Mick Finlay's Arrowood and the Thames Corpses is one of those gritty historical mysteries, populated by characters barely scraping by, rather than by good-looking, clever members of the upper crust with time on their hands. In the Victorian London of this novel, characters bite into onions as if they were apples. No one has a proper wash-up. Ever. The Thames is roiling with oil and garbage. If the pub has run out of spoons, you eat your eel jelly with your fingers.

The central character, Arrowood, is the son of a cleric who eventually went mad and is volatile like his father. He once worked as a newspaper reporter, but having lost that job, he has set himself up as a private detective. His sidekick Barnett grew up in a neighborhood both poor and violent and always seems to be just avoiding homeless by about tuppence. Despite the fact that these men are deeply attached to each other, there is still some class-based tension between them.

Arrowood's sister has moved back in with him, bringing a baby whose "provenance" she refuses to reveal. The cast includes street children, a murderous female rat-catcher, a father and daughter scraping by taking lower-class tourists out for trips on their aging paddle-wheeler. This pair hire Arrowood to investigate a rival boatman and his family who they accuse of sabotage. But sabotage turns to terror when the find two long ropes attached to their boat one morning: one training the skulls of fourteen children, the other attached to three dead bodies.

The central mystery increases in complexity as the book progresses, keeping readers engaged. The characters, both major and minor, also grow in complexity. With one exception, the book has no clear villains, and its heroes are not necessarily virtuous. In other words, these characters are people, not cut-outs.

The novel also offers some humorous moments: Arrowood is obsessed with Sherlock Holmes, who continually gets more respect, more publicity, and more money than Arrowood does.

If you enjoy historical mysteries, particularly those not populated by rich dabblers, this is a book for you.

I received a free electronic review copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. The opinions are my own. ( )