Murder By Degrees
Murder By Degrees
By: Ritu Mukerji
“She willed herself to look back. He was there, just as she knew he would be… She lifted herself with her last remaining strength and jumped.”
Set in the late 1800s in post-war Philadelphia, this is an atmospheric mystery with disappearance and mysterious deaths, murder, and cover-ups.
The main character is a female physician, Dr. Weston, of Indian (India) descent during a time when females were not given much respect in the professional (or personal) world.
Having treated Anna, the missing young woman, in the past, Dr. Weston aids the police investigation into what happened to her.
Obviously technology is not the same then as it is now, so it was interesting to consider their methodology in following leads, determining cause of death, and tracking down a killer.
Some reviewers have commented that there are inaccuracies to this point. I have no qualifications to confirm or deny that, but to the average reader I don’t think there are any major discrepancies that would influence one’s enjoyment of the book.
I would give caution though, that you may not want to read this book on your lunch break. There are several medical scenes, including an autopsy, that are a bit graphic and not conducive to eating while reading.
Dr. Weston is Indian, but there wasn’t much of her heritage developed as far as character detail goes. There were a few descriptors here or there of items in her home that speak to her background, but otherwise, it was very much back burner and honestly, I even forgot a few times that she wasn’t white. (Which is probably partly because I’m white and it’s reflex to read my own ethnicity into characters, but partly because it just wasn’t a major part of her character as the author wrote it. )
This book speaks a lot to the disparities in class (rich vs poor) and gender (male vs female). I admit that sometimes I get tired of the discriminated-against-woman-living-in-a-man’s-world-and-having-to-prove-herself trope because it’s very popular right now. I’m probably not allowed to say that, especially as a woman, but hey, it’s what I often feel.
In Murder by Degrees the trope makes a lot of sense because of the context of the time period and so it didn’t get too annoying and the author didn’t make every male character to be against the protagonist so I appreciated that as well. All men, regardless of time period, aren’t misogynists.
Learning Corner
I had not read much during this time period and location so it was interesting to ‘travel’ somewhere new. There were a lot of references to places or streets that may mean something more to readers familiar with the Philly area, but I am not so if there were meant to be significant meaning behind any of it, it was lost on me.
As for the time period, I learned some interesting stuff.
The omnibus— an option for mass transport— was a thing. I found a picture of one here:
Photo credit: this website
Body-snatching was a common occurrence. Corpses were stolen from graves and sold to medical schools for anatomy and dissection purposes. Sellers could get several month’s pay for a body so it was a lucrative ‘business.’
If you pour water into molten iron it will explode.
Mercury was used as a ‘healing’ agent. Thank goodness for scientific progression in medicine. Mercury has a whole host of negative side effects and harm to the body. It is also connected to the ‘Mad-Hatter’s’ disease because mercury was used in the felting process done by hatmakers and often resulted in tremors, anxiety, and depression. THIS is an interesting read.
Doctors were learning more about anesthesia during this time. This was coming off the Civil War when so many soldiers had to have limbs amputated… without anesthesia! I can’t even imagine.
The life expectancy in the 1800s was in the 60s during this time and it’s quite surprising considering the state of medicine at the time amongst other things! Quality of life, though, perhaps not as good.
Reading this book made me very thankful for modern medicine and doctors who know not to prescribe mercury…
Spoiler Comment
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So, after knowing the ending, I was thinking back to when Paul ran away from the police that one time they came back to the house. Then he’s just MIA and everyone is just like, oh yeah, we don’t know where Paul is.
But no one was ever too concerned about it. A couple times they were like, hey is Paul back, and they were told no and they just didn’t seem to think that was significant.
I think that disconnect between that moment and what we know at the end of Paul’s role feels like a hole I wish was filled.
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SPOILER OVER
Other Comments
After they find the body in the river, Dr. Weston was unsure about something.
“Something else was troubling her. It was what they hadn’t found. Something was missing and she couldn’t quite place it.”
I was curious to know what that was but I’m not sure if Mukerji ever closed that loop specifically.
There is a brief Halloween party scene. I read this in October so it had some fun October vibes and if you’re needing a book for a reading challenge that has a holiday in it, this may fit that prompt for you.
The title: Murder by Degrees.
I was trying to figure out what this title meant and why it was chosen. I can’t really tell. The only thing I can think of is that the murder was issued indirectly… by degrees… as in ‘six degrees of separation’ and how many people away someone is from you?
I don’t know if that’s right. That’s just all I could come up with because I don’t think the murder had to do with advanced educational degrees or with temperature, and it wasn’t a death where if, for example, a bullet missed by a tiny fraction.
What else is there?
So I think this book would have benefited from a different title. Unless I’m missing something.
Many reviewers seem to think that this will be a series.
I’m not sure why this is widely thought; this book could easily just be a standalone. There is no cliffhanger. Perhaps if they continue it, we’ll see the professional relationship between Dr. Weston and Davies (the police guy) continue to develop. There’s currently tension as Davies doesn’t take her very seriously, so there would be room for him to continue to grow in respect for her work and intellect and ability to help solve cases. I could see their partnership becoming a friendship.
That could work, but I don’t know how likely that would be.
Dr. Weston is a likable character and someone readers would definitely want to root for, especially given the era she lives in.
“It was her keen insight, her tenacity, and ultimately her courage that had brought them to the end of this arduous case.”
Recommendation
I would recommend this book. It’s not going to be a twisty hard-hitting thriller, but it’s a good mystery set in an interesting time period/place with a likable protagonist.
The beginning really draws you in and though I suspected some of the reveals, it was written in a way that did make me second guess myself.
I also appreciate that the book was clean. There was no cursing or sexual content other than stating some facts regarding the case or suspects in the case.
I think some of the medical details can take away from the story, the title could have been better, and a couple nitpicky things about the plot could be changed, but nothing that would make me think it’s not worth reading.
I say, go for it!
**Received an ARC via NetGalley*
[Content Advisory: none]
This book releases October 17, 2023. You can pre-order a copy of this book using my affiliate link below.
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