People of Abandoned Character

People of Abandoned Character

2020 • 432 pages

Ratings4

Average rating3.6

15

A reimagination of the Jack the Ripper murders. Jack the Ripper is one of those characters that has been a fertile stream for imagination, and the mystery that surrounds the Whitechapel murders lingers to this day. Clare Whitfield does a good job of conjuring Victorian era London through the eyes of a nurse who becomes fascinated with these murders. The angle taken is intriguing and I will avoid spoilers by not revealing more.

The basic plot follows an amateur sleuthing style angle to a murder mystery and it has some interesting twists and turns on the way. The prose is well written, if a little dry for my tastes. The historical research has been well done. My main issue is with the characters. I found I did not really warm to any of them - the housekeeper and the husband are almost caricatures of unpleasantness.

There were some neat ideas in here, but it wasn't really for me in the end

November 14, 2020Report this review