Let Loose the Dogs - Murdoch Mysteries

Zusatztext "No author has mined Toronto's past . . . with the dedication to detail of mystery writer Maureen Jennings. . . . Let Loose the Dogs follows Murdoch through a dense plot centred on a bloodthirsty gambling event of the era." - Toronto Star "Jennings is too tough and honest a writer to let anyone off her moral hook, even her hero." - New York Times Book Review "Perhaps [the] darkest and most complex novel in this well-received Victorian series." - Publishers Weekly "The most generously plotted of Murdoch's four cases, but the one whose constant reminders of mortality . . . are the most piercing." - Kirkus Reviews Informationen zum Autor Maureen Jennings Klappentext In Let Loose the Dogs , Detective Murdoch's life and work overlap tragically. His sister, who long ago fled to a convent to escape their abusive father, is on her deathbed. Meanwhile, Harry Murdoch, the father whom Murdoch long ago shut out of his life, has been charged with murder and calls on his estranged son to prove his innocence. But, knowing his father, what is Murdoch to believe?Chapter One     He remembered the match vividly. After that – after he had fallen by the bridge – he had no recall and only knew what had happened from the statements of witnesses at his trial. The day had been oppressively hot, the sky heavy and dark with a threatening storm. Inside the barn it was stifling, the air thick with the smell of blood and the stink of the rats. The dogs were going wild. Tripper, the innkeeper’s black- and- tan bitch; the two white pugs that belonged to the Craigs; and a squat, brindle bulldog, who was there for the first time, were all tethered to the rings that ran along the wall. All of them were barking nonstop, their eyes dilated, saliva flooding from their mouths. He had shouted with the others all through the matches. They all had, even the Englishman who made such a point of being unruffled. Delaney had Flash in his arms and was having a hard time holding on to him, he was squirming so much, wanting to get back into the ring. Everybody knew this terrier had won unless Havoc got more kills. The stakes were high as they always were at Newcombe’s matches, and Harry had put down a lot of money, every dime of what he’d saved over the summer. He was glad he’d drawn the last run because the later dogs were always more ferocious.   “Havoc up! Last dog. Flash the one to beat with forty kills,” Lacey, the ring- keeper, called out. He released a cage of rats into the pit. They were dull brownish grey and fat from their summer feeding. At first they stayed close together, noses twitching, dazzled by the light. Lacey stirred them up with his crooked stick, then he shouted again.   “ NOW! LET LOOSE YOUR DOG .”   Harry dropped Havoc into the ring. Immediately the terrier pounced on three rats in succession, killing each one with a single bite and a violent shake that broke their necks. The rest started to run, circling the small walled pit. Some tried in vain to climb up the smooth sides. For the next, long ten minutes the dog pursued them, biting, shaking, and dropping one after the other. The men took up the count, calling out the number of hits.   “ TWENTY- TWO . . . TWENTY- THREE . . . TWENTY- FOUR . . .”   One of the rats twisted up and gripped the dog on the nose with its razor teeth, but Havoc wasn’t deterred, running on until finally he slammed against the wall crushing the creature and it dropped to the floor. Several of the other rats tried to huddle in a corner, but Lacey banged on the side of the pit wall to get them going. The terrier killed all of them. The chant got faster, driving him on. His muzzle was crimson, his coat flecked with blood and spittle.   “ THIRTY . . . THIRTY- ONE . . .”   Briefly, the little dog seized one of the corpses.   “Dead un! L...

Product details

• Authors: Maureen Jennings
• Publisher: Random House Canada
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback
• Released: 26.02.2013
• EAN: 9780771046766
• ISBN: 978-0-7710-4676-6
• No. of pages: 512
• Dimensions: 135 mm x 205 mm x 35 mm
• Series: Murdoch Mysteries; Murdoch Mysteries
• Subject: Fiction > Suspense