{"id":6092,"date":"2016-09-28T19:10:13","date_gmt":"2016-09-28T23:10:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=6092"},"modified":"2024-03-21T16:05:26","modified_gmt":"2024-03-21T20:05:26","slug":"the-fleet-street-murders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6092","title":{"rendered":"The Fleet Street Murders"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Fleet Street Murders<\/a><\/em> (2009) Charles Finch<\/a><\/p>\n

\"fleet-street-murders\"<\/a>Set in England in 1867.<\/p>\n

Two prominent journalists are discovered murdered, and the link between the two is the trial and execution of a traitor.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Charles has decided to stand for Parliament–for an area he’d never previously even visited, because that was politics at that time.<\/p>\n

We have two separate thread in this story: the murders and Charles’ run for Parliament, and Charles has a difficult time determining which is more important. That part of the story was interesting, seeing Charles being torn between his hobby and and his desire to sit in Parliament.<\/p>\n

We also see the muddled mess that was politics at the time, starting with the fact that Charles could vie for a seat in an area he’d never previously set foot in.<\/p>\n

It was a strange political system that led to Hilary representing Liverpool, while the Liberal Party\u2019s current leader in the House, William Gladstone, had grown up in Liverpool but for a long time represented Oxford, of all places. Still, he also believed that his platform would genuinely help the people of Stirrington more than Roodle\u2019s, and he resented the negative, attacking nature of Roodle\u2019s campaign.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Lenox detested the fact, but it was simple enough: In elections for Parliament, bribery mattered. It was no surprise at all when Graham reported that in the Roodle pubs votes were worth two crowns a head.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And I did (of course) like the historical bits about the buildings and places.<\/p>\n

It was Alfred the Great who had first gathered in hand the muddled system of moneyers\u2019 workshops in Anglo-Saxon times and founded the London Mint, in 886. By 1279 the Mint was firmly entrenched in the safest single place in England\u2014 the Tower of London, where it remained for five centuries. In 1809 it had moved to a vast, golden-stoned building in East Smithfield.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But I was reminded of what had annoyed me about the writing the first time I read the series. The writing is often overblown.<\/p>\n

One stooped old man\u2014 an oenophile, judging from the excited quiver of his nose over every bottle he smelled\u2014 was rooting through a case in the back.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s like the author needed an excuse to use the word oenophile, to show off his erudition. That bit would have been better without working the word into the sentence, because you’d still have the sense of the place without the vocabulary less.<\/p>\n

But, I kept reading because I do like the historical bits, and I was curious as to how the murder would be resolved. (The man behind the murder was obvious, although many of the details were interesting.)
\nRating: 6\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Published by Minotaur Books<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Fleet Street Murders (2009) Charles Finch Set in England in 1867. Two prominent journalists are discovered murdered, and the link between the two is the trial and execution of a traitor. Meanwhile, Charles has decided to stand for Parliament–for an area he’d never previously even visited, because that was politics at that time. We […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[30,33,8],"tags":[374,776,557],"class_list":["post-6092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-british","category-historical","category-mystery","tag-charles-finch","tag-charles-lennox","tag-victorian"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-1Ag","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6103,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6103","url_meta":{"origin":6092,"position":0},"title":"A Stranger in Mayfair","author":"Michelle","date":"October 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"A Stranger in Mayfair (2010) Charles Finch Set in England in ~1867. The story begins with Charles and Lady Jane ending their Honeymoon on the continent, and returning to London where Charles will begin his political career and the two adjust to married life. As with the previous book, my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"a-stranger-in-mayfair","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/A-Stranger-in-Mayfair.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2243,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/2243","url_meta":{"origin":6092,"position":1},"title":"The September Society","author":"Michelle","date":"February 13, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The September Society (2008) Charles Finch Charles Lennox is visited by Lady Anabelle, a widow who is worried that something terrible has happened to her son. Lennox considered brushing her off politely until she tells him she found a murdered cat in her son's rooms at Oxford. Lennox is actually\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/septembersociety.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6089,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6089","url_meta":{"origin":6092,"position":2},"title":"The September Society","author":"Michelle","date":"September 28, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The September Society (2008) Charles Finch Set in England in 1866 This is the second Charles Lennox mystery; I'd picked up much of the series on sale as ebooks, so since I'd read the first (and second) books years ago, I felt okay picking up the series here. I also\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"septembersociety","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/septembersociety.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1275,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/1275","url_meta":{"origin":6092,"position":3},"title":"A Beautiful Blue Death","author":"Michelle","date":"August 16, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"A Beautiful Blue Death (2007) Charles Finch A Beautiful Blue Death has come up for awhile now as a recommended book for me, and there is good reason for that: I love historical mysteries. Charles Lenox is a gentleman who likes to dabble in the investigation of crimes. Being a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"a-beautiful-blue-death","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/A-Beautiful-Blue-Death.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5805,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5805","url_meta":{"origin":6092,"position":4},"title":"The Sudbury School Murders","author":"Michelle","date":"April 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Sudbury School Murders (2005\/2011) Ashley Gardner Set in England in March 1817 The 4th Captain Lacey mystery finds Gabriel Lacey working as a secretary for Everard Rutledge at the Sudsbury School--a school for the sounds of the wealthy--but not titled. Lacey is somewhat distressed to discover he was hired\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Sudbury School Murders","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/The-Sudbury-School-Murders.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5995,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5995","url_meta":{"origin":6092,"position":5},"title":"Jack the Giant-Killer","author":"Michelle","date":"August 6, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Jack the Giant-Killer (1987) Charles de Lint Jackie Rowan is stunned when her boyfriend walks out on her, and stumbling home after a binge, she sees the unbelievable and is pulled into a world just under the surface of her own world, that she never knew existed. 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