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sarahinreaderland's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Let me start by saying that this book is not for the weak stomached or faint of heart. It was gruesome and harrowing but it captured the reality of the state of London and Britain in the 1700's with a specific focus on the slave trade. As to be expected of this era, the author didn't paint a pretty picture of the era and spared no horrific detail and it truly did pack a punch.
This was very much a plot focused book and the mystery of who killed Thaddeus Archer is the main focus of the story, however as a reader, it almost felt like a side quest to me as I was so engrossed in reading about the politics, the slave trade, society at the time and people's attitudes. This didn't feel like fiction to me, it felt like I was reading a non-fiction book (and I mean that in a positive way). There were plenty of characters for me to dislike and many of them left a bad taste in my mouth. The good guys were few and far between which was probably why I really liked Captain Corsham so much; I clung to the little good there was.
Although harrowing and uncomfortable, this was a fantastic book and I was hooked from quite early on. The amount of research required for this is unfathomable to me and I find historical fiction of this calibre so impressive. The stain in British history was portrayed honestly with zero sugar coating. A fantastic debut from this author and I look forward to reading more of their work.
This was very much a plot focused book and the mystery of who killed Thaddeus Archer is the main focus of the story, however as a reader, it almost felt like a side quest to me as I was so engrossed in reading about the politics, the slave trade, society at the time and people's attitudes. This didn't feel like fiction to me, it felt like I was reading a non-fiction book (and I mean that in a positive way). There were plenty of characters for me to dislike and many of them left a bad taste in my mouth. The good guys were few and far between which was probably why I really liked Captain Corsham so much; I clung to the little good there was.
Although harrowing and uncomfortable, this was a fantastic book and I was hooked from quite early on. The amount of research required for this is unfathomable to me and I find historical fiction of this calibre so impressive. The stain in British history was portrayed honestly with zero sugar coating. A fantastic debut from this author and I look forward to reading more of their work.
cakeandbooks1970's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
pintsizedhelen's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
lotties_booked's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
melolivia17's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
davidb71's review against another edition
3.5
I enjoyed this. I thought the setting, the time period, the overall story was interesting - it's a crime mystery set against the backdrop of the slave trade, and I found this in itself interesting, reading about British involvement in the slave trade.
The story involves Captain Harry Corsham, a war hero starting out in his political career, investigating the death of his friend Tad Archer, a campaigner against slavery. This leads Corsham to Deptford, into the inner workings of the slave trade, as he tries to figure out what had got his friend killed, and who was responsible for it.
I thought the novel moved at a brisk pace, the details of the time period were nicely evoked, there was a large and interesting cast of characters, and I found the central mystery engaging.
Even though there's a large cast of characters in the book, as I was reading it I could easily follow who was who and what was going on - but what I never really got a a handle on was what was going on with the central mystery - who had killed Tad, and why? As the book progresses, more crimes are committed, more murders of people associated with Tad, threats against Corsham, there's political involvement from a group representing the slave trade, there's acts of 'obeah', a type of Caribbean voodoo, there are rumours of a massacre of hundreds of slaves aboard one of the slave ships - and there's lots more besides. I could follow all of this easily enough, but what I couldn't do was start to piece together how all of this was going to ultimately coalesce into a single unifying story - because there were so many disparate elements to it, I never really got as much of a handle on the central mystery as I wanted to.
And I'm going to go into spoiler-ish territory here, so be careful about reading on if you haven't read the book.
Although the way this book resolved did make sense, there was too much going on for me. The reason I hadn't been able to get a handle on the central mystery was because there wasn't one central mystery. Sure, Tad had been killed, other people had been killed too, threats had been made, multiple people had been lying about all sorts of things - but it turns out there are multiple stories overlapping, multiple perpetrators, each with their own different motives. It turns out there are several different crimes, or attempted crimes, for all sorts of different reasons. It was all bit too much for me - I could follow it, but I wasn't as invested in it as I wanted to be. I felt like the author was trying a little too hard, and it all became a little too convoluted for my taste. In the case of this book, less would have been more.
But there's still a lot to admire here, and I did enjoy the book. I enjoyed the overall tone and atmosphere, and I felt like I learnt something about the slave trade and British history from it, too. I believe this was the author's first novel, and the only criticism I have is that I think she was trying a little too hard to create an intricate plot, and the book became a little too convoluted for its own good - for my taste it did, anyway; others may disagree. But there's enough here for me to want to read more by this author, and I will certainly be reading the next book in this series - and I'm looking forward to it!
The story involves Captain Harry Corsham, a war hero starting out in his political career, investigating the death of his friend Tad Archer, a campaigner against slavery. This leads Corsham to Deptford, into the inner workings of the slave trade, as he tries to figure out what had got his friend killed, and who was responsible for it.
I thought the novel moved at a brisk pace, the details of the time period were nicely evoked, there was a large and interesting cast of characters, and I found the central mystery engaging.
Even though there's a large cast of characters in the book, as I was reading it I could easily follow who was who and what was going on - but what I never really got a a handle on was what was going on with the central mystery - who had killed Tad, and why? As the book progresses, more crimes are committed, more murders of people associated with Tad, threats against Corsham, there's political involvement from a group representing the slave trade, there's acts of 'obeah', a type of Caribbean voodoo, there are rumours of a massacre of hundreds of slaves aboard one of the slave ships - and there's lots more besides. I could follow all of this easily enough, but what I couldn't do was start to piece together how all of this was going to ultimately coalesce into a single unifying story - because there were so many disparate elements to it, I never really got as much of a handle on the central mystery as I wanted to.
And I'm going to go into spoiler-ish territory here, so be careful about reading on if you haven't read the book.
Although the way this book resolved did make sense, there was too much going on for me. The reason I hadn't been able to get a handle on the central mystery was because there wasn't one central mystery. Sure, Tad had been killed, other people had been killed too, threats had been made, multiple people had been lying about all sorts of things - but it turns out there are multiple stories overlapping, multiple perpetrators, each with their own different motives. It turns out there are several different crimes, or attempted crimes, for all sorts of different reasons. It was all bit too much for me - I could follow it, but I wasn't as invested in it as I wanted to be. I felt like the author was trying a little too hard, and it all became a little too convoluted for my taste. In the case of this book, less would have been more.
But there's still a lot to admire here, and I did enjoy the book. I enjoyed the overall tone and atmosphere, and I felt like I learnt something about the slave trade and British history from it, too. I believe this was the author's first novel, and the only criticism I have is that I think she was trying a little too hard to create an intricate plot, and the book became a little too convoluted for its own good - for my taste it did, anyway; others may disagree. But there's enough here for me to want to read more by this author, and I will certainly be reading the next book in this series - and I'm looking forward to it!
wietse111's review against another edition
4.0
Leuke historische detective! Speelt zich af in eind 18e eeuw London/Deptford, en dan vooral de slavenhandel. Qua detective was het gewoon een goed boek. Spannend, prima geschreven, prima pacing. Het slavernij gedeelte van het historische aspect was vrij goed gedaan, de andere sociale aspecten kwamen niet goed uit de verf.
Hoofdpersoon was leuk, andere karakters niet heel memorabel maar hadden af en toe nog best een beetje diepgang voor een detective. Al met al met plezier gelezen!
Hoofdpersoon was leuk, andere karakters niet heel memorabel maar hadden af en toe nog best een beetje diepgang voor een detective. Al met al met plezier gelezen!
aclayton_'s review against another edition
3.25
I really enjoyed this book (as much as you can ‘enjoy’ reading about slavery and eighteenth-century racism anyway, as obviously it’s incredibly uncomfortable at times), although I did prefer Daughters of Night. I wasn’t fully convinced by the ending and the murderer’s reveal, and I can’t help feel a bit like the identity of the murderer lets it down a bit.
meedlepea's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
ldsreadinglife's review against another edition
It did not hook me and I found the audio book narrator irritating