Synopses & Reviews
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. . . .
Review
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
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
Praise for Alex Grecian's The Black Country “Ripe with gory details…[Grecian] has a flair.”—The New York Times Book 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.”—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
Review
Praise for THE BLACK COUNTRY
“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. [The] book brings to life the murky collision of two worlds in the Victorian era: traditional folklore and modern science. This intersection, captured so well by authors of the period, from Charles Dickens to Thomas Hardy, was fraught with complex questions about identity, authority, and belief . . . The Black Country captures all of these nuances while preserving the fast-paced plotting and breathlessness of a first-rate thriller . . . Whether you read the tale in the dark night of winter of the haze of a summer sun, be prepared for the chill. The days are dark in Black Country.”—The Huffington Post
“I enjoyed the swift pacing of Grecian's story, its abundant period detail and its exuberantly gruesome tone . . . The gentlemanly, no-nonsense banter of the detectives in the face of evil is one of the prime pleasures of this riveting Victorian procedural.”—NPR.org
“Grecians (The Yard) latest Murder Squad adventure is a fast-paced homage to the Victorian countryside mysteries of Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens. Recommended for Anglophiles, period mystery enthusiasts, and anyone interested in medical Victoriana.”—Library Journal
“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
Synopsis
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 bestseller The Yard.
London, 1890: Four vicious murderers have escaped from prison, part of a plan gone terribly wrong, and now it is up to Walter Day, Nevil Hammersmith, and the rest of Scotland Yards Murder Squad to hunt down the convicts before the men can resume their bloody spree. But they might already be too late. The killers have retribution in mind, and one of them is heading straight toward a member of the Murder Squadand his family.
And that isnt even the worst of it. During the escape, the killers have stumbled upon the location of another notorious murderer, one thought gone for good but now prepared to join forces with them.
Jack the Ripper is loose in London once more.
About the Author
Alex Grecian is the national bestselling author of the The Black Country and The Yard, the debut novel of Scotland Yards Murder Squad, as well as the long-running and critically acclaimed graphic novel series Proof. He lives in the Midwest with his wife and son.