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It is early Spring 1899 in Toronto, which means that it is cold and occasionally snowy. William Murdoch, recently confirmed as full detective and granted the princely wage increase of three dollars a month, is called upon to investigate the death of a local Presbyterian minister, the Reverend Howard, who has been found in his study, stabbed to death with a letter opener. As his watch and his boots have gone missing, a burglar or perhaps a passing tramp is suspected, but Murdoch is not convinced that so ready an answer is the correct one. Though his superior officer would prefer that he simply arrest a convenient tramp, one found wearing the stolen boots, and stop annoying Howard's respectable friends and relations, Murdoch, in his characteristic dogged fashion, embarks on a journey through the under side of Torontonian respectability, masquerading as a down and out logger to gain entry to the local poorhouse, the Elm Street House of Industry. Here he hopes to find a clue as to who might have had a grudge against the minister, who served as a Visitor, dispensing the tokens vital to allow the poor access to what cold and cheerless charity the religious institutions grudgingly supply. As has been increasingly the case for this series, the mystery element is less the central attraction than a convenient device that provides Jennings the opportunity to investigate aspects of late Victorian Toronto society. In this case, Murdoch undertakes a brief but compelling descent into the Dickensian world of soup lines, doss houses, and general destitution that existed in the city's east end, close enough to middle-class stability to be seen but not close enough to be observed. As we have come to expect from that decent man, William Murdoch, he is able to respond to the struggling human beings who are caught in the dirt and squalor. He is also able to rise to the challenge of changing roles for women, this time represented by a slightly improbable female doctor who is acting as coroner as well as by the New Woman, Amy the schoolteacher, advocate of free thought and rational dress, who lodges in his boarding house. All in all, a satisfying continuation of a strong series.
Reviewed by Yvonne Klein, March 2006
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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