Murder by Lamplight by Patrice Mcdonough

Murder by Lamplight
by Patrice Mcdonough

ISBN-13: 9781496746368
Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Kensington Books
Released: February 20, 2024

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
November 1866: The grisly murder site in London’s East End is thronged with onlookers. None of them expect Dr. Julia Lewis—one of Britain’s first female physicians--to examine the corpse. To study medicine, Julia had to leave Britain, where universities still bar their doors to women, and travel to America. She returned home to work in her grandfather’s practice—and to find London in the grip of a devastating cholera epidemic.

Inspector Richard Tennant, overseeing the investigation, wonders that she'd want to do the job but admires her thorough work examining the sexually mutilated clergyman's body. Days later, another body is found with links to the first, and Tennant calls in Dr. Lewis again. The murderer begins sending the police taunting letters and tantalizing clues—though the trail leads in multiple directions, from London’s music halls to its grim workhouses and dank sewers. Lewis and Tennant struggle to understand the killer’s dark obsessions and motivations. But there is new urgency, for the doctor’s role appears to have shifted from expert to target. And this killer is no impulsive monster, but a fiendishly calculating opponent, determined to see his plan through to its terrifying conclusion.


My Review:
Murder by Lamplight is set in 1866 in London. It's not really mystery genre. From the beginning, scenes from the killer's point of view hint at who he is and what happened to prompt the killings. Eventually we're told in his viewpoint who it is. While there were clues, most could apply to several people. The detective eventually worked out whodunit, but Julia didn't until she was kidnapped by him. Then she was angry that the detective came to capture the killer and try to save her life. After all, SHE was perfectly capable of saving herself from a manipulative serial killer.

Julia assumed all men underestimated her, and she assumed the worse of most men. The detective used her as a medical examiner, appreciated her detailed work, and accepted her input even when it meant reading a book about mental illness. Julia, on the other hand, assumed that the detective didn't appreciate her skills and intelligence and so decided to do his job for him, from searching for clues to lecturing him about criminal madness. Sigh.

Historical details brought the time and place alive with gritty, depressing vividness. I appreciated her extensive historical knowledge, but it disappeared at the end. Julia (with open cuts) jumped into the dirty water yet didn't get sick or an infection when a big point in the story was how filthy the water was. There were no sex scenes, but we're told that objects were shoved up the corpses' asses, how murder turned the killer on, and how children where sexually abused by adults (not in graphic detail). There was a fair amount of bad language.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.