Name: Arrowood and the Thames Corpses
ISBN: 9780008324537

Mick Finlay

A gripping historical crime novel, perfect for fans of C. J. Sansom ’Crackles with energy and wit’ The Times

Arrowood and the Thames Corpses

William Arrowood returns . . .'Crackles with energy and wit' The Times South London, 1896. William Arrowood, Victorian London's less salubrious private detective, is paid a visit by Captain Moon, the owner of a pleasure steamer moored on the Thames. He complains that someone has been damaging his boat, putting his business in jeopardy. Arrowood and his trusty sidekick Barnett suspect professional jealousy, but when a string of skulls is retrieved from the river, it seems like even fouler play is afoot. It's up to Arrowood and his trusty sidekick Barnett to solve the case, before any more corpses end up in the watery depths . . . Praise for Mick Finlay: 'Another brilliant read from Mick Finlay . . . even better than Arrowood]' B.A. Paris 'Astounding ... If you crave Victorian age murder mystery, love darkly gothic atmospheres and want your detective rather tattered and torn at the edges Arrowood is your man.' SHOTS 'Enthralling' Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Arrowood and the Thames Corpses (an Arrowood Mystery, Book 3)

Meg K

Thank you to HarperCollins Publishers for access to a NetGalley ARC for this book.

I should preface my review by stating that I have not previously read the other two novels in the "Arrowood" series. I jumped into this book 3 without any knowledge of the characters, aside from what was provided in the blurb. Normally, I never read book series out of order, but in this case, I was actually surprised by how well is worked out. Even without any prior knowledge of the characters and the world I was walking into, it was very easy to fall in step with the events and the relationships. I never once felt lost, or that I had "missed out" by not having read the first two books in the series, which I feel is a huge feat by the author.

As to the story itself, "Arrowood and the Thames Corpses" is a grittier, darker version of a Sherlock Holmes mystery, and quite frankly, it has a unique charm in that regard. You get a sense of familiarity and shocking newness all in one package. The year is 1896, and we are shown the events of the case through the eyes of Norman Barnett, a "strong man" type that assists William Arrowood in his investigations. Arrowood himself is a poor man's Sherlock Holmes, more focused on the psychological aspects of casework, and is relentlessly plagued by his vehemence towards the famous detective, who in fact lives in this version of Victorian England, simultaneously solving his own famous cases as Arrowood works his. You get a Holmes & Watson dynamic between Arrowood and Barnett, but as previously mentioned, it's far more gritty and many dark secrets about their pasts are revealed along the way. In this installment, the pair must work together to help a river boating captain and his daughter when a string of 14 skulls and 3 corpses are found attached to their river boat...

The case was deceptively complex, and the reader is given a lot of insight into the painstaking process of solving it using the resources of the era. You really get to feel for the characters as they exhaust themselves in this perilous pursuit, and just when you think they've made progress, a new twist blows the case wide open. Even the final sentence of the book was a bombshell! Overall, I gave the book 4 stars, only missing out on that last star as I felt the descriptions could be overly vulgar at times, truly only for the sake of being vulgar (aka, do we really need to talk about the bodily functions of the characters? Or go into the more visceral elements with such detail?). There was some crude language along the way (but given the circumstances, it made sense) and some pretty graphic elements, so if violence, gore, or swearing upset you, this is likely not the crime fiction series for you.

Arrowood and the Thames Corpses

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