanzo ha un piccolo difetto: all'inizio l'ho trovato un po' caotico, ma andando avanti migliora e diventano più chiari i legami tra i personaggi.
Sono invece insuperabili i dialoghi, ironici e ritmati.
Quanto all' epilogo sono rimasta davvero shockata, e mi ha lasciato l'amaro in bocca.
Ancora una volta Mr G e March non mi deludono. I due personaggi più politicamente scorretti che abbia mai incontrato sono assolutamente inarrestabili. Quando si pensa che il detective personale più noto di Londra non possa essere più sgradevole, lui si supera con superbe uscite al vetriolo. Certe volte però verrebbe voglia di entrare nel libro e percuoterlo con uno dei suoi assurdi bastoni da passeggio.
La cara March, comunque, continua a tenergli testa e a imparare quanto più possibile dal suo tutore. Certo che la continua frequentazione con Mr G ha evidenziato alcuni aspetti spigolosi del suo carattere.
In questa storia March mostra però avventatezza e altre persone pagheranno le conseguenze di queste sue scelte.
Però sono esilaranti i nomi dei casi che Grice ha risolto e che vengono citati qui e là. Allo stesso modo sono comiche le strampalate deduzioni su diversi fatti che non attengono al caso.
Questa volta non c'è un assassino da fermare e il giallo ruota intorno a un principe prussiano che violenta giovani ragazze. Questo non fermerà assolutamente March e Mr G e il caro Ispettore Pound.
La storia quindi si sviluppa in modo diverso: certi dell'idea del loro colpevole devono trovare delle prove che siano inattaccabili in tribunale, dove il diplomatico è già scampato a un'inchiesta. Ma spesso le apparenze ingannano e la soluzione del mistero potrebbe essere più complicata.
Trovo sempre molto interessante è la ricostruzione storica, che sembra ben documentata. Mentre mi sgomenta il modo in cui Grice tratta i ceti inferiori... in cui lui ricomprende anche le donne.
Il romanzo ha un piccolo difetto: all'inizio l'ho trovato un po' caotico, ma andando avanti migliora e diventano più chiari i legami tra i personaggi.
Sono invece insuperabili i dialoghi, ironici e ritmati.
Quanto all' epilogo sono rimasta davvero shockata, e mi ha lasciato l'amaro in bocca.
March 16, 2022
2,25
Ho trovato difficile interessarmi alla storia contenuta in questo volume e ai suoi personaggi.
Non so se la cosa sia solo imputabile al libro di per sé, o anche alla mia stanchezza, ma non lo rileggerei certamente per scoprirlo.
Ho trovato difficile interessarmi alla storia contenuta in questo volume e ai suoi personaggi.
Non so se la cosa sia solo imputabile al libro di per sé, o anche alla mia stanchezza, ma non lo rileggerei certamente per scoprirlo.
September 1, 2017
I have enjoyed all the Sydney Grice books. He is, by his own definition, THE best personal detective.
Dirty, grimy, violent London is once again put under the microscope when Grice is charged to find a missing daughter and a serial, sadistic rapist.
His goddaughter March Middleton is, as ever, his willing, if somewhat misguided, assistant. March has more heart than Grice and because of that finds herself, if not part of the problem, then making the problem worse. But she is clever and loving and even Sydney Grice relies on her intelligence and understanding. If you've read the other books you'll know this is a big deal.
The story, though amusingly told, as Grice is such a bumptious character, is violent, gory and heartbreaking. (Their completely 'soft in the head' servant Molly who seems to have a language of her own providing a little extra light relief.)
In trying to corner the serial rapist March and Grice put themselves in harms way but that is what they would always do, no sitting at home letting the little grey cells get to work for them.
There is an inherent sadness in all these books even though crimes get solved, it is always at some heart-breaking cost. I guess that is why the humour comes as a welcome relief and the bond between Grice and March is very touching.
I look forward to the next outing.
Dirty, grimy, violent London is once again put under the microscope when Grice is charged to find a missing daughter and a serial, sadistic rapist.
His goddaughter March Middleton is, as ever, his willing, if somewhat misguided, assistant. March has more heart than Grice and because of that finds herself, if not part of the problem, then making the problem worse. But she is clever and loving and even Sydney Grice relies on her intelligence and understanding. If you've read the other books you'll know this is a big deal.
The story, though amusingly told, as Grice is such a bumptious character, is violent, gory and heartbreaking. (Their completely 'soft in the head' servant Molly who seems to have a language of her own providing a little extra light relief.)
In trying to corner the serial rapist March and Grice put themselves in harms way but that is what they would always do, no sitting at home letting the little grey cells get to work for them.
There is an inherent sadness in all these books even though crimes get solved, it is always at some heart-breaking cost. I guess that is why the humour comes as a welcome relief and the bond between Grice and March is very touching.
I look forward to the next outing.
January 18, 2018
Oh delightful, just delightful! This is the 5th book of the Gower Street series and it's my favorite since the debut. I ended up staying up until 3:30 am to finish the final 200 pages just because I couldn't put it down. I also drank coffee after 7 thinking it was decaf, so that also helped I guess, but you get the point. Much like a club that Stefan from SNL fame would go to, it had EVERYTHING. It had dark humor! It had gore that would make Patrick Bateman proud! Murder! Arson! Butlers! Victorian era slang! There was never a dull moment in this gem. March Middleton is such a great character, and Sidney Grice is the type of character you want to hate but have to grit your teeth and admit that you like him, despite his smart-ass ways. Very interesting to see what direction this series will go in book number 6. Holy hell was this good.
October 14, 2021
I've been thinking for a while that these books are the grimdark of Victoriana detective works and this instalment hammers that home.
DO NOT Read if you have a problem with Incest or Gore or Graphic Body Horror
There are a couple of times in this book which made me feel the same as the torture scenes in the First Law trilogy.
However, mixed with that is a pretty obvious culprit, silly word-play with names from Holmes stories and recurring allusions to Jack the Ripper 4 years before those murders happened, presumably because the author assumes it's the only thing anyone cares about when reading crime set in Victorian London.
The ending is grim and depressing but riven with bathos.
DO NOT Read if you have a problem with Incest or Gore or Graphic Body Horror
There are a couple of times in this book which made me feel the same as the torture scenes in the First Law trilogy.
However, mixed with that is a pretty obvious culprit, silly word-play with names from Holmes stories and recurring allusions to Jack the Ripper 4 years before those murders happened, presumably because the author assumes it's the only thing anyone cares about when reading crime set in Victorian London.
The ending is grim and depressing but riven with bathos.
May 20, 2018
This is the first in this series I've read. The narrator is enjoyable enough but the Mr, Grice, the Holmsian detective, is a little too defective. Characters don't need to have ALL the quirks to make them quirky & memorable. His quirk dial is turned up to 13 and my tolerance level for over-the-top-ness ends at 9. His maid is also ridiculously quirky but at least she's good for a laugh or two. I feel like both of them would've been put in a lunatic asylum back then, for everyone else's sanity if nothing else. The mystery itself was decent, if gruesome. I am ambivalent about reading more of this series, though.
March 22, 2018
I suppose that there must be people who can put up with the detective’s CONSTANT literalness, but I can’t. I slogged through a quarter of the book before I gave up, wanting to reach through the pages and slap both the character and the author.
Skipped to the end and found the surprise to be what so many authors use to shock readers these days: incest. Nothing clever. There simply for the shock value.
Skipped to the end and found the surprise to be what so many authors use to shock readers these days: incest. Nothing clever. There simply for the shock value.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 4, 2017
I like this series, but this one was just a wee bit too complicated and shifting. It had so many sub-plots and details, and maybe I am just not in a head space to follow them all. And the ending - not sure what that is about? Will this carry on?
August 25, 2017
Excellent again.
First time I have given a five star rating.I love this series of stories the characters are brilliant the humour makes me laugh and the tragedy is felt. The nod to the Beatles in Abbey road was brilliant.
P.S I love Molly do let anything happen to her .
First time I have given a five star rating.I love this series of stories the characters are brilliant the humour makes me laugh and the tragedy is felt. The nod to the Beatles in Abbey road was brilliant.
P.S I love Molly do let anything happen to her .
September 27, 2017
I just didn't enjoy this as much as the others. And then the end! Really. Alas.
January 4, 2018
I think the author might benefit by some tighter editing. I could see the ending coming and dreaded it.
September 12, 2018
I tried to read this series again and think that they are becoming a little too strange for me
June 20, 2019
Well that was depressing as fuck
July 1, 2019
Mr. Kasasian, you shouldn't not killed off someone! Anguish!
January 24, 2023
Very upsetting on many levels. Too many killings for me.
July 26, 2018
Una serie violenze sessuali sulle donne atterrisce Londra. March e Mr Grice sono ingaggiati per dare un volto e un nome allo stupratore seriale ma quando in mezzo si mettono un Principe Prussiano, due donne sfigurate e un Gangster senza scrupoli, la faccenda si fa sempre più complicata.
Ci troviamo a vivere quello che è l'ultimo caso della coppia March e Mr. Grice. Alla fine del volume precedente ci era stata promessa la verità e qui alla fine la otteniamo. Ma prima di arrivarci ci sarà molto su cui lavorare.
Con questo quinto volume ci troviamo davanti non ad un omicidio (per quanto gli omicidi siano presenti e come) ma una serie di stupri a danni di donne giovani e di buona famiglia. E in qualche modo sembra che questi potrebbero essere o meno legati ai terribili fatti accaduti nella dimora di Steep House molti anni prima. L'associazione tra i due fatti viene rivelata solo alla fine.
Per quanto io adori questa serie, lo stile impeccabile dell'autore e i meravigliosi personaggi se devo essere sincera le vicende narrate in questo volume mi hanno disgustata. Forse sono stata troppo sensibile ma alcuni fatti mi hanno urtata profondamente. Kasasian non è mai stato delicato nelle descrizioni ma ho avuto l'impressione che qui sia stato anche più crudo del solito.
Altro problema è stato il personaggio di March. Io e lei non sempre siamo andare d'accordo ma nello scorso volume avevo notato una buonissima evoluzione in lei... che è andata perduta totalmente. Forse anche lei fin troppo sensibile ai crimini perpetrati ai danni delle donne, March compie delle scelte orribile che portano a delle conseguenze catastrofiche. Mi ha urtato i nervi prepotentemente.
Il finale della serie tutto sommato mi è piaciuto. L'ho trovato giusto. Certo mi sarebbe piaciuto continuare a leggere delle avventure investigative di March e Mr. Grice ma mi va bene essere arrivati a una conclusione.
Ci troviamo a vivere quello che è l'ultimo caso della coppia March e Mr. Grice. Alla fine del volume precedente ci era stata promessa la verità e qui alla fine la otteniamo. Ma prima di arrivarci ci sarà molto su cui lavorare.
Con questo quinto volume ci troviamo davanti non ad un omicidio (per quanto gli omicidi siano presenti e come) ma una serie di stupri a danni di donne giovani e di buona famiglia. E in qualche modo sembra che questi potrebbero essere o meno legati ai terribili fatti accaduti nella dimora di Steep House molti anni prima. L'associazione tra i due fatti viene rivelata solo alla fine.
Per quanto io adori questa serie, lo stile impeccabile dell'autore e i meravigliosi personaggi se devo essere sincera le vicende narrate in questo volume mi hanno disgustata. Forse sono stata troppo sensibile ma alcuni fatti mi hanno urtata profondamente. Kasasian non è mai stato delicato nelle descrizioni ma ho avuto l'impressione che qui sia stato anche più crudo del solito.
Altro problema è stato il personaggio di March. Io e lei non sempre siamo andare d'accordo ma nello scorso volume avevo notato una buonissima evoluzione in lei... che è andata perduta totalmente. Forse anche lei fin troppo sensibile ai crimini perpetrati ai danni delle donne, March compie delle scelte orribile che portano a delle conseguenze catastrofiche. Mi ha urtato i nervi prepotentemente.
Il finale della serie tutto sommato mi è piaciuto. L'ho trovato giusto. Certo mi sarebbe piaciuto continuare a leggere delle avventure investigative di March e Mr. Grice ma mi va bene essere arrivati a una conclusione.
March 26, 2019
Buona conclusione di questa serie che devo dire mi è piaciuta moltissimo!! Finalmente le cose si sono messe al posto giusto per March e il nostro caro detective Sidney Grice! L’indagine questa volta si colora di numerosi personaggi: un principe prussiano, due donne dal passato decisamente difficile, un cinese proveniente da Londra e un gangster sconosciuto.
L'estrazione sociale e le caratteristiche fisiche allontanerebbero naturalmente queste figure, che invece alla fine si riveleranno quanto mai interconnesse, dando del filo da torcere ai protagonisti.
Un giallo ancora una volta intrigante e in alcune parti estremamente divertente, perchè un sano humor non manca mai! Super consigliato a chi desidera tuffarsi nella meravigliosa Londra con tutti i suoi misteri.
L'estrazione sociale e le caratteristiche fisiche allontanerebbero naturalmente queste figure, che invece alla fine si riveleranno quanto mai interconnesse, dando del filo da torcere ai protagonisti.
Un giallo ancora una volta intrigante e in alcune parti estremamente divertente, perchè un sano humor non manca mai! Super consigliato a chi desidera tuffarsi nella meravigliosa Londra con tutti i suoi misteri.
June 11, 2020
For some reason, no doubt down to me, I found it difficult to get into this book. It had the same formula as its predecessors in this series, but I repeatedly restarted it. However, I have now finished it. I did enjoy it overall but there were parts that deserted me and allowed me to drift away. I am glad I have finished the series - as it is at present (I feel there is another book to come) - and have thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I have moved onto the spin off and am cracking on with that and am arguably more engaged now. Martin's writing is clever, great use of word play, humour all weaved around a mystery that takes a great deal of brain cells to unravel. They're good books, just this one was a slight struggle that may be more down to me than the writer.
August 14, 2021
Abgebrochen
Hier kam ich überhaupt nicht rein - kein Vergleich zu den Vorgängern für mich.
Verwirrend und sprachlich eine Katastrophe. Der ganze Charme und Witz wie in den anderen Bänden ging völlig verloren. Sehr schade.
Hier kam ich überhaupt nicht rein - kein Vergleich zu den Vorgängern für mich.
Verwirrend und sprachlich eine Katastrophe. Der ganze Charme und Witz wie in den anderen Bänden ging völlig verloren. Sehr schade.
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