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Louise (64 KP) rated The Unseeing in Books

Jul 2, 2018  
TU
The Unseeing
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I am a lover of Historical fiction especially Victorian London so when I read the synopsis of ‘The Unseeing’ I knew I had to read it. This is Anna Mazzola’s debut novel and I can tell you it certainly delivered.

The year is 1837 and Sarah Gale is sentenced to be hung, she is believed to have aid and abet James Greenacre in the death of Hannah Brown. Sarah Gale was having an on/off relationship with Greenacre and living with him in his home until he met Hannah. Hannah Brown was a spinster with a bit of money and business’s in her possession,until her body parts were found randomly around London.Greenacre a conniving man that he is only wanted Hannah for her money and threw Sarah out a few days before Christmas. A few days after Christmas Hannah Brown is gone and Sarah Gale is back in Greenacre’s bed. Sarah is adamant that she knows nothing about the disappearance or death of Hannah Brown, but no-one believes her.

Sarah Gale and a Women’s institute have requested Sarah to be pardoned as she is to be hung but is adamant she knows nothing. Edmund Fleetwood has been assigned the case, his job is to see if she will talk or if there is any new evidence. This is one of the most spoken about cases of the time and this could be the career break that Edmund needs, however Sarah Gale is still adamant that she knows nothing. Can this meek, pale women really be involved in a murder?

This book was amazing, I felt like I had been transported to London in 1837. The writing was so atmospheric, the descriptions of the sounds, the streets and the way the characters spoke just blew me away, and it was consistent throughout the book. The Unseeing is a slow burn book that drip feeds you information slowly and you start piecing it together like a jigsaw puzzle. I was definitely hooked and needed to know how Hannah had come to be in pieces around London and what was going to happen to Sarah. There is a twist and I didn’t see it coming whatsoever and was left shocked for some time.

This book is based on a true crime that happened in 1837 and is known as the Edgeware Murder. Sarah Gale and John Greenacre are the names of the actual people involved and the court scripts can be seen at the Old Bailey website. You can definitely tell that the Mazzola had knowledge of the justice system as it was very well researched. I loved that Mazzola managed to make a fictional book out of a true crime and it makes it even more intriguing to read. It does make you think of how the justice system failed a lot of people back in Victorian times.

I will definitely be reading anything else Anna Mazzola release and recommend this book you are interested true crime and historical fiction.

I rated this 4 out of 5 stars
  
The Dark Web Murders
The Dark Web Murders
Brian O'Hare | 2019 | Crime
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Couldn't guess the ending (0 more)
Some things were shocking (0 more)
I like the twists and turns in this book and the motive. You can guess the motive from the beginning of the book but you can't guess the true ins and outs. There were a couple of different stories going on which helped the story unravel.
I usually read this kind of genre - crime. It was one of the good ones which you couldn't guess.
I was hooked from the first chapter and sometimes crime books take me a few chapters to get into. I couldn't put the book down.
The story flowed really well. The only thing I didn't like was the descriptions of people at the beginning of the book - some of the information was not relevant and never came up in the story. Also I get a feeling for the characters and learn about them as I read. With so many characters described I quickly forgot the information about each character. I understand the author had done this as people had commented that they would prefer this but me personally I didn't like it.
Some of the information that came to light in the book shocked me and the book is definitely not for the faint hearted. Although it is fiction it does remind you that this stuff really does go on.
The audience is definitely adults due to the content which was shocking.
I would 100% read the other books in this series.
I received a complimentary copy of the book from the author via Voracious Readers Only.
  
Read my review here: https://bookbumzuky.wordpress.com/2017/01/23/the-spider-and-the-fly-by-claudia-rowe/

As you may have noticed from the other reviews, this book is <i>not</i> a retelling of a serial killer's crimes, how he did them, how he got away for so long, and eventually, how he got caught. This is much more about a (platonic) relationship between journalist and killer.

Rowe is a journalist who becomes <i>obsessed</i> with Kendall, a convicted convicted serial killer of eight women, and at times, reading about this deep fascination gets a little uncomfortable. Openly admitting that she feels a sense of importance and flattery at having so much on Kendall’s attention seems pretty disgusting, but she then admits that she now knows these feelings were inappropriate and has come to realise that her obsession got the better of her.

I have to agree with other reviews, that this book is a little all over the place. Rowe’s writing is absolutely gorgeously put all the way through, it’s really poetic, it’s just that the structure is a bit off. Topics skip all over the place and it can sometimes be hard to grasp how one thing connects to the next.

In the end, I actually really enjoyed this novel even though it wasn’t a classic true crime kinda novel. It was interesting seeing the correspondence between the two of them and getting the feel for how someone like Kendall works in a different way to us. I’m not really interested to read all about the Attica riots, so that will be a new addition to my bookshelf soon, I’m sure!

If you like going through a true crime novel finding out what the killer did in chronological order, what drove them to do it and some of the more gruesome details of their crimes, then this probably isn’t the novel for you, but if you like something a little more personal and moving I would recommend giving this one a try.

Thanks to the publisher for sending me a free copy in exchange for a review!
  
    Missing Maura Murray

    Missing Maura Murray

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    "Missing Maura Murray" is a true crime podcast about the mysterious disappearance of Maura Murray....