Book Review: Letters From A Murderer by John Matthews

Letters From A Murderer by John Matthews

Genre: Historical Mystery

Series: Book 1 of Finley Jameson and Joseph Argenti

Publisher: Exhibit A

Date of Publication: September 24, 2013

Author Information: Website

Mogsy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars – “Some surprises to be found amidst an exciting mix of mystery and suspense, in this novel reminiscent of classics like Sherlock Homes”  

Angry Robot may be one of my favorite speculative fiction publishers, but when it comes to their Mystery/Crime imprint Exhibit A, I have to say I’m pretty much clueless. Naturally, I was curious about their books, and Letters From a Murderer immediately caught my eye. After all, historical fiction is one of my favorite genres after science fiction and fantasy, and Jack the Ripper is the subject of another great book I read recently, and for that reason my interest in Ripper stories was still very much piqued.

However, there is one notable aspect about this Ripper story  — it takes place in New York, 1891. This was around the time when the string of brutal murders in Whitechapel and east London seemed to have stopped, leading authorities to speculate that the killer must have died, gotten arrested, or moved on. So when the book opens with a prostitute in New York found murdered in a similar way, uncomfortable questions are raised about whether or not the Ripper might have crossed the Atlantic.

While I know it’s not exactly new, this idea is something I’ve personally never encountered before in a Jack the Ripper related novel. There are whole new dynamics at work here, admidst the complexities of the city’s criminal underworld as well as dark secrets in the main character Finley Jameson’s past.  As one of the original English pathologists on the Ripper case, Jameson is teamed up with New York detective Joseph Argenti, and together they try to catch the murderer before he can claim more victims. The “Letters” in the book’s title have a two meanings, referring to the messages the killer sends to the press taunting the police, as well as the symbols found carved onto the victims’ bodies.

I enjoyed this, even though I’ll admit I didn’t fully appreciate the cleverness of the story until well into the book, when the major “twist” was revealed to shake things up. Before this, the book held my interest but did not exceed my expectations; the plot held a lot of the usual elements I would expect from a novel of this genre and type. In this historical mystery, the “history” takes more of a backseat as this is a mystery-thriller first and foremost, complete with gang violence and corruption, conspiracies and lies. Some of the characters fell into familiar archetypes, like the mob boss Tierney (evil and insane) or Jameson’s assistant Lawrence (the troubled but brilliant intellectual). On the other hand, this can be seen as a postive if you prefer books that are reminiscent of classics like Sherlock Homes, as this one definitely has that vibe.

The best part, however, is something I can’t really talk about much in my review for fear of spoilers, but the aforementioned dark secrets in Jameson’s past have a lot to do with it. Suddenly, everything that came before in the novel held more significance and meaning, including the details I thought were just par for the course in Jameson and Argenti’s investigation. For a book that I didn’t think was going to surprise me, it sure threw me for a loop there, keeping me guessing and wondering and beating myself up for not realizing before that this was where the author was going.

Alas, that little side plot in the story was over all too quickly, but the remainder of the book set a much more rigorous pace, with an exciting mix of suspense and mystery as our investigators have to try and solve the puzzle and deal with Tierney’s men at the same time. I thought everything unfolded naturally and came together very well at the end, and fans of crime fiction or historical mysteries will probably find lots to like about this one, especially if you have an interest in Sherlock-Holmes-style books or Jack the Ripper stories.