“A winner. Provocative…finely flavored, credible, and detailed.”
–Library Journal
“Terrific…the best historical mystery of the year…. Murdoch is a fine creation…. We can’t wait to meet him again.”
–Mystery Collectors’ BookLine
Poor Tom Is Cold
A Drood Review of Mystery Favorite Book of the Year
“Jennings has laid strong claim to the Toronto of the late nineteenth century…and she cements her hold with this deft combination of mystery and social issues…a satisfying mystery perfectly wedded to its evocative setting.”
–Publishers Weekly
“Jennings generates considerable suspense with her unsettling tale…. A very fine example of what it takes to make a historical mystery work.”
–Booklist
Let Loose the Dogs
“The fourth and perhaps darkest and most complex novel in this well-received Victorian series.”
–Publishers Weekly
“No author has mined Toronto’s past–specifically, the Victorian era of the 1890s–with the dedication to detail of mystery writer Maureen Jennings…. Let Loose the Dogs follows Murdoch through a dense plot centred on a blood-thirsty gambling event of the era.”
–Toronto Star
“The most generously plotted of Murdoch’s four cases, but the one whose constant reminders of mortality…are the most piercing.”
–Kirkus Reviews
Copyright © 1998 by Maureen Jennings
All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system, without the prior written consent of the publisher–or, in case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a licence from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency–is an infringement of the copyright law.
Jennings, Maureen
Under the dragon’s tail / Maureen Jennings.
“A Detective Murdoch mystery”.
eISBN: 978-1-55199-281-5
I. Title.
PS8569.E562U53 2004 C813'.54 C2003-907434-X
We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program and that of the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Media Development Corporation’s Ontario Book Initiative. We further acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program.
McClelland & Stewart Ltd.
The Canadian Publishers
75 Sherbourne Street
Toronto, Ontario
M5A 2P9
www.mcclelland.com
v1.0
Table of Contents
COVER
TITLE PAGE
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
EPIGRAPH
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
EPILOGUE
ALSO BY MAUREEN JENNINGS
CRITICAL RAVES FOR MAUREEN JENNINGS
COPYRIGHT