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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780425155509
ISBN number: 0425155501
Label: Berkley
Manufacturer: Berkley
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 320
Printing Date: November 01, 1996
Publishing house: Berkley
Sale Popularity Level: 134791
Studio: Berkley
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Sniffing a set-up when he oversees a seemingly open-and-shut case involving a murdered printer and a raving poet, Sir John Fielding is aided by thirteen-year-old Jeremy Proctor and uncovers a sinister truth. Reprint. PW. NYT.
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Rated by buyers -
I liked this almost as much as Blind Justice, the very first book in the series. John Fielding, the blind magistrate, is a great detective/main character, and Jeremy Proctor, his young protege, is an engaging narrator.
Together, they make a team that keeps the reader interested, even when the secondary characters lack personality.
The convoluted plot of MURDER ON GRUB STREET got a bit confusing at times, and I (even as slowly as I read) found myself rereading pages in order to reorient my bearings in the story. The plot involves a mysterious religious group (sort of a demented 18th century Salvation Army), that happens to eliminate anybody who stands in its way, or questions its belief system. The original accused murderer, Clayton, has a personality disorder, and Samuel Johnson himself is rendered in believable, colorful prose.
There are several interesting descriptive passages in the book - the gruesome murder scene, especially the hauling away of the bodies, Moll's boarding house blowing down in a terrific blast of noise and wind, and the final "battle" in a London Tavern. This finale is action packed, with all of the major characters making an appearance.
I already have the subsequent book in the series, and though this series is definitely "light-weight" historical fiction - it makes a great diversion from more "serious" reading. I recommend the book and the series to anyone reader who loves historical fiction - be prepared to get hooked into the late 1700's world of Bruce Alexander!
Rated by buyers -
The very first story was an interesting and involved story and really caught my attention, this one seems to have lost it's way somewhat. It's still good but there was no real suspense involved, most of the mystery was the motives of the parties involved rather than discovering the who. Which somehow made it less satisfying, the characters seemed to be trying to fit the evidence to the killers rather than finding who it was.
Still this story of the further adventures of John Fielding and his protégé Jeremy Proctor and his narrow escape from a masacre is interesting. While a blue herring in the form of the disjointed poet Ezekiel Crabb exists he was unconvincing to me, I understood Fielding's urge to clear his name and there was a certain tension when you wondered would he or would the real killer get away.
I like this series and look forward to reading more, it's actually not a bad book but compared to the very first one it is somehow lacking.
Rated by buyers 
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This is a true classic murder mystery. It has all the drama and mystery necessary to keep the reader turning each page. I was sorry to see it end. I wasn't aware there was such a magical series of books until recently. The story rose to a slow but persistent climax, maintaining its fantastic storyline, gripping the reader to the last page. Read it, you won't be sorry!
Rated by buyers -
Young Jeremy is lucky indeed! In BLIND JUSTICE, the very first book in this excellent series, he is saved from the clutches of a thief-catcher by the cunning "sight" of Sir John Fielding. Here he is saved from death itself, having been apprenticed to Ezekiel Crab, a printer, who, along with all of his employees, was slaughtered the day before Jeremy was supposed to start!
I enjoy this series - so far - immensely. Bruce Alexander does a wonderful job taking us back in time, and in this book, we are treated to some old-time London "slang", or flash-talk from a new character, Jimmie Bunkins. This may not be one of the better quotes, but it's a good one: "No, don't you dast lay your daddles on me, and don't tip a mizzle. I've something for the beak. [...] The Beak, he's the cove of your ken, ain't he? [...] You know nicks of flash, ain't it? Can't patter the gammon?"
If my Oxford English Dictionaries weren't so highly placed on my wall and hefty, it would have been fun to look up all of the "queer talk" Jimmie used and research it's etymology.
Bruce Alexander shows his leanings in MURDER, as he singles out a religious sect, or "brotherhood", and makes plain what he thinks of them and their beliefs - one of which is the conversion of the Jews. This brotherhood is one of those lunatic groups (sorry, no apologies) that believes that there are mathematical calculations that can be derived from the Bible telling us when the second coming is happening, AND that this can't happen until all of the Jews have been converted to Christianity. Alexander points out that this particular group is trying to prove one particular date while disproving a date already "proven" for the second coming - 1700. (That's why I say, "no apologies" - how many dates have been proven by concrete biblical numerology already?)
He also shows another side of Sir John Fielding, one that, I admit, I was surprised to see. We already know that he has a soft spot for people forced into positions because they were down on their luck, or born at the wrong time or place, or to the wrong people. Another "category" enters his soft spot, and while some may write the series off because of it, that's jim-dandy by me.
Rated by buyers -
I love this Sir John Fielding series. Not only do we get a good look at the Bow Street Runners who were the founding fathers of our current police forces throughout the world, but we get a first-hand look at mid-eighteenth century London. It was by all accounts an exciting time. It was before the repression of the Victorian era, and people lived, loved, laughed and cried the way all people do when they live life to the fullest. And young Jeremy Proctor is such a good narrator for these tales of the great Sir John Fielding and his ongoing search for justice and truth. Jeremy is a perfect mixture of naivety and pluck. The rest of Alexander's characters are as fully rounded as these two main ones, and even his criminals and murderers seemed to walk right off the page as I read. This book's plot is built around The Grub Street Massacre. Six members of a prominant book publisher's household were hacked to death in their homes while they were sleeping. Sir John will not rest until he finds those responsible. Alexander's recreation of this tragic crime is handled with exquisite detail. For those who love historical mysteries like I do, this is not a series to be missed.
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