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Timothy Cratchit is no longer the ³Tiny Tim² of our memories. Heıs living in a brothel, teaching reading, and lurking all around London. When he finds two dead children with the same brand on them, and he see a living girl with that same mark, he becomes obsessed in discovering the truth behind it. 'Tis the Christmas season in London circa 1860, and lo and behold we meet the character that has, for better or for worse, become a part of all our childhoods, Mr. Timothy Cratchit. Heıs now 23 and although hindered with a leg thatıs weak, heıs out and about on his own since the recent death of his father, Bob Cratchit. His uneven relationship with his unendingly optimistic father leaves Tim with the uncomfortable sense that the spirit of his father hasnıt gone on to his rest because he appears on street corners and out of the corner of Timıs eye throughout London. Along with education, medical help, and a monetary stipend from his rich ³Uncle N (Neezer)² Ebenezer Scrooge, we find out much more about how Tiny Timıs young inner life influenced his growing up heıs deeper and more tortured than weıd ever imagined. Running from his family and his memories, Timothy finds himself living in a brothel, tutoring the madam of the house in reading. Try as he might to keep from relying on Uncle Nıs funding by working with his friend Gully fishing dead people from the river Tim always finds himself back at his beneficent benefactorıs doorstep, still unhappily leaning on Uncle N. In the depressing, dreary and seedy hard life of London, Timothy first sees a dead young girl in an alley just before the police take the body away. Something about the poor childıs expression of fear and a branded letter ³G² on her person burns itself into Timıs mind, so that when he sees a living child with that same stamp on her, he cannot help but follow the girl, trying in vain to make contact. When later on he and Gully fish another dead child from the water, a little girl marked with that same brand, Tim becomes obsessed with finding the living young girl to find out what it means. With the help of street urchin, Colin the Melodious, Tim finds the young Philomela. Soon Tim discovers himself and his friends in danger, in the middle of a whirlwind of intrigue concerning a blade wielding, murderous ex policeman, an aristocrat and perhaps a group of men who use young girls for their own nefarious desires. Author Louis Bayard has a great talent for describing the London of the 1800s. Itıs dark, dirty, teeming with people, where the well-off rub elbows with the people who are barely keeping life and limb together. When MR. TIMOTHY delves into the life and family of Tim Cratchit, the book comes alive. The author has spent a good deal of time piecing together what ³Tiny Tim² might have gone through in his early days of illness and poverty, thinking through his meeting with the man who kept ³Christmas in his heart all the days of the year,² and how that rather unusual relationship, and Timıs unhappiness at his fatherıs cheerful outlook towards everything, formed Timıs personal demons. Unfortunately, the mystery and action part of the book is very weak. The how and why of Timıs involvement in this strange case, makes little sense. That he can out think the very absent police of Scotland Yard, search for the answers to the mystery, and do his best to right the wrong, doesnıt stand up to much scrutiny. Readers of mysteries need more than a well known character to carry a good story, and while MR. TIMOTHY has a wonderful character with all of his history open to us, his involvement in this detective story is illogical at best. For people who like a book that has a wonderful way with language, is skillfully written with a vivid description of the location, this book will satisfy. But for people looking for a well crafted mystery, this book will disappoint.
Reviewed by Sharon Katz, November 2003
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