First
Sentence: At the sound of footsteps in the alley, Maggie Keene dimmed
the gas lamp and sidled up to the room’s only window.
Deputy
Marshal Archie Lean is summoned to a murder scene. The body of a
prostitute is found, pinned to the earth with a pitchfork, her heads and
limbs laid out to represent a pentagram, and her body parts removed—all
in the traditional method of killing a witch. Also on the scene is
Cyrus Grey, Indian and former Pinkerton who studied anatomy. In spite
of their different approaches, the two men must join forces and stop a
killer.
This had all the elements that would normally have
appealed to me; historical, police procedural, Maine, witch trials,
occult. Of course, the very small print did not help that, but that’s
the fault of the publisher, not the author. Still, had I been engrossed
in the story, I would have persevered. Instead, I found it just didn’t
hold my interest.
The main characters of Lean and Grey were too clearly
fashioned after Watson and Holmes, almost to the point where they felt
plagiarized, but with the names changes. The anachronisms were
overwhelming, the speech had no reflection of the period; it seemed much
too modern. As for setting, it is an area I know well. However,
beyond a map-quest tour of the area, the sense of place was not
evocative.
“The Truth of All Things” was a slog to read
with stereotypical characters and no strong sense of time or place. I
abandoned it after the first 150 pages. I did try, but just couldn’t stay
with it.
THE TRUTH OF ALL THINGS (Hist Mys/Pol Proc-Archie Lean/Perceval Grey-Maine-1892) – DNF
Shields, Kieran – 1st in series
Broadway Paperbacks, 2012
For Kathy
1 year ago
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