andysheets1975: The story is interesting, although its approach to the serial killer concept feels very 1990s (which would make sense since that's when the book was written...).
Well, from the wiki:
The story follows Roosevelt, then New York City police commissioner, and Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, as their investigative team
attempts to solve gruesome murders through new methods including fingerprinting and psychology. It is set in 1896, "
the moment in history when the modern idea of the serial killer became available", eight years after the Jack the Ripper case, and at a time when the word psychopath was new to scientists.
Also:
In an interview with "The Record", Carr stated he wanted to entertain the reader, while also staying faithful to the time period.
Carr, a historian by training, wanted to find a form of writing where he could meld his interest in fiction with his knowledge of history.
"
The one thing I wanted to show was that people back then were a lot more like people today than we realize," said Carr.
Carr researched the science and literature of the time period and noted, "
The biggest challenge was to study the psychological literature of that day so that none of my characters would know more than they could have known in terms of psychology. We're talking about a time when Sigmund Freud had just published his first book."
