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64th out of 738 books
—
1,609 voters
A Conspiracy of Paper (Benjamin Weaver #1)
by
David Liss (Goodreads Author)
The year is 1719 and the place London, where human greed, apparently, operated in much the same manner as it does today. David Liss focuses his intricate tale of murder, money, and conspiracy on Benjamin Weaver, exboxer, self-described "protector, guardian, bailiff, constable-for-hire, and thief-taker," and son of a Portuguese Jewish "stock-jobber."
442 pages
Published
2001
(first published 2000)
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Apr 24, 2008
Jeri
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
mystery/thriller fans
Recommended to Jeri by:
book club
As Benjamin Weaver investigates the suspicious death of a local gentleman, he discoveries that the mystery has far too many ties to his own past. Weaver struggles to learn the intricacies of the "stock-jobber" system while confronted with a possibly-murdered father of his own, an estranged family, an interfering crime-boss and a beautiful young widow.
The protagonist, Ben Weaver, is just my kind of hero. He's tough and masculine without being a brute and manages to show some sensitivity and brain...more
The protagonist, Ben Weaver, is just my kind of hero. He's tough and masculine without being a brute and manages to show some sensitivity and brain...more
I think I loved everything about this book - the time period, the main character, the history, the scandal, the mystery. So it's about a boxer turned thief turned thief taker who is trying to uncover the mystery behind his father's not so accidental death. Much of the story revolves around financial issues, which I really enjoyed. I love finance and economics and put together with a mystery?!? Brilliant.
I thought the author did a great job unraveling the whole mystery. Most of the time I felt Be...more
I thought the author did a great job unraveling the whole mystery. Most of the time I felt Be...more
In England in the early 1700's Benjamin Weaver is a retired Boxer, whose new profession is to retrieve stolen goods for people. His father has recently died, and a man comes to him, whose own father has recently died, and says that he believes that both of their fathers were murdered because they were trying to uncover information about the South Seas company, who wants to replace The Bank of England.
Benjamin Weaver tries to investigate, but is instantly in over his head.
Man oh man. If you like...more
Benjamin Weaver tries to investigate, but is instantly in over his head.
Man oh man. If you like...more
3 likes · like · see review
Jan 05, 2013
Veeral
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
historical-fiction,
mystery
Well, I would have failed miserably (but gladly) if I had wished to start 2013 with a more drier read!
This book held promise, especially at the start, but then it went on and on and on like the Energizer bunny walking in ultra slow motion without a slightest indication of stopping in any discernible future. The last 50-60 pages were good, but the only thing that I felt when I turned the last page was of profound relief.
I was planning to read his other book, The Whiskey Rebels as soon as possib...more
This book held promise, especially at the start, but then it went on and on and on like the Energizer bunny walking in ultra slow motion without a slightest indication of stopping in any discernible future. The last 50-60 pages were good, but the only thing that I felt when I turned the last page was of profound relief.
I was planning to read his other book, The Whiskey Rebels as soon as possib...more
3 likes · like · see review
Energizer Bunny Bangs On and On
It was a good-enough read, but it didn't immediately pull me in. I felt like the author kept trying to over-stress certain aspects of the story just in case the reader didn't take note of them, which evoked my response as: "Okay, I get it, can we move on now?" What I learned about the beginnings of the stock market and paper money was interesting, though.
One major thorn that kept preventing me from enjoying this story more fully was how sometimes I would reason a conclusion from what I thought t...more
One major thorn that kept preventing me from enjoying this story more fully was how sometimes I would reason a conclusion from what I thought t...more
4 likes · like · see review
The level of scholarship in this highly entertaining and very well written historical murder mystery is, in my view, on a par with that master of the historical genre, Peter Ackroyd. Given the potential dryness of the subject matter (the birth of the stock exchange as we know it and the first crash - the so-called South Sea Bubble) it is extraordinarily enjoyable.
Benjamin Weaver (ne Lienzo) is a Londoner with a colourful past who now earns his living as a thief-taker in 18th century London (in t...more
Benjamin Weaver (ne Lienzo) is a Londoner with a colourful past who now earns his living as a thief-taker in 18th century London (in t...more
6 likes · like · see review
Mar 18, 2009
Kristine
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
No one
Recommended to Kristine by:
Book club
In one word, disappointing. The book itself, I feel was well-written, but this was such a disappointment as a mystery. Not only did it not keep me interested, but the ending left everything to be desired. I think what upset me the most is that the character that I believed to be the villian at the beginning of the novel turned out to be the villian at the end of the novel......trust me, I'm not that bright. However, if this book is viewed as Historical Fiction, then I would give it a much higher...more
I'm on a kick here with people who write really amazing books while doing other really amazing things. At least Liss was completing a PhD in English while writing a piece of literature - mind you, I couldn't write a piece of fiction while finishing my PhD (I had enough with finishing the PhD, and don't even get me started on these final revisions...) - but, like, books and English PhDs go together at least.
Anyhoo, I read the Spectacle of Corruption first, so I'm totally out of order, but both bo...more
Anyhoo, I read the Spectacle of Corruption first, so I'm totally out of order, but both bo...more
4 likes · like · see review
What a surprising book! A bit mystery financial thriller and a bit historical fiction that starts a little slow but once the plot is set up, really moves with twists and turns galore. It really kept me guessing and I love it when that happens. The protagonist is one of my favorites of all time I think. One thing that was embarrassing for me: I have lived in Portugal and England and prided myself for knowing a little more than the average American about their histories so I was really embarrassed...more
A moderately enjoyable romp through London in the early 1700s. It's written by a PhD candidate who is studying that era and its finance. The up side of this is that the detail and the feel of the novel is convincing. The down side is that there is a fine line between making the language and motives appropriate to the era and turgidity. Sometimes the line is crossed...
On the whole the main character is great - a Jew who ran away from home and lead a life as a boxer after living on the seamier sid...more
On the whole the main character is great - a Jew who ran away from home and lead a life as a boxer after living on the seamier sid...more
This is the book that introduced me to Benjamin Weaver, who stars in all my favorite books by David Liss. Full of exciting intrigue and adventure, Liss also paints what I think it is a pretty historically accurate picture of London in…well, whenever this book is set (Liss seems to be fairly respected as a historian, or at least as a writer of historical fiction). Liss builds a believable world, detailed and socially complex. The story is told in the first person by a really likeable protagonist...more
One of the rich rewards of reading well written historical fiction is that, if it achieves the proper balance, it not only entertains but is painlessly edifying. This novel fits the bill. Set in early 18th century London we are introduced to Benjamin Lienzo, a Sephardic Jew who has changed his name to Benjamin Weaver and gained notoriety as a pugilist. After sustaining an injury that chronically compromised his athletic skill he has become a “thief-taker”, a profession somewhat akin to a modern...more
Benjamin Weaver is a man with a curious trade. Having left the family business years ago, in his early days he earned acclaim for his skills as a boxer, introducing a 'scientific' approach to the sport and retiring only after breaking his leg. Now he uses his intelligence and strength to different ends, serving as a quasi-detective and bill collector, sorting through mysteries, hunting down thieves, and flushing out debtors. Now Balfour, a jumped-up merchantman with delusions of nobility, is dem...more
A historical novel is a wonderful way to learn about the past, and A Conspiracy of Paper most certainly fits that bill. David Liss did a great job of not letting plot suffer so he could develop historical detail, or vice versa. All of the characters were very well developed, and the plot moved along quickly with surprises around many a corner. I found the relationships between the characters to be real and interesting, and learned so many quirky little details from reading this novel -- about bo...more
For all its treachery and villainy, the past illuminates the present
Compare the goings-on in the world of finance and money grubbing, and it’s apparent that in three centuries not much has changed. Both then and now “when you confront a conspiracy, it becomes monstrous hard to distinguish between wretched villainy and ordinary, common lies.”
In 1719 London former pugilist and now freelance Bailiff Benjamin Weaver wants to sort out the common lies from the wretched villainy relating to the suspici...more
Compare the goings-on in the world of finance and money grubbing, and it’s apparent that in three centuries not much has changed. Both then and now “when you confront a conspiracy, it becomes monstrous hard to distinguish between wretched villainy and ordinary, common lies.”
In 1719 London former pugilist and now freelance Bailiff Benjamin Weaver wants to sort out the common lies from the wretched villainy relating to the suspici...more
My second read by David Liss. This novel is longer than The Coffee Trader and through the period language and descriptions, the reader really is taken back to the historical setting of 18th century London. I like his discussions of street life and crime, prisons and trials as they are interwoven with the plot. The main character is likable and I never lost interest in him until the end when he follows a false lead and I had to question his naivete somewhat. But this was minor as the character's...more
This historical mystery about the South Sea Bubble of 1720 started out very well. It described the growing pains associated with the development of paper money and stocks that substitute paper for gold or silver. Liss described the "new math" and the "new philosophy" wonderfully well, outlining how theories of probability were the underpinning of all the calculations that created the stock market and the idea that people would trade money for the promise of more money at a later date, guaranteed...more
This is a novel that captured my interest and entertained me with the history of London in 1719. The setting was so well developed that I felt I could see the raveges of disease in the prisoners at Newgate Prison and hear the crowd jeer as they taunted a prisoner for being a Jacobite.
Underneath the story, there are lessons for today with the news of political unrest in Egypt and Lybia. This is a time when England was in fear of the French for their support of the deposed King James.
Benjamin Weav...more
Underneath the story, there are lessons for today with the news of political unrest in Egypt and Lybia. This is a time when England was in fear of the French for their support of the deposed King James.
Benjamin Weav...more
This book is deep rich historical novel that is well worth the time and effort that one invests in it. Certainly we have had tales of the South Sea Bubble before, and we know it as the worlds first great stock swindle, Ivan Boesky and Michael Miliken beware.
This tale is not that. We have that as background in its historical context. Just as we have recently lived through the internet stock explosion of the turn of the century where it was so obvious that if you have a website, you are an instant...more
This tale is not that. We have that as background in its historical context. Just as we have recently lived through the internet stock explosion of the turn of the century where it was so obvious that if you have a website, you are an instant...more
This murder/mystery takes place at the start of the 18th century in London. Benjamin Weaver, a former boxer turned investigator, is force to reconcile with his family when his uncle is convinced that the murder of Benjamin's father is no accident and is in fact a murder. Watching Benjamin become a real detective as his friend, Elias, forces him to thing in a more abstract way is very rewarding. Benjamin must draw seemingly unconnected clues together and also extrapolate past what he has to find...more
This book -- a historical tale of murder and intrigue leading up to the South Sea Bubble in 1720 London -- is obviously the product of some considerable effort. The characters are well drawn and you get a detailed rendering of the barely civilized, crime ridden, licentious, frequently dangerous and very smelly urban life of early 18th century London. This is the London of Henry Fielding populated by "gentleman of the road," "cut purses" and the emerging breed of "stock jobbers."
You can't help be...more
You can't help be...more
Wow, this was a long book! But it was such a well done and researched historical fiction novel you couldn't help being drawn into its pages. David Liss is an excellent writer. I loved the atmosphere he recreated of London in the the 1700s. I felt like I know the main charcter Ben Weaver intimately now having spent so much time reading about him trying to solve a mystery.
I was so surprised at the subject matter that this book was about. Banks, stocks, and bonds. Sounds boring. But then there were...more
I was so surprised at the subject matter that this book was about. Banks, stocks, and bonds. Sounds boring. But then there were...more
Dec 26, 2010
Lisa (Harmonybites)
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Everyone
Recommended to Lisa (Harmonybites) by:
The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Ultimate Reading List
This book was a pleasure to read from beginning to end. The author was a graduate student in the world in which this novel is set--the world of finance in 1719 London. Although, unlike him, I'm by no means an expert, the first person narrative had a great voice, a seemingly dead on period tone that helped so much to establish character and setting.
The narrator and protagonist, Benjamin Weaver, is a former pugilist making a living as a "thief-taker"--one who finds stolen goods for a fee among ot...more
The narrator and protagonist, Benjamin Weaver, is a former pugilist making a living as a "thief-taker"--one who finds stolen goods for a fee among ot...more
Long as it was, this was a uniformly satisfying read--a deeply imagined historial novel that is also a mystery that teaches you something about the roots of modern finance. I'd read two of Liss's other novels before this one, which was his debut, but I actually thought this one was was the best.
Liss's 1720 London is a colorful environment. I think the description stands out in part because so many historical novels are written about women or in the voice of women; the settings are mostly in hom...more
Liss's 1720 London is a colorful environment. I think the description stands out in part because so many historical novels are written about women or in the voice of women; the settings are mostly in hom...more
Synopsis:
The book, a first-person narration, is set in 1719 in London, one year before the famous stock-market crash known in the English-speaking world as the South Sea Bubble.
What happens when a big, bad corporation finds out that you know its dirty secrets and you intend to expose them? Well, it depends. You might be ‘accidentally’ run down by a hackney cab at night or you might all of a sudden display some suicidal tendencies and hang yourself in your own house. The choice is rather not ent...more
The book, a first-person narration, is set in 1719 in London, one year before the famous stock-market crash known in the English-speaking world as the South Sea Bubble.
What happens when a big, bad corporation finds out that you know its dirty secrets and you intend to expose them? Well, it depends. You might be ‘accidentally’ run down by a hackney cab at night or you might all of a sudden display some suicidal tendencies and hang yourself in your own house. The choice is rather not ent...more
A Conspiracy of Paper is historical fiction, mystery, history of the stock market, history of the Jews in Britain (and accompanying antisemitism) with some commentary of the role of women in the 18th century. I don't usually read mysteries, but this one pulled me in, wondering who did what. I won't spoil the story by revealing the details.
The reviews I read focused on Benjamin Weaver, the protagonist, who is distanced from the Jewish community of his youth and makes his way in British society as...more
The reviews I read focused on Benjamin Weaver, the protagonist, who is distanced from the Jewish community of his youth and makes his way in British society as...more
Well,the stinking soup of 1719 London is the entrancing setting for this tale of Ben Weaver, retired boxer and current "thief-taker" - he finds and returns things people have had stolen. Ben is a Jew, separated from his family, and in the course of solving a crime he must reconnect with his family. You get an interesting view of what it was to be Jewish in London of that day, of how they are tolerated though not respected and they society and lives exist separately from that of the rest of socie...more
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. It is like Jewish Spenser meets Sherlock Holmes. The mystery is well-crafted, with many unexpected twists. The writing captures the language of the period without being overbearing or opaque.
Weaver is an interesting character. A Jewish Londoner in the 18th century, he is a former boxer turned thief-catcher. That alone intrigued me enough to pick up the book. The look into the Jewish community in London at this time was well-done. It doesn't dominate the story bu...more
Weaver is an interesting character. A Jewish Londoner in the 18th century, he is a former boxer turned thief-catcher. That alone intrigued me enough to pick up the book. The look into the Jewish community in London at this time was well-done. It doesn't dominate the story bu...more
A Conspiracy of Paper is excellent from start to finish. It has a complex mystery that is possible to figure out yourself, but not easy. I am happy to say that I did figure SOMETHING out before the narrator did. But I didn't figure out the whole intricate web in which our jewish-boxing-champion-turned-investigator find himself entangled. Also a lot of historically accurate schemes and details about the birth of the stock-market. You learn that very little has changed other than it is now conside...more
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I am a novelist living in San Antonio, Texas, though, for the record, I am not from Texas. I just live here. I have four novels published: A Conspiracy of Paper (which won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel) and A Spectacle of Corruption were both national bestsellers. They are set in 18th century London and feature Benjamin Weaver, a Jewish former pugilist, thief-taker for hire. Weaver will be...more
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Mike
May 09, 2011 10:50am