Changes

This is a somewhat darker book than the preceding ones. Doubt and mystery surround aspects of the detective's childhood, and he has to battle old resentments and angers in order to conduct investigations with his usual fair-mindedness. Once again Ms Jennings leads us into a wide range of social settings, deftly creating vivid and convincing scenes, and touching on issues as wide ranging as depression, inter-faith marriage and rape. She manages to convey the curious dichotomy of a world which has taken on board all the prejudice, ritual and regulation of Victorian life while remaining in many ways a land of pioneers. Murdoch himself embodies many of those contradictions, having worked as a lumberjack for years before joining the police, and being unlikely, despite his obvious talent, to ever achieve promotion in the police force because of his religion. It is a fascinating world, and the books would be well worth reading for their social settings alone.

All good novels should stand alone, and this one is no exception. However, the character of Murdoch is an intriguing one, well outside the usual run of detectives, so it would be worth the reader's while to investigate [[Except the Dying: Murdoch Mysteries by Maureen Jennings|Except the Dying]] and [[Under the Dragon's Tail: Murdoch Mysteries by Maureen Jennings|Under the Dragon's Tail]] by the same author.