Let Loose the Dogs

A mid the mud and muck of Victorian Canada, the author presents a tale of history and reality. She sketches out the historical manners and seeting beautifully. Then she combines it with the very real life of a policeman. A man who has survived a dreadfully violent past to build a career, a career that seeks to save others from violence, and punish those that threaten it. His daily life is interrupted by shadows of the past he has worked so hard to put behind him. He must deal with both his sister's untimely death, and the reappearance of his violent father. The question is not simply will he save the father he hates but should he? An evcellent addition to the series, I recommend it highly.

_LET LOOSE THE DOGS_ is the fourth book in Maureen Jennings Detective Murdoch Series. The series is set in 1890s Toronto and Jennings beautifully captures the squalor and the beauty of a Late Victorian city caught in the midst of a dark northern winter. In all her Detective Murdoch books Jennings uses the city as it should be used, weaving the peculiar ravines that define Toronto into the fabric of the story, drawing on the uneasy alliances between Catholic and Protestant, French and English, and depicting the clash of poverty and wealth living side-by-side. In _Let Loose the Dogs_ Detective Murdoch is dragged into reinvestigating a crime literally days before the man who has been tried and condemned for it is set to hang. The case is complicated by Murdoch's past relationship with the accused, and his own belief that the man is probably guilty. At the same time Murdoch is dealing with the grief of his sister's death in a Quebec convent, and the family secrets emerging from it. The crime itself revolves around the illegal betting on 'ratters', dogs trained to kill rats in competition, and the book takes us into the obsessive world of the "fancy", where Victorian's bred and raised animals for sport and competition. It was a wonderful read, taking me into a fascinating world that I know little about. All in all, an excellent book and highly recommended.

Acting Detective William Murdoch is shocked to learn his long lost father, who he has had no contact with for many years, is about to be hung for the murder of a fellow ratter he lost a bet with at a ratting match. Harry Murdoch pleads with his son to find the real culprit, eventhough he is guilty of historic abuses against his son and family, which presents a moral delemma for William. Layers of the family history are peeled away as William seeks to not only confront his father for the abuses, but to also solve the crime and save his father from the hangman's noose. I did not know who did it until the end, the author kept me engrossed and guessing. A terrific mystery and story.

In 1895 Toronto gambling on which dog could kill the most rats in a set of time is an illegal, but widespread practice. Harry Murdock bets his entire summer earnings on his dog Havoc winning a contest, but at the last moment he was distracted and Mr. Delaney's canine is victorious.A drunken Harry accuses Delaney of cheating. However, when someone kills Delaney, the police charge Murdock with the crime. He's found guilty and is sentenced to hang. The warden contacts Murdoch's son William, an acting-detective. When Harry begs his son to clear his name, Will is dismayed because he doesn't want to help the man who beat him up so many times, but accedes to his request. At first it looks like nobody other than Harry could have killed the victim but Will's investigation rattles many of the betting community whose alibis aren't as airtight as they want every one to believe.LET LOOSE THE DOGS is a very atmospheric, gothic like story starring a likable protagonist who readers will admire. The audience empathizes with Will as they understand the hero's ambivalence about investigating his father's case since he fled his childhood home when he was thirteen to escape his father's fist. The fact that he gives it an honest effort makes him better than many people who hold grudges beyond the grave. The mystery is well done with a plethora of suspects who could have committed the crime but Will only has a few days to discover if one of them is the killer before his father hangs.Harriet Klausner