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Allen & Unwin, September 2006
Reviewed by Sally Roddom
THE LAST DAYS OF NEWGATE is set in London in 1829. Pyke is a bow-street
runner who walks a very fine line between law enforcer and criminal. As
well as being a runner, Pyke manages a gin house with his mistress, and
carries out private investigations for well heeled clients. Pyke is asked
by Lord Edmonton to investigate an employee suspected of being behind the
disappearance of money at the bank. Following the suspect, Pyke enters
London’s notorious rookeries, putrid and dangerous and home to the
desperately poor and the desperately criminal. It is also where he finds
the horrendously slaughtered bodies of a young Irish couple and their new
born baby. Pyke links this murder to a Parliamentary debate at the time.
This debate is about the Catholic Emancipation Act, which has been
proposed to reduce the possibility of an Irish uprising. Irish Catholics,
already seething over the proposed Act, riot in the streets over the
murder and Pyke gets sidetracked into investigating the deaths. This
personal investigation leads to Pyke being framed for another murder and
imprisoned in Newgate. He needs to get out and find out really committed
the murders and why.
THE LAST DAYS OF NEWGATE is a debut novel for Andrew Pepper, and the start
of a planned series. Pyke (you never discover his first name) is a strange
mixture of a character. He is an avowed thief and swindler, and not averse
to committing murder if he feels it is justified, yet he appalled at the
inhuman murder of innocents. He takes offence at people who try to swindle
him, yet he himself is willing to swindle others. He has a soft interior,
and is capable of deep love, and cold focussed revenge. Despite these
contradictions he is a likeable character and the end of the book sets up
the opportunity for Pyke to return in future adventures. THE LAST DAYS OF
NEWGATE is an easy read, but is not easy to read. There are some
exceptionally gory scenes, something I am not personally comfortable with.
Pepper has also produced vivid imaginary of the debauched, stinking
underworld of pre-Victorian London. The book is full of the smoky, squalid
political and social upheavals of London of the time. There are a few
historical inconsistencies, and Pepper says in a post note that he doesn’t
claim to be an expert – he only wanted to evoke the historical backdrop
for his story. I like the honesty of this, and he has succeeded in
conjuring up in my mind the time, place and history of the story. If you
like historical mysteries, and don't mind gore, then this book is worth a
read.
Nov 2006 review originally published on Murder & Mayhem
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