The Amateur Historian

by Julian Cole

"Punchy and raw, a blend of hard-boiled old school and new bloody thriller. . . crime at its best." -Waterstone's (UK) ? Rick Rounder returns to his hometown a decade after failing to save a young girl from her suicidal father. He sets up as a private eye, much to the envy of his policeman brother Sam, who has risen up the ranks to chief. The two brothers square up across the sibling divide as they are both drawn into the case of a missing girl. But...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312586590
• ISBN13: 9780312586591
• Release Date: June 2010
• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Length: 262 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.2" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

A girl who died 100 years ago solves a modern crime

A young old girl dies of consumption in 1901. More than 100 years later, another young girl is kidnapped and held hostage underground. Is there a connection? The novel begins in 1901 with Esme, a 6-year-old who lives in the slums of York, England. Her father is a drunkard and a schemer who involves Esme in an unsavory business deal. Meanwhile, in 2010, readers meet Rick Rounder, a former police officer who is starting his own P.I. business. He has recently returned from Australia to York, attempting to reunite with his estranged brother, Sam, a chief inspector for the local police. Rick quit the police force years earlier, due to a tragedy that he can't bear remembering. Readers also meet the amateur historian of the title who isn't revealed immediately, as well as the person who kidnapped the young girl, Polly. Although each character seems not to be connected with the others, their lives soon intertwine. The book starts out slowly, and readers may initially have trouble getting interested in the characters and situations. Once the separate stories combine and characters are revealed for who they really are, the pace picks up. Esme's story is the most compelling. As for Rick, people who hate him suddenly appear out of the woodwork all at the same time, which is a little hard to swallow. Apparently there will be subsequent books about the Rounder brothers, so readers who enjoy these characters will be looking forward to the next in the series. Reviewed by Leslie Wolfson

Little Girls In Peril ("The Amateur Historian" Is A Suspenseful Debut From Julian Cole)

In 1901, there was an impoverished nine-year-old, Esme Percy, who lived in York, England; the poor, undernourished waif died under mysterious circumstances. In present day York, an amateur history enthusiast studies Esme's photograph and obsesses over her death; his perverted sense of justice leads him to abduct an eight-year-old girl, Polly Markham, from an upper middleclass family. Two brothers who are as opposite as day and night, Private Inspector Rick Rounder and Chief Inspector Sam Rounder, must set aside their differences and locate the missing Polly. Meanwhile, Rick's life is endangered by those who blame him for not preventing the death of another young girl, Tanya Smitten, who was killed by her stepfather. Julian Cole's "The Amateur Historian" is a highly unique, very suspenseful mystery. I gripped this novel with trembling hands as I read the accounts of Esme Percy and Polly Markham and feared for their safety. Alternating between 1901 and the present, this novel (sometimes heartrending, sometimes joyous) depicts how past events influence the present. The plight of the impoverished Percy family was a bitter one and I felt the pangs of guilt as I ate my salad at Panera Bread while reading "The Amateur Historian." Julian Cole's depiction of historical York is extremely vivid. It made me thankful for the healthy food and clean clothes that I have while Esme, and most all of Hungate, York, were trapped in poverty and Polly laid trapped in darkness and filth. Escape seemed hopeless for either one of them. Not only is "The Amateur Historian" a debut novel for Julian Cole, but it is also the first in a series of mystery novels featuring the interesting Rounder brothers of York. Sam, the oldest, has a physique that is rounder than his athletic brother, Rick. Sam is a bitter workaholic, whereas Rick is more carefree and happy go lucky. Sam's marriage to Michelle is rife with adultery; Rick has a beautiful girlfriend, Naomi, whom he met when living in Queensland, Australia. It is no wonder that Sam's jealousy towards his brother borders on hatred. However, Rick is far from perfect. It was Tanya's murder that haunted Rick, forcing him to flee to Australia. The setting for "The Amateur Historian" is very intriguing. York is rich with history. It contains one of the seven wonders of England, the magnificent York Minster, which is the largest Gothic cathedral in Northern Europe. Destroyed in several invasions, it was always rebuilt. The York Minster served as a significant landmark in 1901 and still does in 2010. Hardly changing, it links the past with the present. The community of Hungate also plays a significant role. With the help of a history teacher, Malcolm Hunt, Sam uses archival maps to compare 1901 Hungate to present Hungate in order to locate the hidden Polly. "The Amateur Historian" is a very gloomy, atmospheric mystery that is highly recommended for fans of historical mysteries. The reader won't

terrific private investigative thriller

Rick Rounder decides to return home to York, England after he failed to save the life of a nine year old girl while being a police detective sergeant. There he opens up a private investigative agency. His brother Sam , the local police chief, wants the former cop to shut down his business while his former peers display their outrage at his quitting which they think makes him weak and a betrayer. The man hires Rick to follow a woman. However, nothing goes right on the simple surveillance when the woman's husband (not his client) kidnaps Rick. Things turn even crazier as Rick follows leads on a girl's disappearance that shockingly leads him into solving a crime over a hundred years old. Even with teaming up with his brother on the missing girl case, Rick's new line of work, though similar to his previous vocation, so far proves tough to make a living as the shortest distance between two clues is an arc. The Amateur Historian is a terrific private investigative thriller filled with plenty of action, angst and a convoluted case. The history of York is interwoven into the present inquiry as Rick finds his new work as difficult if not more so than his previous job. He, his family and the York residents (circa 1901 and present) make for a fine complex mystery. Harriet Klausner