The Devil's Acre (Reverand Tuckworth, 2) [Hardcover]

Author David Holland did a fair job of making this a stand alone book but I had the feeling that I was missing something as I read the first few chapters. I was right. But by the time I realized that I had started reading this Reverend Tuckworth series with the second book it was too late to stop. The question niggled at me enough that I went to investigate to see what was causing my distracted feeling and found out that this book continued, in a manner of speaking, where book #1, "The Devil in Bellminster", leaves off.

Reverend Tuckworth, Dean of Bellminster Cathedral has been sent by Lord Granby of Bellminster to London to meet with Hamlin Price, a philanthropist who may be willing to contribute to the restoration fund for the Cathedral. It seems that book one of this series ended with the villain setting fire to the Cathedral. If repairs aren't begun rather quickly, there will probably be a further collapse which may cause damage impossible to repair.

This novel is billed as "an unlikely mystery" and it is absolutely that. Mainly because there are several mysteries, all tied together, but also because the solutions of those mysteries come about long before the book ends. Even though Dean Tuckworth is the main character there are other characters who help him solve the mysteries and who play very important roles in the entire story. Therefore I, as the reader, was able to see the unfolding of the mystery and the solving of the questions by having information revealed from many sources. It made the story interesting to see the situation from several views. The reason the story continued was because of the huge changes which had to happen in all of the main characters.

Dean Tuckworth is a character struggling with his own lack of faith in God and with his grief at the loss of his beloved wife and now with the damage done to the Cathedral which has come to represent almost his entire reason for living. A large part of the story takes place in the city of London which is presented in incredibly vivid images of squalor, filth, hoards of people, noise, rankness, and confinement. I love to read mysteries set in period times, this one is in Victorian England, but the depiction of London was almost too dark for me to enjoy. I don't remember one single time in this story when anything of a light, attractive or impressive nature was said about London. Tuckworth saw not one single thing in London which gave him even the slightest bit of pleasure. Even though it was beautifully written I still found it rather oppressive. The subject matter, the reason the murders took place, is a very dark matter to deal with. And Tuckworth suffered mightily with how to save Hamlin Price from his demon while not believing in a God who could be of any help. And yet, the sign of a truly gifted author is that he has made me anxious to read that first book that I missed.

Certainly this is not a light, frivolous reading experience. It is brooding, dark, somber, and deals with subject matter which made me uncomfortable. But, it was written with an incredible command of words and phrases. The descriptions are amazing. The contrasts between London and Bellminster were powerfully drawn to show the light vs the dark. But, much to Dean Tuckworth's dismay he found that the vile and disgusting practices he found in London could be found in his beautiful Bellminster. There was to be no paradise on earth for Tuckworth after all.

This second installment in the mystery series starring the Rev. Tuckworth, now Dean of Bellminster Cathedral in the English Midlands, thoroughly lives up to the promise of his debut work. The cathedral was burned down by the villain at the end of the first book, leaving only the walls, and Tuckworth's job now is to raise the funds to rebuild. To this end, and accompanied by the extremely irritating Rev. Mortimer, the new rector, he goes off to London to try to squeeze some money out of Hamlin Price, a rather mysterious charitable benefactor. But a murder is committed during Price's dinner party and the Dean, naturally, finds himself involved. Price has a very dark side, as well, but Tuckworth is more interested in saving the man from himself than in hanging him. Holland does an excellent job of depicting the social mores of England in the 1830s, both of London and of rural towns, and of painting an entirely believable portrait of an extraordinarily humane human being. (It's also refreshing to see someone present an enlightened view of the cause and nature of pedophilia, considering the medieval-style witch hunts now common in modern America.) And, just for fun, the Dean's sidekick is none other than poet and seminal critic Leigh Hunt. A first-rate novel.

This is a genteel tale with a heart warming protagonist and a nicely complex villain. The strong suit of this book, in fact, is its creation of characters. What's less strong is its plotting and the superficiality of the author's picture of Victorian society. Like like his clerical detective, the author seems unwilling to look squalor in the eye. If you want to feel the period go elsewhere, for instance to Michael Faber's The Crimson Petal and the White.