The Devil's Mask

by Christopher Wakling

The Georgian terraces are rising .

In the aftermath of the abolition of the slave trade, the port of Bristol is awash with the commercial gains of the Empire. But in the midst of all the grand building projects something is rotten at the heart of the city.

The first victim is discovered .

News of the mutilated body speads quickly. And as further horrifically charred corpses are found, the new streets are gripped with a primal sense of fear. The city fathers decide to step in to suppress the rising panic.

An innocent is drawn into the tangled net.

A lowly legal clerk with a taste for coffee, Inigo Bright has been charged with investigating customs fees in the great port. Yet this routine investigation will drag him down in a net of violence and deception that puts not only his life but that of those closest to him in deadly danger...

Genres: Fiction, Historical, Mystery

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Christopher George Wakling was born in 1970. He studied English at Oxford and has worked as a farm hand, teacher and lawyer. He has written four novels: Towards the Sun, The Undertow, Beneath the Diamond Sky and On Cape Three Points. The first three were literary thrillers, published under the name Christopher Wakling, but his latest book, Towards the Sun, isn’t thrilling at all, so he’s published it as Christopher George. This name decision is a publishing thing. Some books are translated into Dutch, French, Spanish and Italian. Christopher George Wakling is the Royal Literary Fund Writing Fellow at Bristol University. From time to time he teaches creative writing for the Arvon Foundation, and writes travel journalism for The Independent. Married with two children, he lives in Bristol.
- From author's website

Reviews

[alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading a murder mystery set in early 1800s Bristol, however this book had its fair share of issues for me.

The main character lacked depth, the rest of the characters also failed to grasp my imagination - whilst some details seemed effortless, i.e. the Dock Master's nervous picking of his hands, the majority of the male characters blurred together. The female characters, whilst infinitely more interesting, seemed only to serve the protagonist's sexual urges or, as another reviewer mentioned, 'as annoyance' to him. The redeemer for me was the mentor type figure of Adam Carthy, whose perceptive witticisms and fatherly prowess made my reading experience far less infuriating - much needed as the protagonist seemed unable to jump to conclusions; this mystery was lacking in twists and 'a-ha' moments, with the few that did occur taking long enough to reach that I had already surmised where the plot was going and incidentally was left underwhelmed.

Although, I will praise Wakling's writing style - his descriptions of Bristol were tantalisingly gruesome and macabre, and he managed to keep me gripped well enough to read into the early hours. Despite its shortcomings, this was still an enjoyable read for me.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bristol was the port that John Cabot sailed from to discover Newfoundland, and was the point of embarcation for the heroes of Gulliver's Travels and Treasure Island. It was also a key port in the slave trade, profiting for over a hundred years, until 1807, promoted by the Society of Merchant Venturers. It is a city I know well, having lived there for the best part of half a century, and so I was looking forward to reading this novel set there in 1810, a year after the opening of the Floating Harbour and a year before the Prince of Wales became Regent following George III's madness.

The Devil's Mask certainly makes good use of Georgian Bristol as a backdrop to this tale of commercial shenanigans and casual inhumanity. The streets, the variety of buildings (merchant houses, coffee houses, speculative property developments) and the muddy and silted river Avon flowing through the city are all based on either real or typical topographical locations and to a large extent the novel captures the mix of genteel living and rank poverty that typified ports such as Bristol. However, The Devils' Mask doesn't convey a sense of geography to readers unfamiliar with the city, and, at the least, a map of Bristol and the road between Bristol and Bath should have been included; without it I wouldn't blame anyone for becoming both lost and discouraged from further exploration.

The elements of the narrative are quickly and graphically introduced: the narrator Inigo Bright (a lawyer with artistic leanings, just like the author himself) is somehow different from this father and brothers; he is charged with getting to the root of discrepancies in the activities of the Bristol-based Western Trading Company; he keeps being warned off further investigations, not least by being attacked and imprisoned; he encounters a series of shocking murders, all associated with his investigations of a suspicious trading vessel; he finally discovers the truth which, surprise, surprise, involves his family with slavery and the aftermath of its abolition. Running through the first-person narrative is a parallel tale of young West African women holed up, first in a slaver, then in an underground place of confinement. The final denouement only confirms what we knew from the opening pages, and so is no real mystery; the only mystery is why the young lawyer took so long to work out the obvious.

This was a promising proposition, a novel exploring the ramifications of Bristol's involvement in the slave trade appearing not long after the 200th anniversary of slavery's abolition in most of the British Empire. Sadly, The Devil's Mask doesn't live up to this promise. There is a catalogue of failings which weaken the impact of this historical detective fiction. First is the narrator, who is a weak and vacillating character much given to introspection but apparently caring very little about anybody or anything; as a result the reader scarcely cares about him. Second is the pace of the action: incidents lasting a few seconds are described in loving but lengthy detail, while descriptions that would give us a sense of place and time are skimped. Third, the descriptive passages are often inordinately convoluted, with pretentious word-painting of sunlight reflecting or not reflecting on water and apparently significant musings on seagulls. On top of that, dialogue and vocabulary were largely in modern English, heightening my sense of historical incongruity; this was not aided by the otherwise attractive book cover, based on a Victorian photograph of a half century or more later, showing the hazy outlines of St Mary Redcliffe (actually not mentioned in the novel) behind a ship's riggings and a young man, whom we are meant to identify as the hirsute hero, in mid-19th century clothing.

In short, this tale required very heavy editing, if not re-writing, pre-publication. It could have been an enjoyable and a real page-turner, but as it stands only a sense of duty could persuade this reviewer to complete it. It is a shame, as I really wanted to like this novel.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gripping read set in Bristol in 1810 where young lawyer’s clerk, Inigo Bright, gets closer to the truth about a secret cargo than the merchant class, who dominate the town, want him to. The mystery though, is less important than the atmosphere and the authentic early-19th century characterisations and attitudes as literal dark secrets, some close to Bright’s family, surface. Smoothly written, particularly evocative in descriptive passages such as a carriage ride, with even the most minor characters believable individuals

[Natalie Holden · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know what prompted me to read this book. The writing was pretentious, the protagonist insufferable. A lot of things happened that had little to no bearing on the plot. There was a whole strew of female characters that seemed to exist only for the protagonist to be annoyed with. And his inability to reach simple conclusions was staggering.
But the premise was interesting and the intrigue kept me interested enough to finish.

[Keren Lilley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved all the references to Georgian Bristol & Bath. Some of the descriptive narrative was beautiful. Once the pace picked up towards the end I couldn't put it down, but maybe a bit too slow moving initially. Very promising author - one to watch.

[Evelyn Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this! Overlooking what others have commented on, not changing clothes and the coffee house! An olde worlde who done it and I didn’t see the end coming as it did

[Orla mcmichael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reasonably good read. However parts of the plot were predictable.

[Sorcha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Received May 2011 from Faber and Faber via the Early Reviewers on Librarything.com. Will assume it's an Uncorrected Proof when reviewing, though this has not been explicitly stated.[return][return][return]Review:[return]I read the prologue the day I got the book, then put it aside to concentrate on the current read (The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt - zzzzzzzzz). Anyway gave up on that book yesterday in favour of this, and I'm glad I did. Starting with chapter 1, I initially thought it had forwarded onto a 21st Century setting - the main character descending into his favourite coffee shop and being served ahead of the irregulars who were already there. It wasn't until later in the chapter that you realised the story was set not long after the abolition of slavery. I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing that during the whole story you dont actually know what year it's set in.[return][return]Anyway, the story progresses on in a fast paced measure, as Inigo starts to investigate the discrepancies in the port ledgers for one trading company in particular (with which his family have a vested interest) and the disappearance of his lawyer mentor.[return][return]When I put my name in for this book I had recently read March by Geraldine Brooks which was set during the slavery period in America and had some quite brutal depictions of how slaves were treated on the plantations. The transportation of slaves in tight, cramped conditions was covered in The Devil's Mask but was less confrontational - the focussing on woman was a suitable touch.[return][return]One thing I was struck with today: During the story, Inigo gets beaten up (several times), has walked through rain, mud and sewage, stayed up all night over several nights. I think there's one mention of changing a shirt (but no shoes or trousers); One quip about his hair after walking in rain; however, no other changes of clothes, no "Inigo, what's with the thick ear?" after the fight in the pub, no little children running away/making fun of beaten up faces; One mention about a bruise on his belly (but his face pretty enough to have escaped any damage whatsoever) and apart from multiple cups of coffee and one meal with his father, apparently Inigo doesnt eat, doesnt wash or change his clothes and rarely sleeps. At all. And considering the lack of other description of either Inigo or any other major character, the multiple reference to Inigo's hair did begin to grate after a while[return][return]Overall, I enjoyed it, it was well written and suitably paced

[Jules Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note - I received a free review copy through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers programme.[return][return]Historical mystery set in Bristol just after the abolition of the slave trade. Inigo Bright comes from a wealthy mercantile family, but has gone into law rather than shipping. Newly qualified, he still works for the man he was legal clerk to, on one of the practice's major sources of income -- the nitpicking investigation on behalf of the port officials of customs fees owed and paid. What seems like a routine investigation of one ship's petty smuggling gives Inigo a minor problem with torn loyalties, because his family's business has some investment in the ship. [return][return]He sets that aside and goes on with his investigation, only to be led into a tangle of deception, threats and finally outright violence against himself and his master. And it seems to be linked with the murdered women who have been found in the city. Inigo does the sensible thing and tries to put his information before the authorities, but finds a suspicious lack of interest. If the truth is to be brought to light, he'll have to do the digging.[return][return]I enjoyed it enormously, but more as a historical novel with a literary bent than as a mystery. The mystery's good, but the book's structure gives away a lot of the solution just a little too soon for my taste if approaching it purely as a mystery. The reverse side of this is that Wakling has done an excellent job of laying out the clues and leaving the reader to draw their own conclusions about not just the solution to the mystery, but the society Inigo lives in. I'm partial to world-building via long, lingering descriptions when done well, as it is here, and found the book to have a good balance between plot and evoking a sense of place. The one criticism I'd have was that several characters seemed to start off as being intended to be significant players in the tale, and then more or less fizzled out. Inigo himself is an appealing character. He's young and uncertain of himself, but has the strength of character to make difficult choices once he's thought them through. At book's end I was satisfied with the closure given, but wanted to know what happened to him next, which is always a good sign.[return][return]A page-turner that brings to life the physical and moral price paid for the profits of the slave trade, even after abolition.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

I relished my journey to Bristol in the days immediately following the abolition of slavery. I picked my way through filthy, stinking streets in the company of narrator Inigo Bright. Its splendid terraces for the wealthy are currently being erected, but that doesn't mean that the city isn't choked in corruption and vice. Inigo is a young, bored lawyer who's mainly engaged in checking and verifying documents. Until one set of documents plunges him into dangerous territory, though he hardly, at first, knows where this will lead him.

I found the actual story a little confusing at times, especially towards the end. But as a way of approaching an understanding of the city of Bristol, in the aftermath of the slaving industry, it's worth a read.

[Janette Fleming · Rating 4 out of 5]

Faber Blurb Meet Inigo Bright. He's a bored young lawyer working in Bristol after the abolition of the slave trade. A frustrated artist, at odds with his wealthy merchant family, and engaged to a girl he no longer loves, Inigo's dissatisfaction is complete when his boss and mentor, Adam Carthy, charges him with the numbing task of reconciling years of port fees and import duties for the newly formed Dock Company. But detail is the devil's mask.

Inigo's routine investigation leads him to The Belsize, a ship newly returned from the Indies, laden with rum, sugar, tobacco, and a chilling secret. Those in the city whose interests the secret protects move swiftly and savagely to keep the truth hidden at all costs.

Before long Inigo, his boss and family, are implicated and under threat. A cover-up seems the only way out. But Inigo has linked the case to a charred corpse found on a building site in the rising district of Clifton and soon there are other bodies to account for, too.

Likable main character and excellent sense of time and place 19th century Bristol with all its disparity. A well written, thought provoking read that stays with you. Highly recommended

[Casey Browne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this! Excellent story, tightly written. My one reservation is that Wakling makes little attempt at the authentic language of the time in his first-person narrative; and while that may be deliberate and excusable, the littering of anachronisms is irritating. But overall it was a fun murder mystery book.

[Jane Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent story, tightly written. My one reservation is that Wakling makes little attempt at authentic language of the time in his first-person narrative; and while that may be deliberate and excusable, the littering of anachronisms is irritating.

[Kim Blakemore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intense! Loved reading about Bristol and learning about the illegal slave trade. Great pacing - a historical thriller - awesome

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this novel about Brustol just after the abolition of the slave trade. Atmospheric and interesting. Recommend if you enjoy historical crime fiction.

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED IT! So good