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Man's Illegal Life
London in the 18th century is one of the most dangerous cities in the world, a status helped along by the lack of any organized police force. Instead, peacekeeping falls on the shoulders of "parish watchmen" like George Man, who spends his nights patrolling the seedy streets.
After years of tangling with thieves and whores and cutthroats, he ought to be inured to the worst the city can offer up. But then he stumbles on the emaciated corpse of a notorious miser, tied to a chair and left to starve to death in a boarded-up building. It isn't the murder that disturbs Man's sleep but the method. Just 50 years earlier, the Great Plague had devastated London, and its victims and their families were similarly sealed in their homes to die. The Plague has recently been rumored to have re-emerged in France, and it could (perish the thought!) have leapt the Channel: Was the miser's murder a frantic attempt to stave off another epidemic? Or is a particularly devious criminal mind at work?
After years of tangling with thieves and whores and cutthroats, he ought to be inured to the worst the city can offer up. But then he stumbles on the emaciated corpse of a notorious miser, tied to a chair and left to starve to death in a boarded-up building. It isn't the murder that disturbs Man's sleep but the method. Just 50 years earlier, the Great Plague had devastated London, and its victims and their families were similarly sealed in their homes to die. The Plague has recently been rumored to have re-emerged in France, and it could (perish the thought!) have leapt the Channel: Was the miser's murder a frantic attempt to stave off another epidemic? Or is a particularly devious criminal mind at work?
- GenresMystery
172 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 14, 2021
Surprisingly good mystery set in early 18th century London. Believable characters trapped in understandable human foibles. There were elements of the plot that i had just learned about from another book i’m reading (Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds). A huge and completely ridiculous stock bubble was created based (roughly) on the belief that the South Sea company would have the monopoly on the import / export trade of slaves / gold, etc. with Brazil. All a rumour, of course, but spawning an even more ridiculous trade in even sillier stock. Greed is a weird disease - and that is a bit of this story, but only a bit.
Other plot points, heartbreaking in their beauty and prescient poignancy, were about the plague - yeah, that plague. Descriptions of the free floating fear - so much worse for the unknowing.
Lovely new words: firkytoodling, for instance.
And descriptive phrases: “Dead as Queen Anne the day after she died.”
And kind insights:
The child far away from the father who dies, always thinks he could have saved him:
Perhaps “...he could have fought off the murderer with his wooden sword, or made his father tiny and hidden him in the corner behind his toys, or the two of them would only have had to close their eyes and become invisible. It is how a child thinks - and how a man thinks, if he has never been able to leave his childhood behind him.”
Highly recommended.
Other plot points, heartbreaking in their beauty and prescient poignancy, were about the plague - yeah, that plague. Descriptions of the free floating fear - so much worse for the unknowing.
Lovely new words: firkytoodling, for instance.
And descriptive phrases: “Dead as Queen Anne the day after she died.”
And kind insights:
The child far away from the father who dies, always thinks he could have saved him:
Perhaps “...he could have fought off the murderer with his wooden sword, or made his father tiny and hidden him in the corner behind his toys, or the two of them would only have had to close their eyes and become invisible. It is how a child thinks - and how a man thinks, if he has never been able to leave his childhood behind him.”
Highly recommended.
July 28, 2018
Not for the faint-of-heart, this first (of three) tale of watchman George Man in shabby early- Georgian London was one of the best mysteries I've read this year. Although I agree with another reviewer that Heller doesn't describe his characters quite enough, the atmosphere is given in incredible detail. Perhaps the people are actually being left to our (gasp!) imagination! I will definitely be getting the other two.
Similar: The Thief Taker: Memoirs of a Bow Street Runner by T. F. Banks; Death in the Dark Walk (John Rawlings mysteries) by Deryn Lake; Blind Justice (The Sir John Fielding series) by Bruce
Alexander
Similar: The Thief Taker: Memoirs of a Bow Street Runner by T. F. Banks; Death in the Dark Walk (John Rawlings mysteries) by Deryn Lake; Blind Justice (The Sir John Fielding series) by Bruce
Alexander
July 20, 2015
In the tradition of Bruce Alexander, Keith Heller presents an earlier, and so difficult time. George Man is big, strong, protectorate of the weak in the dark streets of London. He is a watchman.
There are only three in the series, and in each Heller identifies a significant London event that is well documented. Heller takes that history and adapts it with narrative to such good effect. Man's Illegal Life springs from Tomas Vincent's 1667 work, God's Terrible Voice in the City, William Boghurst's Loimographia in 1666 and Daniel Defoe's A Journal of the Plague Year in 1722. Heller's work of fiction concerns the near aftermath of the plague in London.
I have tried several times to find Keith Heller, and would love to learn of his process. I dearly wish there were more than three in the series.
There are only three in the series, and in each Heller identifies a significant London event that is well documented. Heller takes that history and adapts it with narrative to such good effect. Man's Illegal Life springs from Tomas Vincent's 1667 work, God's Terrible Voice in the City, William Boghurst's Loimographia in 1666 and Daniel Defoe's A Journal of the Plague Year in 1722. Heller's work of fiction concerns the near aftermath of the plague in London.
I have tried several times to find Keith Heller, and would love to learn of his process. I dearly wish there were more than three in the series.
Read
June 25, 2016Interesting, about the middle ages in London
January 5, 2016
Wasn't great, good story telling but poor story IMO
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews