Mr Timothy by
Louis Bayard
pbk out June 05
(John Murray)
at £7.99
A Dickensian thriller with Tiny Tim, from A Christmas Carol, now grown-up. "Not
so tiny any more, that's a fact. Nearly five-eight last I was measured." Mr Timothy
lives in a brothel and makes a living helping Captain Gully recover corpses from the
Thames and stripping them of any valuables. In the course of his travels round the
great river and its teeming mud-flats he comes across two dead girls who have been
branded with the letter G, and then discovers a third such mark on a living girl. He
determines to protect her and to unmask whoever is behind the murders and is more
than ably assisted by homeless youngster Colin the Melodious.
This is a wonderfully rich and rewarding read. Mr Timothy is a naïve character,
grieving for his recently dead father but pragmatic enough about the life he leads and
trying to be independent of his rich uncle. Colin the Melodious is a marvellous
creation: sharp-witted, foul mouthed, funny and loyal. Bayard's brilliant use of
language gives great pleasure and the Victorian London he conjures is impeccably
portrayed. Whenever Mr Timothy becomes overly sentimental Bayard uses comedy
or bathos to prick the bubble and make us chortle though he can also present us with
quiet moments of compassion. Humane and uplifting.
(
Cath Staincliffe
author of the popular Sal Kilkenny mysteries and the series creator of TV Blue Murder)
Mr Timothy by
Louis Bayard
