Faces in the Crowd

Tillman and Muldoon #2

by William Marshall

Victorian New York City is the setting for a mystery in which two police detectives investigate the death of a lower East Side prostitute

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

432 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

William Marshall (or William Leonard Marshall) (born 1944, Australia) is an Australian author, best known for his Hong Kong-based "Yellowthread Street" mystery novels, some of which were used as the basis for a British TV series.

Reviews

[🐴 🍖]

extraordinary. a rehash in >1 aspect of new york detective; idc. gilded-age nyc as a trek thru the soot-choked circles of dantean hell, while a newfangled device called the telephone plays host to what's not yet known as wiretapping (& even worse things are afoot where the phone lines don't go). funny, horrifying, humane, suspenseful. read it, then tell 2 friends to read it. a zap with an electrified umbrella. essential.

[Susan Sparks · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has got to be one of the most unique I have ever read in any genre. It will certainly not be for everyone, as the writing style may be hard to get past for some. Completely unconventional, the first few pages will make you seriously wonder what you’ve gotten yourself into, and perhaps whether or not you should continue. But if you can hang in there and pay attention, you will be taken on an amazing ride back in time. Set in late 1800s Manhattan, a pair of detectives vaguely reminiscent of Holmes and Watson investigate the apparent murder of a prostitute and end up enmeshed in a complex web of conspiracy and pure evil involving something as seemingly innocent as the newly invented telephone. Besides the intricate plotting, the author allows the reader to readily experience and visualize turn-of-the-century Manhattan and its numerous surrounding islands with vivid and fascinating detail as you explore dark, creepy basements, defunct subway tunnels and horrifying insane asylums. Though some of the descriptions are extremely graphic and unpleasant, they are all a triumph of great writing, and hold you breathless as you read on to the frightening conclusion.

[Dale Lehman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was introduced to William Marshall's novels by one of my wife's coworkers back in her librarian days. I avidly read all of his Yellowthread Street mysteries and always meant to get my hands on his New York Detective novels, too, but until just this year I could never find them. For some reason, Marshall's books are not easy to come by. But you happen upon them, don't pass them up! His intense style and outrageous plots are addictive.

You might wonder, then, why I only gave this novel four stars. It's largely a matter of personal preference. Marshall sometimes goes overboard with the graphic violence, and he did so in this book more than in most others. I'm not a huge fan of that, myself. But the story is overall very good and the writing is all Marshall, all the time. I just liked the Yellowthread Street books a bit better is all.