Murder in Grub Street

by Bruce Alexander

Book Overview

The crime appeared as easily solved as it was wicked. A Grub Street printer, his family, and two apprentices brutally murdered in their sleep. A locked building. And at the scene, a raving mad poet brandishing a bloody axe. Surely the culprit had been found, and justice would be swift and severe. But to Sir John Fielding, justice was more than finding a culprit-it was finding the truth. Aided by thirteen-year-old Jeremy Proctor, Fielding decided to...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0425155501
• ISBN13: 9780425155509
• Release Date: November 1996
• Publisher: Berkley Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.19 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.3" x 6.8"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Wonderful !

This is a true classic murder mystery. It has all the drama and mystery necessary to keep the reader turning each page. I was sorry to see it end. I wasn't aware there was such a magical series of books until recently. The story rose to a slow but persistent climax, maintaining its fantastic storyline, gripping the reader to the last page. Read it, you won't be sorry!

Gripping Reading!

I love this Sir John Fielding series. Not only do we get a good look at the Bow Street Runners who were the founding fathers of our current police forces throughout the world, but we get a first-hand look at mid-eighteenth century London. It was by all accounts an exciting time. It was before the repression of the Victorian era, and people lived, loved, laughed and cried the way all people do when they live life to the fullest. And young Jeremy Proctor is such a good narrator for these tales of the great Sir John Fielding and his ongoing search for justice and truth. Jeremy is a perfect mixture of naivety and pluck. The rest of Alexander's characters are as fully rounded as these two main ones, and even his criminals and murderers seemed to walk right off the page as I read. This book's plot is built around The Grub Street Massacre. Six members of a prominant book publisher's household were hacked to death in their homes while they were sleeping. Sir John will not rest until he finds those responsible. Alexander's recreation of this tragic crime is handled with exquisite detail. For those who love historical mysteries like I do, this is not a series to be missed.

Once again a FANTASTIC novel!!!!!

This is the 2nd in the Sir John Fielding series. This book finds Sir John and Jeremy once again embroiled in another murder investigation. Once again the story is great as well as the cast of characters.The descriptions of the people and customs of that time make this one of the best historical mystery series around. Do yourself a favor and pick this one up. I would advise you reading the first novel in the series before(Blind Justice) you read this one. I continue to look fwd to the latest addition to this series.

An Excellent Sequel to "Blind Justice"

"Murder in Grub Street" was an excellent sequel to "Blind Justice", and I feel that most of those who enjoyed the first book in Bruce Alexander's Sir John Fielding series should be very appreciative of this, the second book.In my opinion, "Murder in Grub Street" is slightly superior to "Blind Justice" partly because the characters whom we already know become more fully rounded, as Sir John Fielding officially welcomes Jeremy Proctor into his household, and their relationship becomes more akin to father-son.Jeremy Proctor's virtue and his elevated manner of speech might be cause for some annoyance, but he is NOT a complete goody-two shoes, and one of the seminal occurrences in this novel is when he gets into a street brawl with sneak thief, Jimmy Bunkins, a lad about Jeremy's own age.The brawl between Jeremy and Bunkins becomes occasion for Sir John to actually regard Jeremy as a son who has, on this occasion, disappointed him, and we see how Sir John deals with a situation in which Jeremy has, for the first time, failed to meet his expectations.Jeremy's antagonist, Bunkins, communicates not in the King's English but in his street "cant" (slang), which is remarkably easy for the reader to follow, and he becomes a key figure in the story and will presumably figure again in this series. Bunkins's morally-flawed but street-wise personality makes him a good foil to Jeremy.When he warns Jeremy, "You'll do nicks to me, for I see no Beak-runners by your side, nor barking irons in your daddles", I was pleasantly surprised to realize that I had no trouble interpreting this to mean, "You'll do nothing to me, for I don't see any officers of the law with you or any guns in your pockets."Bunkins's colorful mode of expression, as well as his personality, make him an attractive character in spite of his faults. And if he seems a little too Dickensian to be regarded as completely of the author's creation, Alexander pays proper homage to the origins of this character by describing him as running away "at full speed, dodging artfully through the pedestrians in the street."Bunkins's introduction into the series also provides the occasion for the re-introduction of "Black Jack" Bilbo, the owner of the gambling house on St. James Street with the mysterious and reputedly sinister past, who is also a stimulating character.And notwithstanding Jeremy's sometimes too-treacly personality, there are a number of things which ensure that the story itself never gets too sugary. The mystery around which it centers is the gruesome murder of the household of Ezekiel Crabb, publisher and book-seller in Grub Street, and we are also introduced to the grotesque image of "The Raker", who collects and disposes of corpses for the cities of London and Westminster ("He enjoys his work too much. There is something unholy about the man," Sir John remarks). There is also a not-easily-forgotten trip to Bedlam, the famed London insane asylum, as it existed in the 18th century.While the revelati

ANOTHER MASTERPIECE!

The second book from Bruce Alexander was just absolutly fantastic. I cannot say enough about how wonderful Bruce Alexander is. If you are reading this and have not read "Murder in Grub Street" - please do yourself a favor and read it.