This was at times a bleak and harrowing story in the sense that the author does not shy away from the darkness that is historical London in 1863. The gritty details of prostitution and murder framed stories of women who had to endure this shit back in the day, and as a result, I found this book to be a rather feminist tale. The female characters are smart and strong, and I really appreciated that. Recommended.

SHE BE DAMNED
(Heloise Chancey: #1)
Written by M.J. Tjia
2017; Pantera Press/Legend Times Group (288 pages)
Genre: fiction, series, historical mystery, suspense, female detective

(Review Not on Blog)

RATING: 2.5 STARS

I am probably among the minority but I didn't find this story very exciting. There were moments I would stop reading and realize that I didn't even remember what happened. It wasn't that the writing was bad, but instead it just wasn't that interesting (for me). I find that Victorian mysteries are a hit or miss with me. I will give the second book a shot and see how it goes.

***I received an eARC from NETGALLEY***

k (My Novelesque Life)

Heloise Chauncey is a unique detective. Her other career is a courtesan. When asked to look into grisly murders of local girls, she couldn’t say no. After all, they are her past. Has a big reveal at the end. Looking forward to reading the next in this series.
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Historical thrillers are fun, and She Be Damned is especially interesting because the protagonist is a former prostitute, now wealthy courtesan, who is also a detective. This makes for unique scenarios. In this first installment of the Heloise Chancey series, Heloise is asked to investigate the disappearance of a girl who is suspected to have run away from her father because he wouldn’t give her permission to marry. This leads Heloise to an investigation into a string of murders where prostitutes are not only being murdered, but their sexual organs are also being removed. Amah, Heloise’s Chinese maid is one of the suspects, so besides helping police with her powers of detection, Heloise wants to prove her maid’s innocence.

Where many historical novels focus on the wealthier people who lived in London and those who were respectable, circa 1863, this novel gives readers a taste of another side where it involves prostitutes and courtesans (certainly Heloise isn’t respected by many even though she has plenty of money due to her unacceptable lifestyle).

Tjia’s writing is clear and concise. She is an excellent storyteller, and the novel will keep the interest of readers. She skillfully uses language that sets the scene and makes readers feel that they are living in the period, and it seems true to history. The protagonist is quite likeable even though she is a character who most readers won’t be able to relate to. Nevertheless, the characters are well-developed and seem real.

She Be Damned is a fairly quick read, and there is no palpable violence. However, there is building suspense throughout, and it isn’t easy to put the book down until the murderer is exposed.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

This book scratched so many itches I have with books. Victorian historical fiction? Check. Strong female lead? Check! Allusions to Jack the Ripper? The biggest check! Thankfully this book did not disappoint, though the romance/smut side was a bit much.

I love the narrative style. Although there's a risk of it becoming overbearing, Tjia manages to strike the perfect balance while maintaining the flow of the story. I'll definitely be reading more from this series!

She be damned is a gritty crime story set in Victorian age

Heloise Chancey is approached by Sir Thomas to assist in a case involving a young, missing pregnant woman.
Chancy being a very good actress, she has worked for him before she roughed herself up as a street prostitute in order to spy on a group of young men .With a investigation of a bunch of ladies in the night being murdered he fears this is what happened.Heloise agrees, but on her terms. Sir Thomas wants her to go back to her former life, as a prostitute, which of course she does not want to.

The body of the last prostitute who died in this manner was taken to hospital to be used as a specimen, and they found that parts of her body was missing. Frightening as it seems that the last prostitute was the fourth body to have been found in this condition within the last seven weeks. Vile acts must have taken place as apparently all their sexual organs were missing, inside and outside. Obviously someone who is very evil is butchering these unfortunate women.

What a fantastic read. Fast-paced and easily entertaining.

Thanks again to NetGalley!!!

London 1863 - prostitutes are being murdered and disemboweled.

From humble beginnings to the comfortable life of a courtesan, Heloise Chancy dabbles in the world of private investigation. And when she is called upon to step back into her old world to investigate a series of brutal murders and the disappearance of a missing girl, Heloise must use her charm and wit to solve the mystery.

The story rattles along briskly from its confronting opening scenes to its climatic conclusion as the reader is drawn into Heloise's world. No sooner is one part of the mystery is solved than yet one more remains unresolved.

The seething underbelly of Victorian London comes alive as Heloise walks the dimly lit streets and alleyways to seek answers, often putting herself in harms way, but managing to achieve more than past investigations, despite the obvious chauvinistic attitudes of those seeking her assistance - "What on earth do you think a little dollymop like her can achieve?"

The story is peppered with intriguing characters from the mysterious maidservant Amah Li Leen, brothel keeper Madame Silvestre, the mysterious Mr Priestly, and local street urchin.

It will be interesting to read the follow up to see how the characters are further developed and in what capacity Heloise will next be employed to investigate.

This book is interesting although for me it had a slow start. Heloise is a clever lady and I enjoy reading how she navigates through this case. But for me the end is a bit anti-climactic but I like that the author managed to hide who the killer is up to the end of the story.

There’s a serial killer on the loose in Victorian London and the best woman is on the case – Heloise Chancey, courtesan turned private detective. She’s called upon by the kindly Sir Thomas Avery and his client, the large-eared and disagreeable Mr Priestly, to do a ‘spot of work’ – find missing seventeen year old Eleanor Carter, who has been thrown out of home for finding herself in an ‘unhappy condition’. They’re worried she may have fallen victim to a Jack-the-Ripper style killer who has already butchered four pregnant women, removing their sexual organs in what appears to be a botched hysterectomy, leaving the police perplexed.

Heloise has a history as a stage actress so Sir Thomas and Mr Priestly direct her to pose as a prostitute in the slums of Waterloo. But Heloise, who does investigation work for pleasure and not money, decides ‘I don’t need to be flat on my back or flashing my breasts to find this Eleanor girl’. She leaves behind her trusted maid, Amah Li Leen, and ventures to Waterloo where she intends to do things her own way.

M.J. Tjia depicts a gritty Victorian London for a gruesome murder mystery, evoking the era with a few well-chosen words from the dialect, vivid descriptions of the squalid living conditions, and shrewd observations of sexist and racist attitudes of the time. Women with unwanted pregnancies find themselves in a desperate situation with no support, no health care and limited options available to them, and the treatment of Amah Li Leen who, as a Eurasian woman, is viewed as dangerous and untrustworthy and forced to disguise herself in public or risk being openly abused in the streets.

Heloise is a dauntless main character who is well aware of the realities of life, having worked in the back alleys and brothels of Liverpool before earning her place as an esteemed courtesan living in Mayfair. With an ability to move between different social circles, she throws herself into the investigation using her instinct, intelligence and experience to question a range of unsavoury characters. There’s sneaky Madame Silvestre at the brothel where Heloise used to work, the dodgy back door doctor conducting ‘scrapings’, and Bill Chapman, an ambitious police sergeant investigating the murders in his own time in the hopes of getting a promotion.

She Be Damned moves along at a nimble pace starting with a violent prologue where the murderer claims his latest victim, and with a shocking turn of events halfway through the story. Li Leen’s backstory is revealed in mysterious interludes throughout the book, making her a sympathetic character and allowing the reader a different point of view of Heloise, leading to a significant reveal at the end.

These two brave, unapologetic leading ladies makes She Be Damned a historical crime fiction novel that is perfect for contemporary readers and a joy to read. There’s plenty of material for this to become a rich and engaging series of mystery novels and I eagerly await the next installment.

Writing:
I really enjoyed the writing of this book! It sucked me in completely! 
I did start this book a while ago but I only got 15% into it and I put it down. I was in a bit of a reading slump and decided to put it down and read Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban illustrated edition first in case my slump affected how I felt about this book. But after jumping back into this book yesterday I flew through it!! 
** The writing is very detailed and very graphic. I would not recommend this to someone that is uneasy with graphic content but it didn't worry me. This book talks a lot about sex, violence, horrible stuff happening to people and has a fair bit of negative language directed towards some of the characters. So just be aware of that before going into this book**

Plot:
The plot was also amazing! It again drags you in. I wouldn't exactly say it was action packed but it had an awesome balance of action and information which is perfect for a mystery. 
Besides that, I can't really talk about the plot as it's a mystery and I don't want to spoil anything! 

Characters:
Heloise is an awesome character. She is so intelligent and does not let being a female hold her down. She still gets in and gets shit done and doesn't wait around for the males to do it. 
I didn't like the short romance of sorts that happened. I didn't love the guy that was the love interest. He actually kind of annoyed me. 
Amah was an awesome character. She was kinda sassy and sarcastic and I loved it. 

There were tonnes of other more minor characters but as a lot of them are possible suspects, you automatically kind of don't like them just in case they are the murderer. So I can't really say if I actually like them or not because of that! 
I hope that makes sense!

Overall:
So I did really enjoy a majority of the book but there was one thing that made it a bit difficult to read. That was that I had such a similar feeling to Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco. I recently read that book and loved it. There were a lot of similarities between the two. We have a female, set in the past and they are battling against being looked down upon due to their sex. The victims of the murders are prostitutes in both books and the way they have been murdered in similar ways too. In SBD they have their sexual organs cut out and in SJTR the victims have different organs removed after they are killed. So as you can see, I felt a strong similarity! Not that that is really bad as I loved SJTR, but it did get slightly confusing at times when thinking about the events in the book. 

So yeah, overall I enjoyed the plot, I loved the writing and the MC was awesome! 

I don't know if this book will be part of a series. The book kind of ended off as if there will be a second book, but it doesn't say so on Goodreads. However, it is called 'She Be Damned: A Heloise Chancey Mystery' which makes me think it will be part of a series like the Poirot and Miss Marple series by Agatha Christie. 
I hope there will be a second book as I would 100% pick that up!

Heloise Chancey has been asked by Sir Thomas Avery to look into the disappearance of a girl who was forced from her home by her father. At the same time, they would like to see if she could help them with some disturbing murders. So far four prostitutes have been mutilated and they have no persons of interest.
This was an excellent mystery, abound with intrigue,fear, and murder. She tried to keep her options open. But when her young ward and another young girl are killed in her rented home. Her maid had been arrested because she was where a murder had occurred and had no alibi. I know people can be cruel but this was awful. There was a lot of blood and parts had been removed. There were so many twists and turns to this, it was really hard to guess who did it. I have never read this author before but she did an amazing job. Her writing was well thought out, easy to read and well written. I really enjoyed this tale. Your interest was immediately engaged until the end. I can not wait until her next book.
I received this ARC from Net Galley and voluntarily reviewed it.

Don’t quit this book once you realise it is yet another version of Jack The Ripper. It is much more than that.

She Be Damned is a story of strong woman, too strong for her times and men around her. It is a murder-mystery, lost girl, an almost love story all wrapped into one big bundle with ribbons and ostrich feathers. It is written with such a gusto, you can almost taste the watery coffee and hot potato from the street vendors of London and can see all the dreary settings of the horrible deeds and wicked thoughts.

It is a story within a story on a story. It is like the women’s skirts of those times: crinolines, underskirts, bones, and wire with expensive fabric on the top layer. Some of those skirts get dirty pretty quickly, and not necessary the cheapest…

How can I describe this book without letting any spoilers out of the hat? Well, as the title of this blog says, Sasha Torte has found a best friend: both women are beautiful, reckless, stubborn, powerful and resourceful. And both of them are very vulnerable and defenseless even when it comes to men and society.

I know Heloise started thinking of quitting… the society at the end of the book. But I actually think, she can do more. She can do more detecting and more ‘put in your place’ to people who truly deserve it.

Call me wicked and vengeful… take a dare, read the book

A wonderful and exhilarating experience! Four very happy stars!

Excellent historical fiction novel. I love the strength of the female lead character. The twist at the end regarding Heloise's biology was a shock.

I shouldn't judge this too harshly.as my first foray into the world of ARCs

I loved the premise, smart sassy lady detective in 1860s London investigating the Ripper deaths of local prostitutes. A bit Phryne Fisher. Right up my alley

It didn't *quite* push all my buttons. I like when I can't guess the end of a mystery but I think in this case it's because the clues seemed a bit heavy handed and I dismissed them. There is no subtlety to this novel in any sense. There is in-your-face sex, violence and character personality.

The writing itself is really good. The setting is fantastic, the descriptions spot on and really good story telling. I just couldn't get really invested. Heloise Chancey is a bit meh, she's supposed to be kickass but she's mostly just shallow. There are no great relationships in the book. The asides with Amah Li Leen are bizarre, but almost functional for the storyline. With better editing they might achieve a bit more in terms of backstory setting.

This reads as more of a 3rd or 4th novel in a series, where you're already invested in the character and just want to read about the next adventure they're having. As a first novel there needs to be less casual references to past events "off page" to make the character seem more interesting, and just make your character more interesting with dialogue and personal reflections.

Wow this review sounds savage, but actually overall I liked it. The writing is a lot better than the sum of its parts, and like I said I enjoyed the premise

What a book!! But i now need to read book 2 straight away!
I hope it doesn't take to long to be published.
This book is full of all sorts of situations and deals with quite a controversial subject, abortions, be it through choice or by force so it probably won't be a book that is for everyone.
But putting that aside the setting in victorian London is brilliant portrayed and is fully believable.
Our protagonist Heloise Chancey is a courtesan and professional detective and she starts delving into the spate of murders in Waterloo, prostitutes that have all had their sexual organs mutilated and removed.
There is fear on the streets as the ladies of the night wait for the killer to strike again.
Heloise needs to find a young pregnant woman as she is feared to be the potential next victim.
This book covers the victorian lifestyle and morals as well as gruesome murders.
I read this in one go as i couldn't find a place to leave it, i had to keep going to find out what happened!
Great book, can't wait for the next one

Very entertaining period detective fiction. The protagonist has an interesting back story and a relatable personality. Looking forward to reading more of this series.

Heloise Chancey is a courtesan in London during the year of 1863--because of her past experiences with both prostitution and sleuthing she is recruited to the assist a wealthy family track down a daughter who after becoming pregnant was disowned. Why would they even worry about the daughter after that? Well, because there is a murderer working the streets of Waterloo too and they are murdering and mutilating many of the women working in prostitution. The family fears the worst-- but who will worry about Heloise?

She proves that she is pretty capable of discovering the location of the young girl, but then she also discovers who the murderer is and it may be too late!

I struggled with reviewing this book--there are parts that I thought were really well written, the mystery for one. Then there were portions of it that I could have done without--the descriptions of her desire. I know I should have been prepared for that being a part of the book, given her primary profession, however I did not expect it and almost didn't continue reading it.

Actual rating: 3.5

I don’t usually read mystery or thrillers. This is the one that I read after a long time. This is a debut novel of the author M.J. Tjia. She Be Damned is a historical mystery set in the Victorian era in London. The main protagonist of the story is Mrs. Heloise Chancey who is a courtesan and lives in Mayfair with her Chinese Maid Amah Li Leen.

She got an assignment by Mr. Thomas Avery to find a missing girl named Eleanor, who was from a good family and was missing in London’s dark side, Waterloo. On the other hand, pregnant prostitutes in Waterloo area were being murdered and their sexual organs being mutilated and removed. They get the news of another girl getting murdered and they suspect that it may be Eleanor. Heloise decided to live in Waterloo, where her roots were, for investigating the case further.

During the investigation, Heloise made contacts to try and find Eleanor. But during all this mystery solving she gets into a bigger mystery and the number of events that were happening with the prostitutes. She meets a police sergeant, Bill Chapman who helps her in with the case. Obviously, there is some romance between them. They have a number of suspects for the crime and together they made some progress. She was near to getting the truth when Amah got arrested for the charge of murders.

Will Heloise be able to prove that Amah is innocent? Has does Amah anything to do with all this? What happened to Eleanor? Will Heloise find her? Who is the real killer and what actually is the motive?

All the characters were created beautifully according to the Victorian era of the 1860s. The dressing of Heloise was explained in a detailed manner like how the ladies were supposed to dress in those days. The author does a great job with the London setting and shown the attitudes and morals of the time correctly, as far I can say.

I found that the book is more character driven rather than the mystery driven. All the characters were dynamic and properly described as per their roles. I really liked the relationship between Amah Li Leen and Heloise. They were the perfect pairing while they don’t often get along.

Though the character of Heloise was represented to a big extent, nothing was revealed about her past. I wanted to know her back story, that how she gets to leave the life of the prostitute and got settled in Mayfair. But I guess, the author has saved that backstory to be described in next books of the series (yes, this is to become a series.). Also, bits and pieces about Amah Li Leen were shown, but I wanted to know more about her story, that how she ended up with Heloise. Middle English is used as the language.

At some point it was dark especially the way those prostitutes were being murdered. Those were awful. But I am glad, that there was not too much graphic description for those deaths. Sometimes, you feel as if the story has just skipped some parts and it becomes confusing during parts of the book. There was romance in the story but nothing too graphic.

In spite of having some complaints about the story, I loved the ending. It was surprising and I absolutely didn’t saw it coming.

If you are looking for some quick and assertive read, then this is a decent read. It is certainly worth the read, especially for the ending. That ending specially changed my whole outlook towards the story. As a debut novel, Tjia has done a great job. I will definitely wait for the next book in the series, as I want to know more about Heloise and Amah’s backstory.