Under the Dragon's Tail - Softcover

Jennings, Maureen

3.82

1,710 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0061097403 ISBN 13: 9780061097409

Publisher: HarperCollins, 1999

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Where Secrets Dwell Women rich and poor came to her, desperate and in dire need of discretion. And though Dolly Merishaw tended to their unfortunate circumstances in secret, her contempt and greed bred nothing but fear and loathing in the hearts of her clients. So it's no shock to detective William Murdoch when this malicious woman is murdered. What is a surprise, though, is the young boy found dead in Dolly's squalid kitchen a week after her demise. Now, Murdoch isn't sure if he's hunting one murderer or two. The investigation takes Murdoch into Victorian Toronto's disparate social circles--from the dingy rooms of dancehall girls and the chaste parlors of temperance-touting citizens to the fine drawing rooms of the city's prestigious elite. The more he learns about Dolly and her clientele, the longer his lists of suspects and motives grows. Clues lead him to several unlikely suspects--all of whom have secrets from their pasts linking them to Dolly and what she malevolently called her "record of

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Review:

Maureen Jennings sets up this 19th-century tale of blackmail and murder rather like a jigsaw puzzle: each chapter introduces new clues, new characters, and new points of view until the complete picture is revealed. As we discover who might have suffocated Dolly Shaw, a capricious, demanding drunkard, Jennings explores the permutations and stratifications of society in Toronto at the close of the century. Although the victim is a violent, scheming wretch of humble dwelling and few connections, her death draws in the range of men and women who employed her services in her profession as a midwife: the wife of a prominent judge who seems to care for little except fashionable clothes and her young ward; a theatrical performer who sells her various talents both before and behind the stage; and the detective, William Murdoch, who tries to solve the mystery and appease his own loneliness after the death of his fianc�e.

Jennings has a subtle touch. She not only explores Canadian society caught between the stiffer British and the more freewheeling Americans but also considers the period's reliance on patent medicines for everything from inducing miscarriages to promoting virility; examines the shifting athletic interests after the introduction of the bicycle; and evokes the stink of stale beer sold cheaply to the city's poor. Her ear for 19th-century language is more true and her evil deeds are less foul than those of Anne Perry. And while she lacks the rollicking good humor of Elizabeth Peters (although there are a few light moments), she is much more accessible than the sometimes impermeable Peter Ackroyd. Under the Dragon's Tail is a worthwhile book and a solid follow-up to Jennings's first, Except the Dying. --K.A. Crouch

About the Author:

Maureen Jennings’s Detective Murdoch series has been a hit from the start. Published to rave reviews, the first novel, Except the Dying, was shortlisted for both the Arthur Ellis and the Anthony first novel awards. The influential Drood Review picked Poor Tom Is Cold as one of its favourite mysteries of 2001. And Let Loose the Dogs was shortlisted for the 2004 Anthony Award for best historical mystery. Three novels have been adapted for television with two more in development.

Born in the U.K., Jennings now lives in Toronto.
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