Another Mystery Solved

Regarding the mystery aspect (of the academic mystery genre), I was always interested in the story due to the detective work being done. This maintained the “mystery aura.” Plus, there were several methods of detective work done in hopes of finding the murderer, like fingerprinting or using Bertillon’s system, examining the evidence, questioning, and posing as a different person. All of these things were done to find the serial killer who left clues only in the manner in which he killed and left the bodies. The fact that the killer purposely killed his victims in such a gruesome way also piqued my interest, especially since it seems it would be easy to catch such a person that does the same thing every time, in the open.

After a great deal of hard work and sleepless night, this crew of detectives (John the reporter, Sara, alienist Kreizler, and Kreizler’s help included) was able to solve the murder mysteries and discover that the killer was John Beecham (previously Japheth). After learning about his past and again analyzing the evidence and his background, they were finally able to put Beecham “into a corner” and kill him as he attempted yet another murder. (Of course there were other minor problems, like Kreizler and John Moore getting tied up by Beecham; Carr made it appear as if they too might die, but in the end they didn’t, thus making this a thrilling mystery).

Pertaining to the academic mystery genre, the mystery was academic in terms of the psychological process involved with both the patients and Kreizler’s attempt to analyze one’s childhood in order to understand how a person may act as an adult. It was also academic in the sense that it taught the reader many historical facts, which might seem boring, but in reality, the history made the story interesting and a great read. I really enjoyed this book.