Northminster, 1840: a once-picturesque cathedral city, where dirty smoke stacks now rival ancient spires. When workmen make the shocking discovery of a mutilated corpse in a ditch outside the ancient walls, Giles Vernon and Felix Carswell are charged with solving the case. Intelligent and practical, Chief Constable Major Vernon has transformed the old city watch into a modern police force, and he … and he throws himself into the investigation with the same energy. But as he probes a murky world of professional gamblers and jilted lovers, he is drawn into a dangerous emotional game that threatens to undermine his authority.
Newly-qualified police surgeon Felix Carswell is determined to make his way in the world on his own terms despite being the bastard son of prominent local grandee Lord Rothborough. Called to treat a girl in an asylum for reformed prostitutes, what he uncovers there brings him into conflict with his new employer, Vernon, and throws the case into disarray.
Together they must overcome their differences and find the brutal truth behind the mystery of The Butchered Man.
The Butchered Man is the first Northminster Mystery featuring intrepid early-Victorian detectives Vernon and Carswell.
more
I really enjoyed the characters and the ending was very unexpected. Slow at the start but as I got into it, it became a page turner.
An interesting read. I liked the two main characters and the setting was something I had not read before. The author certainly takes the romance out of historical settings! Although the villain was found fairly early on, the pursuit was good. I would read more of this series.
Really liked it.
This book kept my attention and introduced me to characters that I enjoyed so much that I continued with the series until I had finished it (so far, because I hope there are more coming.
Enjoyed this story, good characters
Kept me engaged and and guessing to the very end.
It started off great, but turned into a soap opera about half way through. I don’t usually read books of this type. The romances became part of the solution to the mystery though and I was entertained enough to finish the book.
One of the most unusual murder mysteries that I have read to date. Reasonably paced, with nuances and subtleties which are intriquing. I really think you might enjoy it if you enjoy this genre.
Nicely written with likeable characters. Reading the rest of the series!
This was an enjoyable read, and a twist or two.
Loved the setting in the 1800’s. The moral issues at that time are so interesting and unusual. Loved the chief of police and his surgeon.
DLIKED THE BOOK VERY MUCH. GREAT CHARACTERS. JUST LOVE MYSTERIES, CANT WAIT TO READ THE NEXT BOOK
This series is a perfect rendition of the classic mystery in a British Victorian setting. The characters are strange and haunting and yet all too real. This series was a marvelous and unexpected find for me.
The Butchered Man by Harriet Smart reminded me what a pleasure reading an elegantly crafted and written book can be in an era when hyperbole more often is the mystery norm. Every significant character– including some you might think should be insignificant until Smart proves you wrong– comes across as real; all have their strengths as well as their weaknesses. They’re all complex and, like the rest of us, some days they’re better than others.
This includes Chief Constable Vernon Giles and his new police surgeon/pathologist/staff physician/detective and bastard son of the arrogant Lord who lords over the area and the good and not-so-good people they encounter. Put them altogether in beautifully described 19th century Northminster, England with all its bucolic and alarming features, add an authentic dose of period medical practices and mores plus a page-turner plot, and I was hooked from the first page.