Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Love this series!!
It's gritty, compelling and so good - Arrowood is the best!!
I loved this book so much I now have the paperback which I will be reviewing fully on my blog.

A great listen. I highly recommend this read, While different from my usual read, I will absolutely be reading this author again

Arrowood and the Meeting House Murders by Mick Finlay.

London Society takes their problems to Sherlock Holmes. Everyone else goes to Arrowood.
🔹Crime thriller 🔍 set in the darker side of Victorian London
🔹stand alone book but also the fourth in the Arrowood series, once you've read one you will want to read the others.

"London, 1879. As winter grips the city, a group of African travellers seek sanctuary inside the walls of the Quaker Meeting House. They are being hunted by a ruthless showman, who is forcing them to perform in his ethnic exhibition in the London Aquarium." But when one of them goes missing, William Arrowood private investigative agent, and his sidekick Sidney offer to help.

This book is filled with characters galore, some new, some very familiar. We have strong females in the form of Arrowood's wife and sister. The menacing owners of the freakshow, the detectives of Scotland Yard and of course cheeky 11yr old Neddy, muffin seller who gets the blunt end of life.
Oh, and don't anyone mention Sherlock, Mr Arrowood is not a happy bunny when anyone mentions Mr Holmes. But he can not help but show a softer side when someone is in need.

One of the themes in this book is the British Empire, but seen from the impact this had on the people and countries we (the British) invade and went to war with.

Running through the story you experience life in Victorian London, mostly through the eyes of the poor or those less well off. It’s a real insight into housing conditions, food and disease of the time. I really enjoy the social history covered in a good historical novel, and it is done particularly well in the Arrowood books.
A great read, a solid 4 stars from me.

Thank you to Netgalley and HQ Stories for an ebook copy of this book for review.

Fourth book in the Arrowood series set in Victorian London. Arrowood and Bennett two private investigators ( not in Sherlock Holmes area). They are not your usual heroes having to live in the centre of the slum areas and having to exist to survive. Arrowood has a heart of gold for the young and vulnerable and has characters he has saved from previous stories living with friends and family. He is not immune from the sadness of the time with young babies not surviving the local diseases and living conditions. He takes on the job of guarding a group of Africans who are being put on show with other unusual performers of the time. Murder will occur at the Quaker Meeting house but this mystery has many twists and turns and even gold coming into the equation. This mystery gets bogged down a bit and is not as quick paced and exciting as previous stories. The characters are well worth following into future stories.
I was given an arc of this book by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Mick Finlay has done it again: this is the absorbing, addictive fourth installment in the Arrowood series.

In The Meeting House Murders, we follow the familiar Arrowood characters, becoming immersed in their lives as they continue to unfold. The rivalry with Sherlock continues, Arrowood ever the feeling counterpart to Sherlock's cold logic, yet the story feels fresh, with no major spoilers if this is your first read of the series.

A gripping whodunnit woven with incredible skill, this book also focuses on issues of colonialism, racism, and exploitation. Finlay could sugarcoat this, but he doesn't; he doesn't shy away from the uncomfortable truth of our national and cultural past. It's these details, this uncompromising exhibition of Victorian London's darkness, that bring even more authenticity and power to this novel and this series. Highly recommended.

Arrowood never disappoints and enjoyed this story even if I found it bleaker that the others.
The mix of historical fiction and mystery is as good as usual and the author deals with issues like colonialism and racism in Victorian age.
As this is fiction and not a history book it is included in the plot and I liked how the author dealt with it.
The mystery is solid, full of twists and turns.
The characters are well thought and I was glad to catch up with them
i look forward to read the next instalment.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

We’re back in Victorian London in all it’s glorious, stinking beauty with our two favourite agents Sherlock and Watson...oh wait we’re poor it’ll have to be those other guys then.
Arrowood and Barnett are approached by some Zulu’s (who aren’t actually Zulu’s) who are being forced to perform at the London Aquarium for a dodgy bloke and they want Arrowood to get them out of their contract. It all goes wrong when one of the group along with the pastor who was helping shelter them are murdered. Arrowood is on the case.
This has all the things I love about this series; Arrowood being a kind hearted, bumptious, angry, miserable genius/lunatic. Barnett being a noble, beautiful, sad, big hearted, reluctant thug. They are the ying to the others yangs.
For me this book was all about the development of the personal relationships in the Arrowood household. With the return of his wife and the addition of two sickly babies plus rescued waif the rooms are bursting at the seams and there’s not enough money coming in. Everything’s a bit desperate. There’s also the slow bubble of Barnett’s sort of reciprocated crush on Arrowood’s sister and Barnett’s increasing frustration with lack of steady income. Everyone’s frustrated and just trying to do their best but it’s not enough.
The mystery itself was not the best. The history is interesting but a lot of the action takes place off book in South Africa and is reported back. There is also very little Sherlock baiting which is one of my favourite things. I love how understandably furious Arrowood gets so I missed that but it is more than made up for with his brilliant turn as the Baboon Girl.
Barnett, of course, is the heart of the story and cannot get enough love from me. They do not treasure him as they should.
I loved it.

This book was sent to me for review for the blog tour with HQ but I made the mistake in not realising this was the 4th book in a series.

Set in Victorian London, 1986, we’re following Detective William Arrowood by narration from his assistant Norman Barnett. There’s a wide cast of characters and myself found the scenes with Young Neddy enjoyable.

I feel like I could really enjoy this series had I started from the beginning. However, it feels like a heavy and hard read even though the language and writing style are nothing difficult.

I do love a good mystery and this one has slight ties to my favourite ever setting/theme - the circus. I’ll definitely come back to try and find out what has happened to the 4 unfortunate souls.

My thanks to HQ for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Arrowood and the Meeting House Murders’ by Mick Finlay in exchange for an honest review. As it was published on the day I began reading, I purchased its audiobook edition narrated by Malk Williams.

This is the fourth in Finlay’s Arrowood series set in late Victorian London featuring down market ‘private investigating agent’, William Arrowood. The books are narrated by Norman Barnett, the Watson to Arrowood’s Holmes. Though don’t mention Holmes in Arrowood’s presence!

London, December 1896. A small group of African travellers have sought sanctuary at the Quaker Meeting House. A ruthless showman is hunting them intending to force them to perform in
his ethnic exhibition at the London Aquarium.
 
Private investigator William Arrowood and his assistant Barnett are employed by the Quakers to help the travellers to avoid capture. Yet when they arrive at the Meeting House, they find a scene of devastation. Two people have been murdered and the others have fled into the night.

No further details to avoid spoilers though be assured that there is plenty of action and interesting twists along with developments in the personal lives of Arrowood and Barnett. Finlay’s vividly evokes London of the period as well as the lives of the poor and working class.

Finlay opens with a very useful list of characters as well as a note on terminology in which he advises of his decision to not use certain words that were routinely used during the period to refer to Africans in order to find a compromise “between historical accuracy and the needs and values of the current day.”

In the closing Historical Note he gives background on the situation of black people in 1890s Britain, the real life inspirations for the novel’s African characters, the popularity of freak shows and ethnic exhibitions, and a few details about the history of Natal and South Africa during this period. At the end is a select list of sources. I very much appreciate Mick Finlay providing this information on the social history of the late Victorian period.

Overall, ‘Arrowood and the Meeting House Murders’ was excellent and continues to confirm Mick Finlay status as one of the best authors of historical crime thrillers writing today.

A highly recommended novel and series.

The publicity blurb says, “London Society takes their problems to Sherlock Holmes. Everyone else goes to Arrowood.” This is, indeed, a very different world to that of the occupant of 221B Baker Street.

“The Guvnor lived in rooms behind the pudding shop on Coin Street, just down the road from Waterloo Station. There were five of them there. His sister Ellie and wife Isabel slept in the bedroom with their two babies, Mercy and Leopold. Arrowood had a mattress on the parlour floor. Since I’d last been there, the Christmas decorations had been put out.: some holly and twigs strung up to nails on the wall, a few painted baubles hanging from the mantel, a little model of a manger with the baby Jesus on the dresser. The babies slept in their boxes on the table.”

ArrowoodThe narrator is Norman Barnett, William Arrowood’s equally impoverished assistant. Neither man is a stranger to tragedy. Barnett’s wife, ‘Mrs B’ died some months previously, while Isabel Arrowood left her husband to live with a richer man in Cambridge. He died from cancer, leaving her with his baby in her womb. She has since been taken back by her husband, but all is far from well between them. We are in the final years of the 19th century, a few decades since Gustave Doré produced his memorable – and haunting – engravings of the darker side of London, but Arrowood’s London is hardly a shade lighter. Poverty, death and illness are everywhere – in the next room, or just around the corner.

The plot has the lurid and fantastical quality of a magic lantern show. Four black South Africans have escaped the grinding poverty and oppression of their homeland and somehow made their way to Europe. They have been hired to part of a circus cum freakshow run by an unscrupulous showman called Capaldi. Billed to perform as Zulus, the quartet have escaped. Capaldi, having fed and housed them in anticipation of capitalising on their curiosity value to his audiences, is aggrieved and wants them back. They have taken refuge with Mr Fowler, a well-meaning Quaker who works with The Aborigines’ Protection Society 1

Fowler hires Arrowood and Barnett for a few days to act as night-time bodyguards to the Africans who are sheltering in the Quaker Meeting House, but when they arrive for duty, they find Fowler shot dead and one of the Africans, Musa, tied up, his face battered, and dead from strangulation. Inspector Napper of the Metropolitan Police takes charge of the murder enquiry but, short staffed, he asks Arrowood for help. The finger of suspicion points at Capaldi and his enforcers, but life is never that simple.

As the case becomes ever more complex, Arrowood faces professional failure, but tragedy looms at home. Finlay has created a complex character. He is physically unprepossessing, overweight, a face like a bloodhound and he is a martyr to piles. When, in order to earn the money for some quack medicine for one of the poorly babies back in Coin Street, he is forced to deputise for one of Capaldi’s freaks – The Baboon Woman – I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

There is a rather melancholy soundtrack to the plot, including The Violet I Plucked From Mother’s Grave, reputedly a song frequently sung by the Ripper’s last victim, Mary Lane Kelly. Finlay’s research into the darker aspects of late Victorian life is impressive, particularly in the kinds of medicine available to the general public. Two such potions that probably killed as many as they cured were Godfrey’s Cordial and Black Drops2

Eventually, and with fatal consequences for more than one of the participants, the case is solved, but to no-one’s particular satisfaction. It being late December, there is barely a chink of daylight on the London Streets, and this is echoed by the sombre mood of the narrative. I don’t suppose there is such a thing as Victorian Noir, but if there were, it is here. It’s superbly written, and both chills and grips like a London fog. Arrowood and the Meeting House Murders is published by HQ, an imprint of Harpr Collins, and is out now.

1.The Aborigines’ Protection Society (APS) was an international human rights organisation founded in 1837, to ensure the health and well-being and the sovereign, legal and religious rights of the indigenous peoples while also promoting the civilisation of the indigenous people who were subjected under colonial powers, in particular the British Empire.

2. Godfrey’s Cordial was a patent medicine, containing laudanum (tincture of opium) in a sweet syrup, which was commonly used as a sedative to quieten infants and children in Victorian England. Black Drop was a 19th-century medicine made of opium, vinegar, spices, often sweetened with sugar and made into something resembling a boiled sweet.

A disturbing, late Victorian tale that explores colonialism, depravity, poverty and racism from the point of view of Norman Barnett, assistant to private inquiry agent William Arrowood. In a twisty plot where nothing is what it seems, Arrowood seeks justice.

This well-researched story focuses on the inhumanity of colonialism and the hidden side of Victorian England and its Empire. Vibrant characters draw the reader into a grim Victorian world. The author's note on his historical research sets the story in context.

The criminal investigation is clever, but it's the ethos and the inequalities and terrible injustices that resonate.

I received a copy of this book from HQ via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Having now read two of the four Arrowood Books, I have gone and purchased the original two that I had missed. It's a quality series that I feel is rather hard to come by these days. Usually, you'll have a really good book followed by weaker entries trying to expand the world. It seems the commitment by the Author keeps this series refreshed.

Admittedly, I did like the third one better than the newer one. A bit of the book involves a Freak Show which, although eventually played for a humorous performance, is a topic I've particularly no interest in. It's been overplayed as of late. I don't think Finlay intentionally tried to catch a trend. The story here feels natural for its time period. I'm turned off by them.

I liked how the characters have developed from one book to the next. I get a lot of enjoyment from Arrowood as the anti-Holmes. I'm looking forward to the additional books I have to read and for further books in the series.

This is the fourth book in the series and I've read all the books. The story combines historical fiction and murder/mystery, which I just love. You could read this as a standalone and still follow the story but if you love this genre you will want to start from the beginning. Set in London in the late 1800s around the same time as Sherlock Holmes, but Arrowood doesn't like Holmes.

In this book he helps a group of African travellers. I found it quite upsetting how they were treated but I was pleased that they had William Arrowood on their side. Another fascinating storyline with lots going on to keep you engrossed.

I've been with Arrowood from the start of the series so I knew just what to expect in this fourth instalment - a fiendish mystery, grimy Victorian London and some great characters. Thanks to Mick Finlay and HQ for my copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, plus the invitation to join the blog tour.

This story centres on the murder of two people in a Quaker Meeting House - including someone that Arrowood was meant to be protecting. We are in a world of Victorian 'ethnic' shows where Black Africans are displayed for the pleasure of the viewing public and it is Arrowood - the working class version of Sherlock Holmes - who is left to untangle the mystery of the deaths. Accompanied by his sidekick, Barnett (the narrator of the story), Arrowood has to face tragedy at home, dubious kinds of 'help' from the police and a secret that has its roots in South Africa.

The real strength of the Arrowood books is the historical setting, As usual, we are presented with a vivid version of Victorian London - and it isn't pretty. The racist attitudes of the white characters are presented as the social norm - although Arrowood and Barnett are, understandably, quite modern in their more enlightened views so they don't lose the reader's sympathy. The use of the 'freak shows' to display people feels supremely uncomfortable to modern sensibilities and Finlay does an excellent job of giving all the characters a dignity and humanity denied to them by their horrific situations.

Victorian London is grim. This is a world that jumps off the page because it is grimy, seedy and inherently cruel. The background information on Arrowood's home situation - complete with poverty, infant sickness, women struggling to find their professional purpose - gives us an insight into life for people at the poorer end of the social spectrum. It is not easy reading, but it is meticulously researched - Finlay gives some interesting further reading and information at the end of the book. Similarly, the African background and culture is also rooted in historical fact and referenced in detail at the end.

The characters of Arrowood and Barnett will be familiar to regular readers of the series and are as expected. If anything, we see a bit more emotional depth to both characters in this book as they grapple with some difficult circumstances. I particularly like the characters of Effie and Isabel and would love to see them given more to do in the narrative (as they have occasionally in previous books).

This is a complex and well-plotted mystery. It perhaps doesn't have the pace and liveliness of some of the earlier books, but it does have historical integrity and depth of emotion. It was genuinely interesting to read about some of the people marginalised in Victorian London, plus those who really have become casualties of political decisions regarding Britain's Empire.

Overall, this is an interesting and (I assume) authentic view of Victorian London. The characterisation is strong and it raises some intriguing questions about morality, diversity and integrity. I'd recommend reading this as part of the series - it would work as a standalone, but is probably best enjoyed by those who know the back stories of the key players.

Another in the Arrowood series, and like the others, this is a more than passable offering in general terms. The Arrowood stories are well researched and well written, and the main characters are well-rounded, well developed and completely plausible. This being said, I found this story a tad lack-lustre and something of a damp squib, although the premise held such potential.

Without providing an unnecessary and superfluous story synopsis, the author boldly wades into the murky and contentious waters of racism, prejudice and imperialism, yet pulls his punches when coming down to employing the actual language, terminology and attitudes that would have been utilised by Victorian Londoners towards black people. This seems a rather singular and unaccountable decision. Why raise the issue and then shy away at the last? Had Mick Finlay the courage of his original convictions, this would have been a much better book. In the light of the current trend for reassessment of the role of Colonialism in British history, this smacks of a further attempt to rewrite history in order to whitewash (pardon the expression) the part played by the British in the exploitation and disenfranchisement of the indigenous people of the lands they colonised. This was undoubtedly not the author's intention, but he has succeeded in undermining the wishes of the descendants of these people for recognition and acknowledgement of the wrongs done to their forebears. This is not the best of the Arrowood books for this reason and mars what would, but for this equivocation, have been quite a good book.

London 1896. Private investigator William Arrowood and his assistant Barnett agree to help a group of African travellers who are seeking to avoid being forced to perform in an ethnic exhibition in the London Aquarium. When they arrive at the meeting house, however, they discover that two people have been murdered and the others have fled into the city...

This is the fourth novel in Mick Finlay’s Arrowood series and, although the plot here is self contained, I did feel at a disadvantage in not having read the preceding three books. Presumably the character building and back stories of Arrowood, Barnett and the supporting cast are found here. As a book in its own right, the characters within Arrowood and The Meeting House Murders felt decidedly thin and ill defined.

It is clear from the author’s afterword that this is a well researched novel and indeed the late Victorian setting is on the whole convincingly conveyed. The author does state, however, that he has deliberately omitted some of the attitudes and language common amongst some parts of Victorian society towards people of colour. Whilst I can see the reasoning behind his decision, I am not convinced that the past should ever be sanitised to avoid offending modern sensibilities. It seems somewhat disrespectful to the people who lived through and were subjected to those attitudes and actions. As a result the plot of this novel felt watered down to me. The issue of race in UK-based historical fiction has certainly been handled with more power elsewhere.

Fans of the Arrowood series will, I am sure, enjoy this book. Unfortunately it wasn’t a novel that resonated strongly with me.

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Arrowood and The Meeting House Murders - Mick Finlay

‘𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝕔𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕕 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕥 𝕕𝕠𝕠𝕣 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕝𝕠𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕕 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔹𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕒.’

William Arrowood is back and investigating the murders of some African travellers that he and his assistant Barnett agreed to help. They have been trying to escape a showman who is forcing them to perform in his ethnic exhibition.

I only recently discovered this book series and have really loved them. Set in Victorian London, the murk, violence and reality of life and death in this time is laid bare, plus you get an excellent detective story into the bargain!
Arrowood is a Victorian anti- Sherlock Holmes, he’s a bit pitiful, frequently drunk and has to be kept on the straight and narrow by his assistant Barnett who narrates the story.

‘ 𝕆𝕡𝕖𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕖𝕪𝕖𝕤, 𝕠𝕣 𝕀’𝕝𝕝 𝕡𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕔𝕠𝕗𝕗𝕖𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕝𝕒𝕡.’

Arrowood and Barnett are tasked first with protecting the African travellers and then with finding the killers of two of them. Adept at assisting the police with their enquiries whilst striking out on their own to get to the truth. There is brutality, racism, disease and they enter the shadowy world of Victorian freak shows where people are controlled, imprisoned and treated appallingly. Arrowood tends to go in headlong leaving Barnett to pick up the pieces and sustain the injuries. He is frankly a bit of a car crash, I would half expect to see him in a Hogarth painting, swollen, puffy, drunk and stinking but he gets the job done and tends to have his inspiration when in his cups!

There is an interesting note from the author about terminology, and how what was acceptable and used commonly then is not acceptable now and offensive. Racism was commonplace in white Victorian Society and this story reflects that well, with characters that are openly racist using language to reflect that, but without stepping into using the most offensive terms at the time. I think this was a compromise which worked well and also conveys the attitudes at the time which are unacceptable to us now.

This such a great series, you need it on your list!

✩✩✩✩

I had high hopes for "Arrowood and the Meeting House Murders" as it is one of many Arrowood books by Mick Finlay. However, it didn't hold my interest enough to want to read anymore in the series. I think if you had got to know Arrowood in the previous novels then that would help but he seemed quite a bland character. Not for me.

I'm engaging in a protracted campaign to recommend this series to as many lovers of crime novels as I can! Arrowood can best be described as a rough and ready version of Sherlock Holmes and is healthily (and amusingly disrespectful to the great detective. All I can say is give this series a try. You won't regret it!