Arrowood and the Thames Corpses: A gripping and escapist historical crime thriller for fans of C. J. Sansom (An Arrowood Mystery, Book 3) Kindle Edition

This Arrowood book series is the best find of the decade! I am now a disciple of Mick Finlay and his riveting expose of South London in the 1890s! As he says, "London Society takes their problems to Sherlock Holmes. Everyone else goes to Arrowood.", so the truth be told. Mick Finlay takes you on a non-stop tour of the dark streets and alleys of south London, describing the buildings and the people so realistically that you will smell the piss and beer and hear the cabbies yell over the clip-clops of their horses, and you'll feel the near claustrophobia of surviving on the dank and dirty streets in a city of 10-million people. The Thames River runs brown and murky with raw sewage and ruined lives. People work all day for a plate of oysters and all the gin they can drink in the hundreds of dirty, smelly pubs scattered throughout the city. Violence is part of life and those who can work, work hard, and those who can't, beg, steal, and prostitute themselves for a few coins to live another day. This is the world of South London along the Thames River, and organized crime keeps the populace poor and afraid. No man's life is worth more than the coins in his pocket and if you live in a room with a roof and a floor, you are among the working class. Everyone else finds a hovel in a barn or a cubby under a bridge. Too many live and sleep on the sidewalks and the constables are often as violent and corrupt as the criminals. Arrowood and his trusted mate, Barnett, take the cases that no one else wants, and somehow, against all odds, they find most of the answers, but the road to solving a case can be both terrifying and dangerous. Each book is a journey of fear and unconditional dedication to those who need help. They are so well written and plotted throughout, you feel like your walking with them, though keeping a safe distance. I absolutely LOVE these books and the hardest part of being a Mick Finlay fan is waiting a year for the next Arrowood mystery to come out. British television just announced that they will begin producing Arrowood as a television series next year. Damn! I guess it's time to get Brit Box!

Complex and dark. A resentful contemporary of Sherlock Holmes, the detective has his troubles, the narrator his secrets, and still they muddle through. Warning, unlike the Doyle books, there is a strong emphasis on the "aweful" poverty and wretchedness of Victorian London

Love the characters and writing style read all in the series and cannot wait for the next installment. Wonderful series!

The book starts out well. The first 20 or 30 pages are very interesting. The premise of the mystery/crime is very good. But after that the story starts to deteriorate, and eventually just dies.Arrowood, who considers himself as brilliant as Sherlock Holmes, cannot even pick up obvious ruses and clues that the bad guys leave. As he is described in this the book Arrowood doesn't have any good redeeming characteristics. He's a pretty disgusting guy . Think gross, incompetent, irritating slob. He "can't stand" his sisters baby crying, feels sorry for himself and winds up spending what little money the family has drunk in an establishment of ill repute. He's petulant and has a temper. He loves to eat as long as his partner picks up the bill and fetches the food. He's really not a good detective. His sidekick, Barnett is just about the only decent person in the book, and he tells Arrowood that he wouldn't be tearful if Arrowood died. As the protagonist in this book you tolerate the guy but really don't like him.Throughout the book the author seems to increasingly dwell at length upon how gross and disgusting much of people living in London at the turn-of-the-century were. As the story goes on, it becomes less and less about solving the crime and more about the the terrible living conditions and how people behaved. Most of the people Arrowood and Barnett meet and interact with are sleazy or disgusting. Even the kids are described as mean and disease ridden. As the story goes on you become less and less interested in the people and even in the solving of the crime. The story drags and the book consists of one improbable depressing situation after another.Obviously, a lot of people liked this book and this review is in the minority. I WOULD recommend the FIRST book in the Arrowood series, which I thought was good. Didn't like the second book. This one (the third in the series) I tried because of all the great reviews. But IMO the tenor of the book describing the times and the people of that time is depressing, the story really drags and becomes uninteresting, and you wind up not caring about the characters or how the story ends.

The anti-Holmes. A very interesting series.

Another murder with arrorwood will read all

The plot was interesting, it was well written, but the graphic descriptions of bodily fluids etc. were horrible!

I was delighted when my pre-ordered third Arrowood novel dropped into my Kindle this week. Another exciting and gripping read. I didn't enjoy it quite so much as the previous two novels, but it was still a page-turner, packed with action and adventure. Finlay is still using Americanisms in the writing which annoy me - I should just get over it, but hey - such as 'derby' for bowler hat, and 'tuckered out' for tired. Not sure that any true Victorian would have said he was tuckered out. However, I am being picky.Ettie returns from a trip away with a baby - and seems to have had something of a personality change for me, which I wasn't keen on. She's a great character but I had felt her religious leanings made a good foil for her brother's lifestyle and work. Now she's 'fallen' into single motherhood, that seems to be gone, and she suddenly becomes an expert assistant in jail-breaking. Hmm. Barnett's confession at the end about his previous lifestyle also felt a bit unexpected - not that this was uncommon, but it felt to me to be added into the story without adding anything to Barnett's character somehow.The story is fast-paced and exciting. I would have liked to see more description of the river and the life around it, but it is all invoked well by what description there is. My only hope for the next story is that Arrowood and Barnett can have a case that involves less muck, guts and filth. A number of reviewers have said that they admire Finlay's research into Victorian life, but I am not sure I agree. Yes, he knows his stuff, but it is an easy option, IMHO, to simply describe everything in terms of dirt, sewage, blood, smells and general grime, soil and refuse. Yes, Victorian London was pretty yacky from the modern perspective, but not all of it was of the degenerate nature described here. There was some attempt at cleanliness even amongst the poorest sections of society, but all we see here are the worst bits. Again, I am probably being picky. Rat-killing and the likes were pretty awful, as seen here, but did Arrowood really have to be thrown into the blood and guts? Did this add anything to the story other than focus even more on the filth? Not to me. By the time I reached the end of the book - wishing it would last longer - I came away with the thought that what had been described by others as good research on the part of the author was more appropriately described as an over-reliance on the use of muck to invoke place and atmosphere. It was the only aspect of the story that wore thin on me.Having said all that, Arrowood et al are great creations and I can't wait for the next instalment.

My thanks to HQ for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Arrowood and the Thames Corpses’ by Mick Finlay in exchange for an honest review. It was published on 2 April and I quickly purchased its ebook and audiobook editions.This is the third in his Arrowood series set in Victorian London. I have read the previous two books and enjoyed both very much. The books are narrated by Norman Barnett, who serves as assistant to William Arrowood, a down market ‘private investigating agent’.In the summer of 1896, Arrowood and Barnett are approached by Captain Moon, the owner of The Gravesend Queen, a pleasure steamer moored on the Thames. He complains that someone has been damaging his boat, putting his business in serious jeopardy. However, what seems to be a case of professional jealousy becomes more serious when a shocking discovery is pulled from the river.No further details in order to avoid spoilers though I found it well plotted and very exciting. Its main characters were further developed, which is one of the benefits in reading a series from its beginning. However, enough background is provided for new readers.It’s quite a dark and grisly tale though some humour is provided by Arrowood’s irritation at the continuing adulation directed at Sherlock Holmes. He and Norman even pay a visit to 221b Baker Street!This is a series that continues to go from strength to strength and I felt that this was the best to date. Finlay has done an excellent job of evoking London of the period, focusing mainly upon members of its working class and the poor. Given the subject of this case special attention is given to the Thames, which was a busy working river during the 1890s.In the closing Historical Note he includes a list of sources for those readers who might be interested in investigating the social history of the late Victorian period in more detail.A highly recommended novel and series.

I read the book on the back of another radio recommendation which was terrible. After listening to the author on the radio, I decided that I rather liked the quirky idea of a less glamorous Victorian detective rival to Sherlock Holmes. Thames Corpses is very readable especially for anyone who has an interest in London.The best part of the novel for me, was Mick Finlay's description and turn of phrase imbued with humour which I thought was fabulous. In addition, the two flawed protagonists grow upon you when progressing through the book to the point that you feel a real connection with them.I would certainly recommend 'Thames Corpses' as an engaging and absorbing read. I'm looking forward to reading others in the series. Well done Mick Finlay - best read for ages.

This is the best of the three Arrowood novels so far by a country mile. It almost seems imposible to cram so much local detail, individual characterisation, and plot development into one novel. The pace hardly ever lets up, and the story is thoroughly gripping.Arrowood - flawed genius - and Barnett - emotionally vulnerable tough-guy - are a fascinating pair. This novel is really about Barnett, but you've got to love Arrowood's sister, Ettie. The novel is peopled by individuals struggling to make an honest or dishonest living in a grim, graphically-described urban environment. This is indeed a world away from the purlieus of Holmes and Watson.A fine novel by a talented writer. Recommended.

Another great read. The descriptions leave little to the imagination or fanciful notions of 19th century London. Tough and gritty with a pathos that under lines the class distinctions of life and the facts of it.I love the characters, the good the bad and the brazen.It’s a good tale that kept me up past my bed time, woke me early to see what happened next.