Letters From a Murderer by John Mathews Review

Title: Letters From a Murderer

Author: John Mathews

My Rating: 5/5

Part of a series? This is book one of the Finley Jameson & Joseph Argenti series.

Genre(s): Mystery, Historical fiction, Crime, American literature.

Description/Blurb:

New York, 1891. A prostitute is found brutally murdered. The victim bears the same hallmarks as a notorious recent killing spree in England. Could it be that killer has crossed the Atlantic to fresh killing grounds? Or is this simply a copycat murder? Fear spreads through a city already rife with cut-throat gangs, corruption and vice. Aristocratic English pathologist, Finley Jameson, is teamed up with Joseph Argenti, a streetwise New York cop, to solve the case. But as the body-count rises and the killer taunts his pursuers in open letters, Jameson and Argenti find themselves fighting not just to prevent yet more victims, but also to save the city’s very soul.

My review: 
I know this is jumping right into things but I need to say it, I really hope the author carries on with this series. The plot is based on the notorious murderer 'Jack the ripper', a mystery that has gripped people since the time of the murders in Victorian London, so it's something a lot of readers will go into already being comfortable with the setting. The idea of the ripper going to the U.S. and carrying on with his work isn't exactly a new one but Mathews explores it well. The author provides the reader with well fleshed out characters and the reader gets to see parts of the story from the points of view of different characters, allowing the reader to know more about events than the characters but not enough to get too far ahead and sit around waiting while the characters play catch up.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this book to fans of literature set in the 1800’s particularly those who also enjoy mysteries. Fans of Conan Doyle may also find this book to be of interest. The answer to the riddles aren't obvious and at many points in this novel the characters find themselves having to face more than one adversary and question exactly what can be trusted. All in all a good read, there’s nothing in there likely to give you nightmares so I’d suggest this one as a good bedtime read. 

My Notorious Life: A Novel by Kate Manning Review

Title: My Notorious Life: A Novel

Author: Kate Manning

My Rating: 5/5

Part of a series? No

Genre(s): Historical fiction, Feminism, Adult. 

Description/Blurb:

Based on a true story from the scandalized headlines of Victorian New York City, My Notorious Life is a portrait of Axie Muldoon, the impoverished daughter of Irish Immigrants who becomes an enormously successful—and controversial—midwife. Separated from her siblings, apprenticed to a doctor, Axie parlays the sale of a few bottles of “lunar tonic for relief of female complaint” into a thriving practice as a female physician known as “Madame X.” But as she rises from the gutter to the glitter of Fifth Avenue, Axie discovers that the right way is not always the way of the law, and that you should never trust a man who says, “trust me.” But what if that man is an irresistible risk-taker with a poetical soul? Soon, Axie’s choices put her on a collision course with one of the most zealous characters of her era: Anthony Comstock, founder of the Society for the Suppression of Vice, and it will take all of her power and wealth to outwit him and save herself and her family from ruin.

A love story, a family saga, and a vivid rendering of a historical time and heated political climate, My Notorious Life is the tale of one woman making her indomitable way in a difficult world. Axie Muldoon is a heroine for the ages.

My review: 

My notorious life by Madame x follows the story of New York street urchin Axie Muldoon. Along with her younger sister Dutch and brother Joe, Axie was taken by a Christian organisation to be adopted by a good Christian family in Illinois. However while Joe and Dutch found adoptive families Axie did not meaning she must return to New York. It is here that she later becomes an apprentice to a 'female physician', setting Axie down the path to becoming Madame DeBeausacq notorious midwife and abortionist. 

Well the novel is split into 7 'books' which represent the various stages in Axie's life. This actually turned out to be quite convenient for me as I couldn't put the book down, even taking a break at a new chapter wasn't good enough. I was completely gripped so the separate 'books' forced me to take a break and actually concentrate on real world things for a moment (though it was never long before I had to go back to the book). Surprisingly for me the relationships within the book felt quite real, as opposed to the one dimensional relationships found in some other novels. I could understand why Axie reacted to people the way she did, Manning did not ignore Axie's past she let the character live with it and let it taint the relationships with friends and family in a believable manner. The jealousy, the lack of complete honestly and even some of Axie's behaviours such as her attitude towards money were demonstrated well without over doing it, which helped me connect with Axie and it made her feel real. 

I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed 'The crimson petal and the white' as the sentiments towards the classes of society are quite similar, also I'd recommend 'My Notorious Life' to anyone who's had an interest in women's rights as the contrast between today and the past portrayed in this novel is quite interesting.