Praise for The ALCHEMY of MURDER
The Alchemy of Murder by Carol McCleary Links: Author's Website / Nellie Bly's Wikipedia Entry / Show Official Info / McCleary has written a book that just can't have enough superlatives attached to it. I'd heard of Nellie Bly, of course, but I hadn't really given much thought to what it must have been like for her to set an example and open the way for other women to move into journalism. McCleary gives life to this historical figure while keeping her human with all the worries, woes, joys, and frustrations of a woman of her times. She's dedicated to getting the story behind the stories and has been willing to put her life on the line to get those stories, while never forgetting for a moment that her mother is dependent upon her. Without Bly and her efforts, many of the women journalists that exist today might have had an even more difficult time moving into highly visible positions in journalism. The novel begins with a very short history of Nellie Bly's background, but the mystery begins when Nellie has herself committed to the Women's Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's Island. This commitment was the start of Bly's career. But for us it's the start of Nellie's efforts to find a killer. While on the island, she learns that women are going missing and no one seems to care, thinking they probably died while trying to swim the river to escape. When a young girl who had befriended Nellie disappears, she investigates and what she learns sets the stage for The Alchemy of Murder. I can't say anymore other than that along the way she travels to London and finally Paris. She meets and interacts with Oscar Wilde, Jules Verne, Louis Pasteur, Toulouse-Lautrec, and the Red Virgin among others. The story takes some surprising twists and turns, for this is the Victorian Age, science is daily making strides in explaining the mysterious and unknown. It's a time rife with contrasts. The marvels of the World's Fair are on display while people are dying of influenza and an even more insidious disease called the Black Fever. Pasteur has been researching to find the causes and then cures. As a chemist he's laughed at by doctors and kept from the data he needs. Police still arrest the "you-might-do" suspects even though Doyle's Sherlock Holmes highlights the role of science in police investigations. It's sometimes difficult to believe that so much was going on during the late 1880s and early 1900s. It indeed was the best of times and the worst of times -- and McCleary makes it an exciting, exhilarating time to read about. The book is not only a great hunt for a killer but also a wonderful slice of history. Without bogging down the story, McCleary manages to impart a lot of information about Paris as well as the world of 1889, along with the historical events that brought us to this point. I found myself as fascinated with the historical information as I was drawn into the hunt for the monstrous fiend who mutilates and kills women. If this book isn't nominated for several awards over the coming year, I'll be extremely surprised. – BOOKLIST USA
"With a trail-blazing heroine, a compelling plot and a masterful melding of fact and fiction, The Alchemy of Murder is imaginative, original and wonderful." "The Alchemy of Murder is packed with historical detail and humour." “What a great idea for a novel. Nellie Bly is one of my favorite characters. This book more than lives up to the drama and suspense that are still part of her aura.” -- R. Robinson with Book Review “Meet Nelly Bly, investigative reporter, self-assured, gutsy and funny, in her first outing. Alchemy of Murder is a brilliant debut full of historical detail and peril which will entertain you right till the last page.” “The Alchemy of Murder is an enjoyable book to read sense and you get a plot to follow along with. You get a real flavour for Paris in the 1880s; we have anarchists, prostitutes, Louis Pasteur, Oscar Wilde, Jules Verne...the list goes on. Civil unrest! Murder Plots! Slashings! I'm getting hyped up just typing this! This book is one to delve into if you are after a good historical mystery, with an interesting plot, interesting anarchists, and a 1880s feminist heroine with a vendetta against a murdering psychopathic maniac.” “In The Alchemy of Murder Nellie Bly is a an interesting woman with a great determination to do what she aspires to do regardless of the opposition of the establishment. This historical mystery is a fascinating new book from a talented and exciting new author. I'll certainly look out for her future stories.” What a terrific read!!! This story had me up into the wee hours of the morning....I just HAD to know what Nellie would do next! With every step impeded with the day’s attitudes towards women, Nellie has to work doubly hard to do what she does best. If that means a bit of subterfuge and manipulation is a means to an end, well, so be it! Having Jules Verne, Oscar Wilde and Mr. Pasteur playing such important roles in this mystery brought the story to life and lent an amazing authenticity to the entire plot. It’s hard to believe this is Ms. McCleary’s first novel—what an absolutely outstanding premiere! ***** FOUR AND A HALF STARS! I didn’t really want another big book. I was just going to note the details to look for it again, but I read the first few pages and I was hooked. So it had to come home. Hi … I’ve just finished reading The Alchemy of Murder and I thought it was brilliant. It was exciting mix of fact and fiction and it kept me intrigued from start to finish (in fact I couldn’t put it down)! Hope you’ve started writing your next book! Dear Carol, I have recently bought your book in Holland and I just love it. I read it very slowly to enjoy every word and happening. Hope you will soon start on the next adventure! Hurry up, I am a lady of 80! All the very very best to you and thank you!
Review by Gayle Surrette
Forge Books Hardcover ISBN/ITEM#: 9780765322036
Date: 16 March 2010 List Price $24.99 Amazon US / Amazon UK
Paris during the World's Fair in 1889 was a sight to behold -- the new and stridently protested Eiffel Tower, the scandalous Cancan performed on the streets, and cafés filled with anarchists, dissidents, artists, and poets... It was also a city under siege as the influenza epidemic spread among the residents while anarchists used violence and bombs to achieve their ends. And it's to Paris that Nellie Bly, the world's first female investigative reporter, travels to find a killer.
"The Alchemy of Murder “showcases an appealingly flesh-and-blood Nellie Bly, one of the first women to break into a man’s world as an adventurous and plucky investigative journalist . . . another unflappable female sleuth.”
“Meet Nellie Bly, America's first female investigative reporter. She's feisty, funny, opinionated, persistent, and as tough as any male she meets. She has to be, because in The Alchemy of Murder, she’s swept through a tale of peril and pursuit that is sure to keep you turning pages long after you should have been asleep. You'll find yourself on the mean streets of nineteenth century New York, in Victorian London, and finally in Paris as the Eiffel Tower rises and deadly things -- men and microbes -- stalk the streets. It's a dazzling entertainment, so well constructed that you'll want to re-read it right after you finish it. All this and it has Oscar Wilde, too!”
-- William Martin, New York Times Bestselling Author of Back Bay, Harvard Yard, and The Lost Constitution
--Mary Jane Clark, New York Times bestselling author of Dying for Mercy
“Gripping, atmospheric, and exciting, The Alchemy of Murder takes Victorian mystery and science beyond The Alienist when one of the most amazing women in American history puts together a Victorian Era “CSI” to battle a deadly plot: Nellie Bly, the world’s first investigative reporter, teams with the great microbe hunter Louis Pasteur, Jules Verne who invented science fiction and Oscar Wilde who shocked even the scandalous Victorians, to combat a threat more menacing than that in The Hot Zone.
-- Barbara Woods, #1 International Bestselling Writer whose books have been translated into 30 languages, author of Hounds and Jackals
-- Elle Magazine, UK
“The Alchemy of Murder is a wonderful evocation of Paris in the late 1880s. Nellie Bly, American investigative reporter, is beautifully recreated here, strong, smart, and believable. With Jules Verne as a sidekick, and Louis Pasteur and Oscar Wilde in major roles, this is a book for everybody.”
-- Barbara D'Amato, Mary Higgins Clark Award winner, past president of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime International, winner of the Carl Sandburg Award for Excellence in Fiction and other major awards.
-- Thomas Fleming, President of the Society of American Historians, winner of the Lincoln Prize in History for Lifetime Achievement, and author of the New York Times bestselling Officers and Wives.
“This is just the kind of book I like—atmospheric, intriguing, rife with drama. What a fabulous debut!”
-- Brenda Novak, New York Times bestselling author of The Perfect Couple
"Famous real-life "girl reporter" Nellie Bly is swept away from Manhattan to world's fair-hosting Paris in 1889. Pursuing a killer with a scientific imagination, she'll have to confront disease, anarchists and prostitutes in the City of Light, and seek aid from Oscar Wilde and Jules Verne to bring her ingenious quarry to ground."
-- January Magazine, selected The Alchemy of Murder as the "Pick of the Week"
"Light, easy-read mystery based on fact: the exploits of America's first female investigative journalist, one Nelie Bly. Here she is a character who may or may not be Jack the Ripper, the slasher in Paris. Aided and abetted by the famous--Jules Verne, Louis Pasteur, Oscar Wilde and others--it romps along with glee. There is a fair bit of early medicine and forenscis thrown in too, alongside some charming line drawings."
-- The Bookseller, UK
"Carol McCleary's The Alchemy of Murder is rollicking good fun. The idea of starring the great Nellie Bly in a novel of suspense is such a natural it's a wonder it hasn't been done before. But if it had, I doubt any other writer would do it better. An historical period that includes Joseph Pulitzer, Oscar Wilde, Jules Verne, Toulouse Lautrec, and Jack the Ripper require an artist of McCleary's talents to do it justice."
-- Loren Estleman, winner of two American Mystery Awards, four Shamus Awards, finalist for the National Book Award, and author of The Branch and The Scoffold
“The Alchemy of Murder is a historical murder mystery with a fantastic bluestocking detective – Nellie Bly, the world’s first female reporter, with cameo roles by Oscar Wilde, Jules Verne, and Louis Pasteur, I hope, the first in a long series.”
-- Kate Forsyth, Internationally Bestselling Author
-- Dave Headley owner of Goldsboro Books, UK
-- Alcott & Earhart
-- Terry Halligan, reviewer for Euro Crime in England
-- Tracey Naylor. http://www.huntressreviews.com/fict.htm
-- Fleur Fisher, Confessions of A Cornish Bookworm
Best wishes, Michele Wille
Sincerely Margit Salz