Except the Dying

People who enjoy Sherlock Holms and the CBC Gem series Murdoch Mysteries will enjoy these books. Set in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Maureen Jennings leads you on countless mysteries with Detective Murdoch. This series is really interesting because the crime-solving techniques in the book are more or less historically correct.

First air date to view the Murdoch Mystery series is May 13th 2004 starring Peter Outerbridge, Keeley Hawes, Colm Meaney, Flora Montgomery and William Davs. Excellent adaptation of this turn of the century thriller

In Jennings' debut, it is winter in 1895 Toronto and the police have discovered the nude body of a young woman. Initially believing that she was a woman of the streets who froze to death on her way home, the police are disposed to dismiss the death as accidental. However, they soon discover that while there was no alcohol in her bloodstream there was opium and other indicators that have them believing that she was murdered. Detective William Murdoch is assigned the task of not only finding out who murdered her, but who she is as well. This is a police procedural in the truest sense. We watch as Murdoch painstakingly follows one tidbit to the next. For each question he thinks he's answered two more arise in his mind. As we go along, we are introduced to many players any one of whom could be the murderer.Jennings was very clever in her writing of this procedural. While the reader quickly suspects various characters, Murdoch remains an innocent - willing to suspect someone, but not willing to believe with no proof. The bits of proof are doled out slowly - as slowly as it takes Murdoch to discover them. When all the puzzle pieces finally come together, the furtiveness of several characters is adequately explained, the choice of murderer makes sense, and there is relief that that the book has finally ended. The book moves slowly, sometimes bordering on tediousness, and the temptation is to set it aside for a faster read, but resist that temptation. As Murdoch pieces the puzzle together, the book picks up speed so that it may seem like Jennings has rushed the ending, but the way she has handled it, it makes sense for this book.

Maureen Jennings 1st novel captures the Victorian Toronto of 1895 with a vivid historical touch. The tragic Dickensian characters move through this suspenseful story that features a Canadian city in the midst of a cold and icy Winter. The novel is further enhanced by a clever mystery featuring the delightful Inspector Murdoch. One of the best historical mysteries I've read and I highly recommend it to any lover of the genre.

I read lots of mysteries, and this one especially delighted me with its well-drawn characters and period flavor. I didn't expect 1890s Toronto to be so interesting! The denouement is very exciting, and there are a couple of most-unusual crook nabbers who are particularly "fetching." EXCEPT THE DYING goes on my A#1 list.

Jennings' insight into the human condition is provocative, yet touched with a velvet glove. In her first novel (mystery), she is able to transport the reader into another time and place enabling the reader to experience the Toronto of yesterday. Her characters are definitely not the stereotypical dribble that we too many times find in this genre. This is a mystery with real people, living real lives, in a real world. I highly recommend it as not only a "good read", but also as a time well spent. A good investment.