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    The Bedlam Detective
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    The Bedlam Detective
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    The Bedlam Detective
    Audiobook9 hours

    The Bedlam Detective

    Written by Stephen Gallagher

    Narrated by Michael Page

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Sebastian Becker, a former Pinkerton man, lives in England and investigates wealthy eccentrics who may be too insane to care for their own affairs. He is asked to investigate rich landowner Sir Owain, but arrives to discover two young girls have been murdered, and it is not the first time children have come to harm in this small town. Owain's sanity is in question after a disastrous adventure that killed his family and colleagues, and Becker suspects him of the killings. A smart young suffragette and the wild daughter of a horse trainer had a frightening childhood experience that may hold some of the answers Becker seeks, but only if Becker can convince them to trust him in time.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDreamscape Media Audio
    Release dateFeb 28, 2012
    ISBN9781611206692
    Unavailable
    The Bedlam Detective
    Author

    Stephen Gallagher

    Beginning his TV career with the BBC's DOCTOR WHO, Stephen Gallagher went on to establish himself as a writer and director of high-end miniseries and primetime episodic television. In his native England he's adapted and created hour-long and feature-length thrillers and crime dramas. In the US he was lead writer on NBC's CRUSOE, creator of CBS Television's ELEVENTH HOUR, and Co-Executive Producer on ABC's THE FORGOTTEN. His fifteen novels include DOWN RIVER, RAIN, and VALLEY OF LIGHTS. He's the creator of Sebastian Becker, Special Investigator to the Lord Chancellor's Visitor in Lunacy, in a series of novels that includes THE KINGDOM OF BONES, THE BEDLAM DETECTIVE, and THE AUTHENTIC WILLIAM JAMES. Recent screen credits include an award-winning SILENT WITNESS and STAN LEE'S LUCKY MAN.

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    Reviews for The Bedlam Detective

    3.5/5

    131 ratings19 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this story. I liked the characters, even one of the baddies I quite liked to begin with. I loved the idea of a lunacy commission. Would read more by this author.
    • 4/5
      Many of the finest passages of the book are presented in the very good review by TexasBookLover. And I agree that there are some slow spots. I had not read Gallagher's work before, so I had nothing by him to compare it to. But I enjoyed this book (without challenging anything said about it in the review by TexasBookLover), and I would compare it favorably to Alex Grecian's The Yard, which I also liked. The pace of both books is a bit slow, but I thought the rewards worthwhile. I did look for other books by Gallagher and have since read the book on Tom Sayers (which I did not like as much, though again, I found it worth reading). I have at hand The Painted Bride and I have downloaded two Sebastian Becker stories to my Kindle, so you can see I have Gallagher's book on the brain.I liked the central character very much; so often the detective in a novel is a superman. Becker suffers losses; his financial circumstances are precarious; he is a family man with a son who does not exactly fit in the world, though Becker tries to find him a place in that world. And I found Becker's work interesting and did not expect the ending I received from the book. All in all, I would recommend it to fans of historical mysteries.
    • 4/5
      Very engaging and quality read, even if outside my normal genre styles.

      If you like Downton Abbey or Dickens, this would be an interesting book to pick up and enjoy.

      Best feature (that kept me glued to the book): Very short chapters/scenes that force you to keep reading as "just one more chapter" isn't that much. This book kept me up way too late a few nights because of this. :)
    • 4/5
      Can't remember who recommended this detective mystery but I remember it was highly recommended.I was disappointed. I love the authors writing style and the story really could have been better but it seemed to just lose momentum at the end and fizzle out like a dead firecracker (at least to me). I felt Iike the author didn't have any concept of how he wanted the story to end and just tossed a coin and took the easiest way out.As a result of this, I probably will not read anything further by ths author.
    • 4/5
      Madness, insane asylums and post-Victorian London; three things that have me salivating to read a book! The Bedlam Detective was no disappointment. A crossover between historical fiction and mystery, this book is more on the literary side to please those looking for historical/mystery rather than mystery/thriller. While I didn't find it a page turning read, I did find it an engrossing read with a clever mystery at its centre. Essentially a story of madness, as encountered in the post-Victorian era I found the plot fascinating along with the added element of the Victorian explorer I couldn't have been happier to find most of my favourite themes in one book. Well-written, an excellent period piece that mentions famous names but doesn't include any as main characters. I found myself doing a bit of research mid-read as I first heard mention of John Langdon Down, who turned out to be the physician Down's Syndrome is named after. While the serial killer aspect is not the main theme of the book it is kept afloat well and has a very surprising conclusion as all plot elements come to a head at the end of the book. A most enjoyable tale in one of my favourite genres. This is my first read by the author who has written many books; I will have to check out his backlist.
    • 4/5
      This is one for fans of British Historical Mysteries. It is a bit dark overall with at least one death that I thought was not necessary for the story. I did like it though.
    • 2/5
      This book was only okay. It seemed as though the author kept running out of ideas while writing this story. I wasn't really all that satisfied with the ending, which dragged down my opinion of the whole book. I'm not sure if I would actually recommend this to anyone.
    • 1/5
      I didn't think I would finish this book. It was too wordy for me. The author took a long time to get to the to the core of the mystery.
    • 4/5
      Interesting story that is slow to unravel but with a unique concept as the main character is a lunacy detective. Liked the characters and the back stories. Interested to see where he takes this series, as this is the first.
    • 4/5
      a good detective/suspense book. as I read, I found myself thinking what a great movie this would be. A shape moves at the edge of the forest..
    • 3/5
      A lot of promise, good writing and some of my favorite subjects (mysterious Amazonian adventures, asylums, early photography) and tight writing until the end. Jarring demise of an interesting character and a come-out-of-nowhere bad guy. No fair.
    • 4/5
      1912 England and Sebastian Becker is employed by the Lord Chancellor's Visitor in Lunacy as an investigator, to determine the mental state of any wealthly person who might be considered insane. His latest employment takes him to Arnmouth to investigate Sir Owain Lancaster, but events interfere.
      An easy-to-read, well-written mystery with some interesting characters.
    • 3/5
      Sebastian Becker is "Special Investigator for the Lord Chancellor's Visitor in Lunacy” and works from his tiny office in the basement of Bethlehem Hospital. His main focus is to investigate eccentric wealthy "clients" whose mental health is questionable. Trained as a Pinkerton Detective Sebastian has moved back to his wife’s home of London in the hopes that his “special needs” son can get the help he needs. Sir Owain Lancaster is Sebastian’s current case, trying to weed through truth and imagination to discover why Sir Lancaster’s family were killed during a trip to Africa. The disappearance of two young girls has Sir Lancaster convinced the evil forces from Africa have somehow followed him and thus, Sebastian is drawn into the investigation of the girl’s disappearance as well.

      This book is a wonderful Victorian era who-dun-it. Well written and dripping in nuances of the past it weaves a very interesting tale. Definitely pick this one up if you like historical mysteries.
    • 4/5
      Madmen see monsters – and monsters hide in plain sight

      From a basement office in London’s notorious Bethlehem Hospital, Sebastian Becker investigates wealthy eccentrics whose dubious mental health may render them unable to manage their own affairs. His interview with rich landowner Sir Owain Lancaster, whose sanity has been in question since a disastrous scientific adventure in the Amazon killed his family and colleagues, coincides with the disappearance of two young local girls. When the children are found slain, Lancaster claims that the same dark forces that devastated his family have followed him home. It is not the first time that children have come to harm in his rural countryside town, though few are willing to speak of incidents from the past. Becker must determine whether this mad nobleman is insane and a murderer, or if some even more sinister agency is at work.

      Struggling on his small salary, and with unexpected help from a son who needs special care, Becker and his wife make sacrifices so Becker can stay on the case after an innocent man is convicted of the crime. The answers he seeks may be found with the assistance of the local investigator and a young suffragette who fled Arnmouth, but couldn’t flee the horrors she encountered there.

      From dank asylums to the lush and treacherous Amazon, through the makeshift studios of the early film industry and a traveling fair of freaks and illusions, Sebastian Becker’s search for answers brings him face to face with madmen and monsters, both imagined and real. Confronting immense danger in his hunt for the truth, he will explore murder, tragedy, and the tempestuous depths of his own mind.

      Loved this, perfect pacing, brilliant cast of supporting characters and a book within a book.
    • 3/5
      "The names of the house always charmed her. They hadn't when she'd lived here, but they charmed her whenever she returned. Prospect Place. St Cuthbert's. Puffin. St Elmo's. Evangeline was a city dweller now, a grown woman, and these names were her childhood."Two country girls have been found brutally murdered, not far from the estate of Sir Owain Lancaster, who returned alone some years ago from a disastrous trip to the Amazon. Sebastian Becker is sent to investigate, wondering if Sir Owain needs treatment in the infamous hospital above his office - Bedlam...Becker is a solid everyman sort of detective, sympathetic without being ingratiating, persistent without being omniscient. Some home troubles make him a slightly more rounded character but not all that much time is devoted to making him an interesting person - he is the vehicle for the story. On the other hand there is a huge amount of time and paper devoted to the tale of Sir Owain's misadventures in the Amazon - we have his diary as well as the observations of those around him so his is really the most rounded character in the book. Which begs the question - why bother with the London side-story and the murder of the girls? If the author just wanted to tell the tale of Sir Owain's (literally incredible) visit to South America, why not just tell it by itself?As with all these historical endeavours, one wonders how authentic it is. Would Sebastian's autistic son really have fared so well in 19th century London? Is the life portrayed in Bethlehem Hospital accurate (or even close to accurate)? The London of the book felt quite sanitised, compared to the bleakness of country living. There's an assortment of bit parts which are cleverly and amusingly put together - I particularly liked Becker's family and the country plod who is supposed to assist Becker in his investigations.I felt that towards the end, the author was in a bit deep with the plot/stories he had constructed and it needed to be wrapped up - the episode at the country hall has heavy touches of deus ex machina to it. As I look at the slim book beside me (it's only just over 300 pages), more and more threads of plot come back to me and it's surprising to consider they were all included in the same novel! Overall, an enjoyable enough mystery; a bit dark for what I'm used to, and if you don't mind the heavy-handed wrapping up, you should find it pretty gripping.
    • 3/5
      By Stephen GallagherRandom House, 306 pgs978-0-307-40665-1Submitted by Random HouseRating: 2.75Britain, 1912, anxiety and paranoia are running high in the build-up to World War I. Arnmouth is a small coastal town where children have a tendency to periodically turn up missing and/or dead. Our hero is Sebastian Becker, Special Investigator to the Lord Chancellor's Visitor in Lunacy. Yep, that's right, Visitor in Lunacy, which makes it sound as if Becker himself is the loon, he just doesn't stay long. Instead he is a representative of Sir James Crichton-Browne, who is a historical figure and was, indeed, the Lord Chancellor's Visitor in Lunacy. I am a fairly well-informed individual and had never heard of such a thing so I looked it up. This was a real thing in Victorian England and persisted into the twentieth century. When questioned on his position, Becker explains himself thus:When the sanity of a man of property is questioned. . . it's the Visitor's duty to determine whether such a man is competent to manage his own affairs. Sometimes the mad can be devious in concealing their madness. I investigate those cases.Becker's case in this instance involves one Sir Owain Lancaster (no relation), local eccentric rich guy, who trekked off into the Amazon several years previous, only to return with approximately 2% of his original party. His wife and son also died during this journey and Sir Owain claimed that monsters killed everybody and, what's more, followed him home to the English moors. As Becker is arriving in Arnmouth, he learns that two girls have gone missing. Their bodies are found soon after and Becker begins to investigate Sir Owain with the idea that he might be nuts and continuing the murderous rampage begun in South America.It's turning into the spring of historical thriller fiction here at TexasBookLover, and billhooks seem en vogue as murder weapons. Unfortunately, Bedlam doesn't quite measure up. I'm trying to be fair but I fear Bedlam suffers in comparison to the previous two books reviewed here. I will admit to bumping up my original rating by .25 because I am genuinely conflicted. This book has some excellent and original elements: the Master and Visiting Loon thing; the psychedelic insects/expand your consciousness/acid-style bad trip thing; the intricacies of the fledgling still- and moving-camera technology; a complex back-story and fully-dimensional characters. There is a great imagination at work here.It's the execution, the technical elements, that is lacking. The plot lags in several places; the varied elements of the story don't coalesce; and I'm still scratching my head over why a couple of plot elements are there at all. I won't go into which ones, should you choose to read Bedlam. SPOILER ALERT (depending on whether or not you've been paying attention): The identity of the bad guy, or one of the bad guys, is unexpected but only because he has held no prominent place in the story up to that point, in fact cannot even be called a character as far as the narrative is concerned; his history, motivations and psychology are never explored or explained at all. In the end, I just found this book frustrating.There were some charming passages, such as this exchange between Becker and his son Robert:It's not a matter of where truth ends and fantasy begins, Robert said. You should have said where fact ends and fantasy begins. If that's what you wanted to know.Isn't it the same thing?No, it's not. Mother's like a spring flower. That's not strictly a fact. But it is true. One more:But are you telling me it's possible?My heart says no. But I'm a scientist. I have to start by accepting that everything is possible, and then be guided to a proper conclusion by the evidence. Evidence-based thinking, Mister Becker. The greatest single achievement of the human animal. Without it we'd be praising God while shivering in our caves and dead by the age of thirty.And there's wit:I can tell you there's no dignity at the end of a rope. . . .This was something that Hewlett did not like to hear. It seemed to dismay him more than the prospect of death itself. Death was an experience for which his imagination had no precedent; whereas humiliation had a reality for him, being something he probably experienced daily.One more:You could have killed me, Sebastian managed to say.I could. And yet I feel no conscience about it. Is that significant, do you think? And there's a very satisfying episode on page 293 involving a suffragette pin that is put to excellent use, so that the pin fulfills its meaning both literally and figuratively.As I mentioned above, I am conflicted. There is so much to appreciate in the novel, and yet so much is disappointing. The author has written fourteen novels, and is also a screenwriter (he has written for the BBC's Dr. Who) and director. He is the winner of a British Fantasy Award and International Horror Guild Award. Because of this I am willing to choose another book of his and give it a try. It's possible that Bedlam was a one-off; that his other works are better. I'll let you know what I find.
    • 4/5
      Very good book but I found the ending just a little bit disappointing as it didn't tie everything up.
    • 3/5
      It is 1912 and Sebastian Becker, former Pinkerton detective, is now an investigator for the Lord Chancellor’s Masters of Lunacy. His job is to investigate those “men of property” suspected of insanity in order to determine whether or not they are, in fact, mad and therefore incapable of continuing to manage their own affairs and money. He is sent to Arnmouth, a small town home to the estate of Sir Owain Lancaster, a former master of industry suspected of having gone insane after a disastrous excursion to the Amazon which claimed the lives of his wife and son. Becker arrives only to become immediately caught up in the hunt for two missing children—who turn up murdered on Sir Owain’s lands. The parallels between this case and another many years earlier in which the girls survived their ordeal are obvious, and Becker begins to investigate, attempting to locate those earlier victims—one of whom is uncommunicative and unfriendly, the other of whom has repressed all memory of the events in question. Meanwhile, Sir Owain claims that the monsters which attacked his party in the Amazon have followed him home and it is these beasts who are to blame for the girls’ attacks. Becker must unravel the truth before more victims fall prey to the monster—or the man.Well-plotted, with an interesting lead and a fascinating set-up, The Bedlam Detective is sure to appeal to fans of intelligent historical mystery.
    • 4/5
      This book has a very Victorian age London feel, even though it takes place in 1912. The suffragette movement is getting it’s legs and automobiles are beginning to replace horses, and moving pictures are the craze. This is were we meet up with Sebastian Becker, previously of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, currently he’s employed to investigate for the Lord Chancellor’s Visitor in Lunacy. The Visitor in Lunacy decides if the rich are sane enough to continue running their own affairs.We catch up with Becker on a train to meet his next assignment. He arrives just in time to join a search for two missing girls. With the notes his predecessor left, he fears the worst. Turns out his fears were justified.When I was reading this book, references were made to Becker’s past in such a way that I assumed the book was in the middle of a series. It is not. Looking at the authors writing history, he has a rather eclectic taste in writing. It shows both good and bad. I enjoyed the book and his writing experience shown through. However, his mystery while decent, wasn’t spectacular. He made a few blunders that stuck out to me as far as the plot was concerned but it was still a fun read and the story was very engaging.Overall, if you are reading this just for the mystery, you might be disappointed, if you want a good story about the time period it’s worth the read. My favorite part was the retelling of the trip through the Amazon and the anticipation of finally learning what happened.