Tue 25 Jan 2011
Reviewed by LJ Roberts: RAFE McGREGOR – The Architect of Murder.
Posted by Steve under Reviews1 Comment
Reviews by L. J. Roberts
RAFE McGREGOR – The Architect of Murder. Robert Hale, hardcover, February 2009.
Genre: Historical mystery. Leading character: Alec Marshall; 1st in series. Setting: England-1901/Gaslight Era.
First Sentence: I’m not sure why I decided to return to London when I did.
Major Alec Marshall served as a policeman prior to his joining the army and receiving the Victoria Cross. Alec has returned to England after learning of his sister, Dr. Ellen Marshall. Her close friend, Miss Roberta Paterson, believes Ellen was murdered and wants Alec to investigate.
Supt. William Melville of Scotland Yard’s CID, is short of men owing to the upcoming coronation of Edward VII, would also like Marshall’s help. Cecil Rhodes, one of the wealthiest men in Great Britain has died. The witnesses to the last two codicils, two of whom are in London are needed in Cape Town.
Assigned to work with Inspector Truegood, they find one of the witnesses murdered and uncover a plan set to impact the future of the British Empire.
It is always wonderful to pick up a book which looks somewhat interesting and find it to be completely fascinating and exciting. McGregor has created interesting, substantive characters. The protagonist, Alec Marshall, is one of the most fully drawn characters I’ve read in awhile.
Although initially it is challenging to put together the pieces of Alec’s background, particularly with people misrepresenting his rank, it does sort itself out. While he utilizes the logic and skills he learned as a policeman and a soldier, what I particularly liked was the breath of emotion given to Alec.
Roberta Paterson has a career and supports the vote for women but is still aware of social conventions. Truegood is a cop’s cop; he’s unimpressed by Alec and distrustful of his motives but will cover his back when the situation requires it.
Historical events and figures are incorporated in a realistic manner. Because of the number of characters, it could have been confusing. McGregor avoided that pitfall by reminding us of who the characters and their relationship to each other. Rather than this being redundant, it provides clarity and is well incorporated into the plot.
McGregor employs Alec in conveying the sense of time and place. With his transition back into London, we witness his observations on telephones, the crowds, traffic, noise and the smell of the air. There are descriptions of the manners and multi-course meals of the period, with particular attention given to men’s attire and facial hair, and the various levels of economic and social strata.
The tendresse which develops between Alec and Roberta is completely appropriate to the period. A lot of information had to be included for the story to make sense, but I was never bored.
There are shocking revelations and very dramatic confrontations. The story was informative, educational, exciting, suspenseful, dramatic and altogether wonderful. I can’t wait for the next book.
Rating: Excellent.
Editorial Comment: If I may, I’d like to recommend an article online by Rafe MacGregor about the writing of this book; it appears online here on the Shots Magazine website.
The bad news is that the book sold out its first printing very quickly and is now commanding high prices on the secondary market; that is to say, $80 and up, an amount I personally consider to be “high.” And at the present time, the author’s blog and website no longer seem to exist. Even with the success of the first book, I do not know if there will be a second one.
[UPDATE] 01-26-11. Jamie Sturgeon has sent me the URL to Rafe McGregor’s new website, where what he has to say about his writing career is even more discouraging. Here’s the direct link to his “Pulp Fiction” page: https://sites.google.com/site/rafemcgregor/pulp-fiction-1.
January 26th, 2011 at 2:26 am
Good review and interesting sounding book, but one note on the Yard — a subject that even British writers blithely get wrong regularly. Scotland Yard ‘is’ CID, the Criminal Investigation Division of the London Metropolitan Police Force housed at New Scotland Yard (actually New New Scotland Yard technically since they moved from the original New Scotland Yard — never having been at Old Scotland Yard).
Within the CID are various special squads and services such as Special Branch and the Art Squad, but Scotland Yard is the nickname for the central investigative body of the Met (and as shown in PRIME SUSPECT there are also detectives assigned locally to different parts of London) headquarted at New Scotland Yard.
Neither LJ, nor anyone else should be bothered by getting it confused. Fiction has jumbled it up in our minds at least since Paul Feval had Scotland Yard around at the time of Napoleon in JOHN DEVIL, and no one has gotten it straight since. The writers who know better don’t bother trying to explain and some don’t seem to know better.
Nor is the French Surete National, national or the basic French police force, that’s the Police Judiciare known as the PJ. The Surete is the detective branch of the Paris PJ.
Not that it stops us from enjoying a good book, but it is confusing, especially since, despite the sometimes international activities of the Yard and Surete, neither of them is a national police force in the sense of the FBI.
Which leads us to the question, what the hell was Lestrade doing larking around in the fog with Sherlock Holmes in Dartmoor? It certainly wasn’t his beat.