Whatever Happenened to Molly Bloom?

December 15, 2014
What if James Joyce’s Leopold Bloom was accused of the murder of his wife, Molly? Stirling (Lantern for the Dark) explores the possibilities in a mystery whose execution doesn’t do justice to this imaginative premise. Insp. Jim Kinsella of the Dublin Metropolitan Police investigates after someone uses a teapot to fatally bludgeon Molly in her bed one day in the spring of 1905. Her husband is the obvious suspect, though he says she was dead when he entered the bedroom. Bloom had motive as well. Molly, a popular singer, was having an affair with Hugh “Blazes” Boylan, as in Ulysses. Those familiar with Joyce’s novel will appreciate how Stirling works in details from it. For example, Bloom’s taste for organ meat plays a part in his ostensible alibi, since he claims to have been at the butcher’s when Molly was killed. But readers who haven’t read Joyce will likely find this to be a dull and pedestrian whodunit.

February 1, 2015

At 7 Eccles Street in Dublin, Molly Bloom was found beaten to death in the kitchen with a teapot. DI Jim Kinsella considers the husband the likely suspect. With no real alibi, Leopold Bloom is arrested, but Kinsella soon finds another potential culprit in the form of Molly's alleged lover, Hugh "Blazes" Boylan. As Kinsella and his colleague Insp. Tom Machin begin to investigate, Molly and Leopold's daughter, Milly, arrives, and more questions than answers are revealed. Keeping the wrong man from going to prison may prove to be a most difficult case for these Dublin inspectors. VERDICT Harkening back to James Joyce's Ulysses, Stirling offers a literary twist on the historical mystery that may appeal to both Joyce readers and mystery buffs who like their crime fiction populated with famous literary characters (e.g., Carrie Bebris's "Mr. & Mrs. Darcy" series; Laurie R. King's Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes books). Stirling is the pen name for author Hugh C. Rae, who died in 2014.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2015
Stirling takes readers to James Joyce's Dublin in this mystery featuring some of the characters from Ulysses. Detective Inspector Jim Kinsella of the Dublin police arrives at Number 7 Eccles Street, not knowing why he was called. Once inside, he sees the body of singer Molly Bloom, who has been bludgeoned with a teapot. Her husband, Leopold, is the obvious suspect, but Kinsella is not sure he's guilty. Conflicting stories from Leopold and Molly's alleged lover, Hugh Blazes Boylan, who also sings, leave many loose ends. Were they arguing outside a brothel? Did Leopold leave the door unlocked when he went out to the butcher shop? Leopold has no alibi, and Hugh has a very bad temper. Then there is the unusual scent from an imported American perfume found on a cotton ball under the Blooms' bed. Leopold is definitely hiding something, but what? Stirling's creative use of Joyce's characters will charm readers who enjoy historical and literary mysteries.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)