The Death of Sir Martin Malprelate, Adam Roberts
The Death of Sir Martin Malprelate, Adam Roberts
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The Death of Sir Martin Malprelate

Author: Adam Roberts

Narrator: George Weightman

Unabridged: 10 hr 8 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Datura Books

Published: 11/14/2023


Synopsis

A gothic tale of murder and corruption set in 1840s Victorian London, taking inspiration from our most famous 19th century writers.

The 1840s. 

Railway Baron Sir Martin Malprelate has been laying waste to the warren of Camden; buying up houses and clearing streets for his new railway line linking King’s Cross with the prosperous town of Middlemarch. He stands to make his fortune ever more vast and to earn the loathing of all who attempt to stand up to him. Little wonder, then, that he meets a violent end on a foggy street after walking out of a particularly bitter meeting with outraged residents facing eviction. But the cause of his death causes more wonder. How could he have possibly fallen beneath the wells of a speeding spectral train running on tracks not yet even built?

Sir Martin’s death is investigated by the police, but the company employ one of its senior engineers, Mr Bryde, to pursue his own investigation. Bryde uncovers a network of resentment and conspiracy, popular opposition to the expansion of the railways, agitating workers, scheming shareholders, corrupt politicians and a gallery of varied and grotesque characters, all of whom had some stake in the old man’s death.

Lacing it’s realism with both social commentary and the gothic imaginations of the time The Death of Sir Martin Malprelate is a vivid recreation of a London stalked by poverty and haunted by visions of demons and ghosts; a world of slums, lavish wealth and opium dens. The narrative is coloured by exotic characters all too ready to believe in the supernatural but the plot is driven by rationality and the all too real motivations of greed and revenge.

From TI 9781915523020 TR.

About The Author

ADAM ROBERTS is Professor of 19th Century Literature at Royal Holloway, London University. He is a leading authority on the works of Charles Dickens and has also published numerous books and academic studies on, amongst others, Browning, Tennyson, Wells, Walter Scott and Coleridge.  He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Vice President of the H.G. Wells Society and the author of more than 20 critically acclaimed SF novels and a number of non-fiction books on the genre. He lives to the West of London with his wife and two children.From TI 9781915523020 TR.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Oscar on December 14, 2023

La trama se sitúa en Inglaterra, en 1848. Sir Martin Malprelate es un exitoso hombre de negocios, con fama de gruñón y avaro. Su riqueza proviene del ferrocarril, medio de transporte en auge, aunque con muchas protestas en contra, sobre todo por parte de los conductores de carretas. Y como indica el......more

Goodreads review by Jamedi on December 26, 2023

Review originally on JamReads The Death of Sir Martin Malprelate is a historical fiction novel which blends its story with touches of classic science fiction, intrigue and an excellent homage to the classics of English literature, written by Adam Roberts, and published by Datura Books. The appare......more

Goodreads review by Johan on March 09, 2024

8 - I never really know how to review an Adam Roberts novel, that is to say, I'm always of two minds: in awe of the ambition and the originality, impressed by the witty but still literary prose, but always slightly disappointed by the story itself, that to me never truly lives up to its ideas, and o......more

Goodreads review by Miguel on November 20, 2023

Adam makes a good case for being the most underrated author of the last twenty years. Consistently superb.......more

Goodreads review by Annarella on December 25, 2023

I'm late to the party and I'm wonderin why because this is a brilliant mix of historical fiction and mystery, well plotted and solid. The historical background is well researched and vivid, the social remarks are interesting and the character well rounded. The mystery is solid and well developed, it k......more