Book Review: The Alchemy of Murder by Carol McCleary

The Alchemy of Murder
Carol McCleary
Forge, 2010
ISBN 076532203X
Hardcover

Born Elizabeth Cochran in Cochran Mills, Pennsylvania, the real life protagonist adopted the name Nellie Bly when she began working as a journalist. In the late 1880s, it was improper and unladylike for a woman to write for a newspaper, therefore, her true identity could not be revealed. At the time, newspaper women in America were reporting gossip and news about weddings; one had be a man to investigate crime and corruption or be a foreign correspondent responsible for sending dispatches from other parts of the world.  After trying unsuccessfully to report from the male – dominated Wild West, Nellie relocated to Manhattan where she attempted to see Joseph Pulitzer and get a job at the New York World newspaper.  While initially Nellie was not granted an audience with Mr. Pulitzer, she was nearly flat broke and was determined to see Mr. Pulitzer and convince him to give her a job. This time Nellie was successful in meeting Mr. Pulitzer and told him of her idea of a newsworthy report she had in mind: She would write an exposé on the scandalous conditions at Blackwell’s Island, a notorious insane asylum for women.  Mr. Pulitzer replied that every newspaper in town had already done a story on Blackwell’s Island. Nellie’s response was yes, but she intended to have herself committed for 10 days (10 being Mr. Pulitzer’s lucky number). Success ! Nellie got the job ! On her first night at Blackwell’s Island, Nellie became aware of the murder by a Doctor Blum of her roommate, Josephine. When Nellie made the connection, Dr. Blum also tried to kill her.

Her next assignment was to do an exposé on cruelty to servants. This was followed by an assignment to go undercover as a prostitute. The next assignment was exposing the unfair treatment and working conditions of women in factories. She wrote about the practice of women doing the same job as men, working the same hours while only the men got raises and promotions. Circulation of the New York World climbed and Nellie’s success and fame climbed with it.

Soon a series of crimes took place in London. A murderer who called himself “Jack” killed women of the streets, mutilated them and extracted body parts with such precision that the police suspected he was a doctor. In Nellie’s mind, Dr. Blum was alive and well.  Nellie was off to London to investigate.

Next, mutilation murders in Paris had Nellie going to Montmartre, a city full of prostitutes and known for scandalous behavior among the artists and writers. To complicate matters, there was an outbreak of Black Fever. The World’s Fair was taking place in Paris and the police didn’t want to hear about murder since news like that would threaten the revenue from the Fair.

During her investigation, Nellie met Oscar Wilde and Louis Pasteur, famous for the discovery of a treatment for rabies and the pasteurization process by sterilization, as well as science fiction writer, Jules Verne. She visited the Moulin Rouge, saw the girls dancing the cancan and met the French artist, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

The Alchemy of Murder has many of the elements that are particularly interesting to me. While I read many different genres, my favorite is historical fiction. I often read cozy mysteries and I enjoy them but I prefer a more complex plot and characters. I like strong, proactive women, not whiny, dependent characters. Not one for much romance, this book had just the right amount (very little).  I’ve always been interested in medicine (my foray into nursing school ended when I discovered I loved the book work but hated the patient care !), so the historical details of the Black Fever pandemic were fascinating to me.

Now this is where my discussion should end because what I am about to tell you will date me and you will wonder if I lived during the time when dinosaurs roamed the earth !  When I was a child and way before movies were rated, I lived around the corner from a movie theater. I remember seeing a movie which I believe was titled “Moulin Rouge”. I remember the ladies dancing the cancan in their beautiful, brightly colored dresses and I remember the character of the artist Henri de Toulouse. This book transported me back to my childhood and that movie. In addition, there was a certain amount of French used by the author which took me back to high school French class.

My walk down “Memory Lane” notwithstanding, The Alchemy of Murder is a fabulous book and a phenomenal first novel ! According to the blurb about the author, Carol McCleary is busy on the next Nellie Bly novel. It can’t come out soon enough for me!

Reviewed by Jean Tribull Harris, August 2010.

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September 1, 2010  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: Full Reviews

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