The Alienist

This is an excellent historical mystery set in the mid 1890s in New York City. A serial killer is killing young boys who are associated with male brothels in a most terrifying manner. Theodore Roosevelt asks the famous alienist Dr. Lazslo Kreizler to lead an investigation that will result in the arrest of the killer. Kreizler enlists the help of his trusty friend and New York Times reporter John Schuyler Moore (the narrator), a woman who wants to be the first woman police officer Sara Howard, and 2 detective brothers. Kreizler is perhaps INfamous really, with the average person being very wary of some of his “new” ideas about psychology.

I'm giving the book 4 stars simply because I was transformed to NYC 120 years ago every night that I read some chapters. The descriptions are vivid, and many of the characters are real people like Paul Kelly and Teddy Roosevelt. Also, the locations are real - the Paresis Hall was a male brothel at fifth street and Bowery.

I enjoyed the explanations from the Kreizler character about psychology, incorporating references to other serial killers like HH Holmes and Jack the Ripper. Today, we all know that a lot of the decisions we make are due to some experience in childhood, but that was a new concept at the point of this book. The investigation team surprises everyone by their unusual techniques, techniques which are commonplace today. It's a great historical romp into turn-of-the-century NYC, psychology, and the beginnings of the mob.

A lot of reviewers have criticized the characters (or lack thereof I guess). They are pretty predictable characters, but I don't read many mystery books that have really amazing characters that are incredibly unique, so that's par for the mystery course. Not ALL mysteries, but lots, use cookie cutter characters that are designed to represent some typical set of views and background. And I'm OK with that.

The serial killings themselves were.... pretty damn disturbing. So be prepared for some passages that aren't for the average cozy mystery reader.