Synopses & Reviews
Scotland Yards Murder Squadand Jack the Ripperreturn, in the extraordinary new historical thriller from the author of the acclaimed national bestseller The Yard.
In The Devils Workshop, London discovered that Jack the Ripper was back, sending the cityand Scotland Yards Murder Squadinto chaos. But now it is even worse. Not only is the Ripper still at large, but so is another killer just as bad.
For Inspector Walter Day, it has been a difficult time. His wife has given birth to twins, his hostile in-laws have come to stay, and a leg injury has kept him at his desk. But when the Harvest Man begins killing, carving peoples faces off their skulls, the Yard knows they need Day in the field.
Not so Sergeant Nevil Hammersmith. Rash actions have cost him his job, but that doesnt stop his obsessive hunt for the Ripper. When the mutilated bodies of prostitutes start turning up again, Hammersmith enlists the help of a criminal network to stop Saucy Jack, his methods carrying him further and further from the ideals of the Yard, so far in fact that he may never be able to find his way back.
Of course, the Rippers been playing a game with himwith Walter Day, as well. He is pushing both of them to their limits, and what happens when they get there . . . no one can say.
Review
"Lusciously rich with detail, atmosphere, and history, and yet as fast paced as a locomotive,
The Yard will keep you riveted from page one. It's truly a one- or two-sitting read."
—Jeffery Deaver, author of Carte Blanche and The Bone Collector
Review
"Alex Grecian’s
The Yard is a brilliantly crafted debut novel with unforgettable characters. An utterly gripping tale perfectly evokes Victorian London and brings you right back to the depraved and traumatic days of Jack the Ripper. And I mean that in the best possible way."
—Lisa Lutz, author of The Spellman Files
Review
“Outstanding. If Charles Dickens isn’t somewhere clapping his hands for this, Wilkie Collins surely is.” – Marilyn Stasio,
The New York Times Book ReviewReview
“Grecian’s debut is the promising start of a new series and should be one of the most acclaimed and popular mysteries of the year. Caleb Carr’s
The Alienist> is the obvious comparison, thanks to
The Yard’s attention to detail and mix of historical facts and vivid fictional creations.” –
Huffington PostReview
“A winner, filled with Victorian arcane and eccentric characters and more humor than one expects from such a work.” –
The Rap SheetReview
“Grecian powerfully evokes both the physical, smog-ridden atmosphere of London in 1889 and its emotional analogs of anxiety and depression. His infusion of actual history adds to this thriller’s credibility and punch. A deeply satisfying reconstruction of post-Ripper London.” –
BooklistReview
“This excellent murder mystery debut introduces a fascinating cast of characters. Grecian displays a flair for language as well as creating vivid (and occasionally gruesome) depictions of places and events.” –
Library JournalReview
Praise for THE BLACK COUNTRY
“Grecians riveting novel is an intelligent historical thriller similar to Jean Zimmermans atmospheric psychological novel The Orphanmaster (2012), and as shocking as David Morrells Murder as a Fine Art (2013).”—Booklist (starred review)
“Startling and spooky . . . [a] bold melding of horror with historical elements.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“[Grecian] presents with fine precision the gray and gritty atmosphere of late-Victorian England.”—Kirkus
Praise for THE YARD
“Outstanding. If Charles Dickens isnt somewhere clapping his hands for this, Wilkie Collins surely is.”—Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review
"Lusciously rich with detail, atmosphere, and history, and yet as fast paced as a locomotive, The Yard will keep you riveted from page one. It's truly a one- or two-sitting read."—Jeffery Deaver, author of Carte Blanche and The Bone Collector
"Alex Grecians The Yard is a brilliantly crafted debut novel with unforgettable characters. An utterly gripping tale perfectly evokes Victorian London and brings you right back to the depraved and traumatic days of Jack the Ripper. And I mean that in the best possible way."—Lisa Lutz, author of The Spellman Files
Review
Praise for The Black Country
“Ripe with gory details…[Grecian] has a flair.” —The New York Times Book Review
“Similar to Jean Zimmermans atmospheric psychological novel The Orphanmaster, and as shocking as David Morrells Murder as a Fine Art.” —Booklist (starred review)
“Devilishly dark…It isnt often that a mystery-thriller enthralls so completely…but as usual with Mr. Grecian, there is more to this tale than complex plotting…A displaced eye, a crumpled note, cryptic limericks and lost ribbons: like our detective heroes, we follow these trails into the white-blinding snow to its brilliant and unexpected conclusion. Whether you read the tale in the dark night of winter or the haze of a summer sun, be prepared for the chill. The days are dark in Black Country.”—The Huffington Post
“Grecian creates an eerie atmosphere from start to finish, and without giving anything away, the killer here is creepy and unexpected.”—Bookreporter.com
“Startling and spooky . . . [a] bold melding of horror with historical elements.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“[Grecian] presents with fine precision the gray and gritty atmosphere of late-Victorian England.”—Kirkus Reviews
Praise for The Yard
“Grecian has a talent for capturing gory details…extremely vivid (and strangely moving)…[Grecian] does outstanding descriptive work on the mad and the maimed, the diseased and the demented…If Charles Dickens isnt somewhere clapping his hands for this one, Wilkie Collins surely is.”—The New York Times Book Review
“[A] mix of historical facts and vivid fictional creations. Its great fun…Grecians debut is the promising start of a new series and should be one of the most acclaimed and popular mysteries of the year.”—The Huffington Post
“Exuberantly grisly.”—The Guardian (U.K.)
“Grecian powerfully evokes both the physical, smog-ridden atmosphere of London in 1889 and its emotional analogs of anxiety and depression. His infusion of actual history adds to this thrillers credibility and punch. A deeply satisfying reconstruction of post-Ripper London.”—Booklist
“A brilliantly crafted debut novel with unforgettable characters. An utterly gripping tale perfectly evokes Victorian London and brings you right back to the depraved and traumatic days of Jack the Ripper.”—Lisa Lutz, author of The Spellman Files
“Lusciously rich with detail, atmosphere, and history, and yet as fast paced as a locomotive, The Yard will keep you riveted from page one. Its truly a one- or two-sitting read.”—Jeffery Deaver, New York Times bestselling author
“Grecian successfully recreates the dark atmosphere of late Victorian London.”—Kirkus Reviews
“A winner, filled with Victorian arcana and eccentric characters and more humor than one expects from such a work.”—The Rap Sheet
“This excellent murder mystery debut introduces a fascinating cast of characters. Grecian displays a flair for language as well as creating vivid (and occasionally gruesome) depictions of places and events.”—Library Journal
“All the gruesome sights, sounds, and smells of a depraved Victorian London are vividly depicted…not for the squeamish. a gripping police procedural mystery and cracking good read. Recommended.”—Historical Novel Society
Review
Praise for The Devil's Workshop
“Grecian has a remarkable way of pulling the reader in and down, into the swirling dark. . . We do not merely read Grecian's books; we participate in them. In the end, we emerge from this tale dazed and awed, as though we, too, have been toiling in the black womb of London's underground. We have glimpsed as through a mirror darkly the bloom of evil, the birth of destruction. We have met the Devil.”—Huffington Post
“Anyone searching for a novel chocked full of blood-letting and guilty pleasures should look no further . . . This is a skillfully constructed, very satisfying trek into a shadowy netherworld, where light is as sparsely parceled out aboveground as it is below.”—Stratton Magazine
“Delivers a hard-hitting historical thriller bursting with deft characterizations and the authors knowledge of Victoriana.” —Booklist
“A historical thriller that moves quickly and surely, bringing Jack the Ripper back from the realm of nightmare to the streets of London . . . The novel propels readers through a nonstop chase for the escaped murderers by the police of Scotland Yard, who have no idea that Jack the Ripper, their most famous adversary, is also on the loose. Jack is the real show here, written with chilling insight by Grecian . . . Justice and punishment are the deeper themes, and the characterization is superb. Saucy Jack may be one of the most disturbing characters ever written on the page.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Grecian has penned the Murder Squads best outing yet! Devotees are sure to be delighted, but Grecians latest would also make a satisfying introduction to the series. Recommended for historical thriller enthusiasts, crime buffs, Ripperologists, and Anglophiles.”—Library Journal
Praise for The Black Country
“A startling and spooky sequel [with a] bold melding of horror with historical elements. The nascent bond between Walter Day and Sgt. Nevil Hammersmith is especially appealing, hinting at many rich developments to come.” -Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A first-rate thriller. Whether you read the tale in the dark night of winter or the haze of a summer sun, be prepared for the chill. The days are dark in Black Country.” -The Huffington Post
Review
“A thrilling hunt…gripping and gruesome.”—James Becker, bestselling author of
The Lost Testament
Review
Praise for The Devils Workshop
“Superb. Saucy Jack may be one of the most disturbing characters ever written on the page—again.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred)
“Grecian has a remarkable way of pulling the reader in and down, into the swirling dark. We do not merely read Grecians books; we participate in them. We have met the Devil . . . and he isnt done with us yet.”—The Huffington Post
Synopsis
Victorian London is a cesspool of crime, and Scotland Yard has only twelve detectives—known as “The Murder Squad”—to investigate countless murders every month. Created after the Metropolitan Police’s spectacular failure to capture Jack the Ripper, The Murder Squad suffers rampant public contempt. They have failed their citizens. But no one can anticipate the brutal murder of one of their own . . . one of the twelve . . .
When Walter Day, the squad’s newest hire, is assigned the case of the murdered detective, he finds a strange ally in the Yard’s first forensic pathologist, Dr. Bernard Kingsley. Together they track the killer, who clearly is not finished with The Murder Squad . . . but why?Filled with fascinating period detail, and real historical figures, this spectacular debut in a new series showcases the depravity of late Victorian London, the advent of criminology, and introduces a stunning new cast of characters sure to appeal to fans of The Sherlockian and The Alienist.
Synopsis
Scotland Yard’s Murder Squad returns, in the stunning new historical thriller from the author of the acclaimed national bestseller The Yard. The British Midlands. It’s called the “Black Country” for a reason. Bad things happen there.
When members of a prominent family disappear from a coal-mining village—and a human eyeball is discovered in a bird’s nest—the local constable sends for help from Scotland Yard’s new Murder Squad. Fresh off the grisly 1889 murders of The Yard, Inspector Walter Day and Sergeant Nevil Hammersmith respond, but they have no idea what they’re about to get into. The villagers have intense, intertwined histories. Everybody bears a secret. Superstitions abound. And the village itself is slowly sinking into the mines beneath it.
Not even the arrival of forensics pioneer Dr. Bernard Kingsley seems to help. In fact, the more the three of them investigate, the more they realize they may never be allowed to leave. . . .
Synopsis
The
New York Times Book Review said of
The Yard, If Charles Dickens isnt somewhere clapping his hands
Wilkie Collins surely is.” Now Alex Grecian returns with his new novel of Scotland Yards Murder Squadand its a gripper.
The British Midlands. Inhabitants call it the Black Country”and with good reason. Bad things happen there.
When three members of a prominent family disappear from the Midlandsand a human eyeball is discovered in a birds nestScotland Yards Murder Squad is called in. But Inspector Walter Day and Sergeant Nevil Hammersmith have stepped into something much more bizarre and complicated than expected.
Superstitions abound in the intertwined histories of the villagers, including a local legend about a monster some claim to have seen. In addition, a mysterious epidemic is killing off the inhabitants, and the village itself is sinking into the coal mines below. Day and Hammersmith soon realize that they, too, are in over their heads. And the more they investigate, the more they fear that they may never be allowed to leave.
Synopsis
They thought he was gone, but they were wrong. Jack the Ripper is loose in London once more.
Scotland Yards Murder Squad faces the most shocking case of its existence, in the extraordinary new historical thriller from the author of the acclaimed national bestsellers The Yard and The Black Country.
London, 1890. A small group of the citys elite, fed up with the murder rate, have made it their business to capture violent criminals and mete out their own terrible brand of retribution. Now they are taking it a step further: They have arranged for four murderers to escape from prison, and into the groups hands.
But the plan goes wrong. The killers elude them, and now it is up to Walter Day, Nevil Hammersmith, and the rest of Scotland Yards Murder Squad to hunt the convicts down before they can resume their bloody spree. But the Murder Squad may already be too late. The killers have retribution in mind, and one of them is heading straight toward a member of the Murder Squad, and his family.
And that isnt even the worst of it. During the escape, one of the killers has stumbled upon the location of another notorious murderer, one thought gone for good, but who is now prepared to join forces with them.
And Saucy Jack has learned some new tricks while hes been away.
Synopsis
From John Connell comes a chilling novel of murder, madness, and the aftermath of war
In the winter of 1945, seven months after the Nazi defeat, Munich is in ruins. Mason Collinsa former Chicago homicide detective, U.S. soldier, and prisoner of waris now a U.S. Army criminal investigator in the American Zone of Occupation. Its his job to enforce the law in a place where order has been obliterated. And his job just became much more dangerous.
A killer is stalking the devastated cityone who has knowledge of human anatomy, enacts mysterious rituals with his prey, and seems to pick victims at random. Relying on his wits and instincts, Mason must venture places where his own life is put at risk: from interrogation rooms with unrepentant Nazi war criminals to penetrating the U.S. Armys own black market.
What Mason doesnt know is that the killer hes chasing is stalking him, too
Synopsis
In a new Georgian-era mystery by a "truly spellbinding" (
Guardian) author, Antonia Hodgson, Tom Hawkins prays for a royal pardon as he relives the espionage, underground dealings, and murder accusations that sent him to the gallows.
Synopsis
London, 1728. Tom Hawkins is headed to the gallows, accused of murder. Gentlemen don’t hang and Tom’s damned if he’ll be the first. He may not be much of a gentleman, but he is innocent. He just always finds his way into a spot of bad luck.
It’s hard to say when Tom’s troubles began. He was happily living in sin with his beloved, Kitty Sparks—though their neighbors were certainly less pleased about that. He probably shouldn't have told London’s most cunning criminal mastermind that he was 'bored and looking for adventure.' Nor should he have offered to help the king's mistress in her desperate struggles with a brutal and vindictive husband. And he definitely shouldn't have trusted the calculating Queen Caroline. She’s promised him a royal pardon if he holds his tongue, but then again, there is nothing more silent than a hanged man.
Now Tom must scramble to save his life and protect those he loves. But as the noose tightens, his time is running out.
About the Author
ANTONIA HODGSON is the editor-in-chief at Little, Brown UK. Her first novel, The Devil in the Marshalsea, won the CWA Historical Dagger Award in 2014. It was also shortlisted for the CWA First Book Award and was named one of the top ten mystery thrillers of 2014 by Publishers Weekly. Antonia lives in London.