People of abandoned character

First Title Value for Searching:

Personal Author:

Whitfield, C. (Clare)

Physical Description:

421 pages ; 24 cm

Genre:

Detective and mystery stories.

Historical fiction.

Thrillers (Fiction)

Mystery fiction.

Summary:

"Marry in haste... Murder at leisure? London, 1888: Susannah Chapman rushes into marriage to a young and wealthy surgeon. After a passionate honeymoon, she returns home with her new husband wrapped around her little finger. But then everything changes. Thomas's behaviour becomes increasingly volatile and often violent. He stays out all night, returning home bloodied and full of secrets. The gentle caresses Susannah enjoyed on her wedding night are now just a honeyed memory. When the first woman is murdered in Whitechapel, Susannah's interest is piqued. But as she follows the reports of the ongoing hunt for the murderer, her mind takes her down the darkest path imaginable. Every time Thomas stays out late, another victim is found dead. Is it coincidence? Or is her husband the man they call Jack the Ripper?"--Publisher.

Subject Term:

Murder -- Investigation -- Fiction.

Married people -- Fiction.

Criminal investigation -- Fiction.

Marriage -- Fiction

Publication Info:

London, England : Head of Zeus, 2020.

Subject:

Murder -- Investigation -- Fiction.

Married people -- Fiction.

Criminal investigation -- Fiction.

Marriage -- Fiction

London (England) -- History -- 1800-1950 -- Fiction.

Detective and mystery stories.

Historical fiction.

Thrillers (Fiction)

Mystery fiction.

Jack, the Ripper -- Fiction.

Dzhek, Potroshitelʹ

Jack, el Destripador

Jack, l'Eventreur

Jack, lo squartatore

Prisoner 1167

Ripper, Jack the

Married couples

Married persons

People, Married

Persons, Married

Crime detection

Crime investigation

Criminal investigations

Detection of crime

SAILS ISBN:

9781838932732

Available:

Library	Shelf Number	Shelf Location	Status
Searching... Acushnet Library	WHITFIE	FICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Carver Public Library	FIC WHI	FICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Mansfield Public Library	FIC WHITFIELD	FICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... New Bedford Francis J. Lawler Branch	FIC WHITFIELD	FICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... New Bedford Wilks Branch	FIC WHITFIELD	FICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Richards Memorial Library	WHITFIELD	FICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Rochester - Plumb Library	FIC WHI	FICTION	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

What if you thought your husband was Jack the Ripper?
London, 1888. Susannah rushes into marriage to a young and wealthy surgeon. After a passionate honeymoon, she returns home with her new husband wrapped around her little finger. But then everything changes. His behaviour becomes increasingly volatile and violent. He stays out all night, returning home bloodied and full of secrets.

Lonely and frustrated, Susannah starts following the gruesome reports of a spate of murders in Whitechapel. But as the killings continue, her mind takes her down the darkest path imaginable. Every time he stays out late, another victim is found dead. Is it coincidence? Or is her husband the man the papers call Jack the Ripper?

Reviews for People of Abandoned Character :
'A mistreated wife suspects her husband might be the Whitechapel killer. . . Compelling' Sunday Times
'An astonishing book' M.W. Craven
'A gripping and original take on the world's most notorious serial killer. A perfectly thrilling read for those long winter nights' Adam Hamdy
'This impressive debut builds up pace, pathos and intrigue superbly, with plenty of twists and turns' Woman's Weekly

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

In 1888, Susannah Chapman, the narrator of Whitfield's uneven debut, marries Thomas Lancaster, a surgeon at London Hospital, where she used to work as a nurse. Susannah, who grew up poor, looks forward to a comfortable life with Thomas, but after their blissful honeymoon, he starts treating her harshly and exhibits a violent streak. The morning after the murder of a prostitute, who's later identified as possibly Jack the Ripper's first victim, Susannah finds scratches on Thomas's neck, which he claims were inflicted by a cat he tried to rescue, and she spots his fiercely loyal housekeeper, who was once his nanny, trying to wash bloodstains out of the doctor's shirts. Her suspicions only increase as the killing spree, attributed to the Ripper, continues. Whitfield does a decent job of keeping her audience guessing whether the obvious explanation is the true one, but the closing revelations come as a letdown. Readers interested in a similar plotline will be better served by Peter Ackroyd's superior The Trial of Elizabeth Cree. (May)

Library Journal Review

Susannah Chapman has always hidden her past, even when she studied nursing in London. In 1888, she considers herself lucky to marry Dr. Thomas Lancaster, a surgeon. On her honeymoon, he worships her, and she discovers she married a hedonist who draws her into his lifestyle, including liquor and laudanum. When they return to his house in Chelsea her insecurity returns in the face of a now abusive, angry husband, and Mrs. Wiggs, a housekeeper who frightens her. When violent murders occur in Whitechapel, and Thomas returns home in the early hours of the morning, covered in blood, Susannah begins to suspect he might be the killer she's reading about in the newspapers. Her suspicions lead her to the streets of Whitechapel and into trouble, as Mrs. Wiggs and Thomas turn on her, with plans to send her to an asylum. Her defenses crumble as her husband twists her comments and uses her past secrets against her. But Thomas's own actions have repercussions, bringing violence into the house on the day Susannah tries to flee her prison. VERDICT This debut historical mystery contains echoes of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca and Jack the Ripper. The unreliable narrator combines with richly detailed writing in a mystery with a shocking conclusion.--Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN