Vices of My Blood (28 page)
Authors: Maureen Jennings
Tags: #Mystery; Thriller & Suspense, #Mystery, #Thrillers & Suspense, #Crime, #Crime Fiction
Author’s Note and Acknowledgements
For the convenience of my plot, I have moved Chalmers Church from its real location, which is long gone. There was a Presbyterian church at the corner of Carlton and Jarvis, which is now a Lutheran church.
The House of Industry, also known as the city poor house, was at the location I have given it on Elm Street. Only the facade remains today, but it is easy to stand before it and feel the impact it might have had on the destitute and desperate people of the time who had to line up for their daily soup.
And speaking of soup, the unidentified soup that Murdoch swallows at the food depot was typical of the period. I came across a recipe while visiting the Judge’s Lodging Museum in Presteigne, Wales. I made it, and it is exactly as described.
The poor house procedures I have used in the story were as depicted.
The current Dundas Street East was then named Wilton Street.
I have tried to be as accurate as I can be with all the historical details and regret any errors, however small.
As always, I am grateful to many people for their help in the making of this book.
Elaine, the librarian at the Pelham Library, was not only a gracious host but took time to inform me about the structures of the Presbyterian Church.
Jim, woodsman extraordinaire and regular member of the dog-field gang, set me straight about the subtleties of wood-chopping and axe-throwing.
Linda Wicks, the archivist at the Sisters of St. Joseph library, brought me fascinating registers and patiently waited for me to finish reading through them.
I especially owe thanks to the folks at McClelland & Stewart, especially Bruce, Cass, and Dinah, who have supported me so enthusiastically and produced covers I love.
My agent, Jane Chelius, is the best.
MAUREEN JENNINGS’S
first novel in the Detective Murdoch series,
Except the Dying
, was published to rave reviews and shortlisted for both the Arthur Ellis and the Anthony first novel awards. The influential Drood Review picked
Poor Tom Is Cold
as one of its favourite mysteries of
2001
.
Let Loose the Dogs
was shortlisted for the
2004
Anthony Award for best historical mystery.
Night’s Child
was shortlisted for the Arthur Ellis Award, the Bruce Alexander Historical Mystery Award, the Barry Award, and the Macavity Historical Mystery Award. And
A Journeyman to Grief
was nominated for the Arthur Ellis Award. Three of the Detective Murdoch novels have been adapted for television, and a Granada International television series, The Murdoch Mysteries, based on the characters from the novels, is entering its third season on CityTV and UKTV.
COPYRIGHT © 2006 BY MAUREEN JENNINGS
First McClelland & Stewart paperback edition 2006
This trade paperback edition 2010
All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system, without the prior written consent of the publisher—or, in case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a licence from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency—is an infringement of the copyright law.
LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION
Jennings, Maureen
Vices of my blood / Maureen Jennings.
(A Detective Murdoch mystery)
eISBN: 978-0-7710-4323-9
I. Title. II. Series: Jennings, Maureen. Detective Murdoch mystery.
PS8569.E562V52 2010 C813′.54 C2009-906983-0
We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program and that of the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Media Development Corporation’s Ontario Book Initiative. We further acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program.
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McClelland & Stewart Ltd.
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