I honestly admit, I'm a bit confused by this book. On the one hand, I really like it, but on the other, I am quite annoyed with it. Let me brake it down into what worked and what didn't. Warning, here there be spoilers!What worked:The attention to detail. This book is slow, building on the minutiae of daily life. As each day goes by, you learn more of the aspects of Victorian Canadian daily interactions. I liked this. There wasn't any sudden hook to force the characters into impossible reactive scenarios, and there was no real feel of urgency. A girl is found dead. Well now what? Let's go through the motions, step by step. I liked seeing that process. What kinda worked:-The jumping around of narrative. On the one hand, it can be seen as distracted ploy to make the reader think that it could be any of the characters. Since it never reveals who these character are doing these nefarious deeds, you just have to assume and piece it together, but often the assumption is wrong. I liked how it let you see more insight into some of the characters, but on the other, it felt like it weakened the overall book. Murdoch is not aware of these happenings, so if feels like the reader shouldn't be either. Also, at times it felt very much like a purposeful distraction to keep the reader guessing. -Murdoch's character. I guess I'm bias because I fell in love with Yannick Bisson's portrayal of the perfect stoic, gentlemanly scholar. This Murdoch seems to lack a defining character. He's methodical and clever enough, I suppose, but it definitely doesn't seem as though he keeps up with the forefront of scientific discovery and knowledge that so emboldens the Bisson character. This Murdoch is rougher and more life-hardened. He swears a bit more, loses his cool a bit faster, drinks a bit more, and all in all, seems like the everyday kind of man, just doing his bit, toiling away, keeping his mouth shut to his superiors, and just trying to get by. -How the case was solved. Murdoch solves this case, not through scientific experimentation or any notes of brilliance, but through copious interviews and following up on alibis. In fact, I was a bit disappointing that this case was solved by basically getting all the main suspects together in the same room and watching as they ratted each other out. What didn't work:-The motive. I don't know if I read this book too fast or what, but I couldn't find a motive. It seemed as though several events were going on, but not one addressed the question of why Therese died. We found out why she left, but not really what happened to her after. Was it coincidence that she was picked up? Was the death intentional? Was it a drugged orgy gone wrong? Just what kind of sordid stuff was the alderman involved in, and why was his servant so intent on killing everyone to "tie up loose end" that didn't seem to even be relevant? For a book that spent so much time on crafting the scene of Victorian Toronto, it seems a let down that the same attention to detail was left out of the character motive and psychology. I finished the booking thinking nothing made sense. I was more confused, and annoyed that there was no sense of closure. Will I read more Murdoch Mysteries? Yes. Just because I loved how detailed and well written the historical scenes were. I just hope that the storylines get more flushed out.
I am a big fan of Murdoch Mysteries on CBC. Set in Toronto in the late 1800's, Murdoch is a detective who solves mysteries using some unusual methods for the time. It's almost a kind of Victorian CSI, with a cast of very interesting characters. Anyway, being a late comer to the show - I've only been watching for the last two years. I was doing some online reading about the characters in order to get caught up with the series. That's when I discovered that the show was originally a series of novels. So I decided to give one of them a try and compare it to the series.Except the Dying, is the first book and while it was quite good. It's nothing like the series. Only two of the supporting characters are in the book; Inspector Brackenreid who is Murdoch's boss and is a bit of an ass. Maybe early in series he was an ass, but now they are quite chummy. The other character is Constable Crabtree who in the book is a huge giant of a man with a boat load of kids at home. In the series he's a wiry man who aspires to be a writer and is romantically involved with Dr. Grace the local coroner. More surprising is that none of the gadgets, csi or even steam punk stuff is mentioned. It's simply a very well told police procedural mystery where the detective get's the bad guys by taking lots of notes. It was very different than the series, but I did enjoy it enough to read another.
What do You think about Except The Dying (2004)?
I went into this backwards of my usual pattern. Usually I fall in love with a mystery series, watch it get adapted into a TV show and hate what they did with my beloved characters (Looking at you Bones and Rizzoli & Isles). But this time I've watched several seasons of The Murdoch Mysteries before coming across the book series. I expected the book to be very different. I figured that it might not have the strong female characters on the show or the steampunk-esque forensic acumen Murdoch pos
—Cornerofmadness
It almost feels trite to compare the book to the series, but it's sort of inevitable, so I'll get it over quickly. There are several differences, sadly most of the differences caused me to like it less than I could have. I'd probably say that Crabtree wasn't nearly as vibrant and hilarious as he is in the show, and that was huge letdown. (Although, thank God for the lack of Dr. Ogden.)As a book on its own, it wasn't too bad. The beginning was a trifle slow, with a large cast of minor characters that was just a touch confusing to keep track of. However, about midway through the plot it seemed to get a bit more focused and the flow was better. I think I probably liked the ending best, even if it was not very original, it had a good degree of tension and properly dark atmosphere. Maybe a reason I could give it three stars rather than two, was that the book didn't go on too long, with just about the right number of pages to get across the mystery. I have a feeling that I will probably like the next book more, so I'll be giving that a chance in about five minutes. So, not a wonderful book, but has promise and frankly I want to see how the author originally envisioned the characters.
—Ubiquitousbastard
This is the first book in a series of seven, which are collectively known as the Murdoch Mysteries, all of which feature a Canadian Police Detective named William Murdoch, who solves crimes in the late 1800s, in Toronto. Three of the novels were adapted into television movies, starring Peter Outerbridge as the title character, and a five season (so far) television show, with Yannick Bisson in the title role, featuring the characters from the books, but with all new storylines, has proved very successful. The tv series is one of my favourite shows, so I was looking forward to reading the novels, and seeing where the character of William Murdoch began. I certainly was not disappointed. This fascinating novel which combines crime drama and historical fiction, is quite different from the tv show – Doctor Julia Ogden does not appear in this book at all, and Inspector Brackenridge only plays a minor role, whereas both of these characters are major characters in the show.The ending was not predictable; a few times I thought I had worked out who was responsible, but I was pleasantly surprised. The character of Murdoch is well drawn, as is that of Constable Crabtree. Also, the family with whom the dead girl resided were also well fleshed out. There were no real gimmicks or twists in the story – just a very well told detective story, which showed Murdoch’s quick intelligence and dogged determination. I also thought that life in Toronto in the late 1800s was well depicted,with the atmosophere leaping off the page.It’s a cliche to say it, but this book really was a page turner. I would highly recommend it to any fans of historical fiction or crime novels, and I look forward to reading the subsequent books in the series.
—Ruth
