The Yard

If, like me, you enjoyed the Tv series “Ripper Street”, then you will be enthralled by the writings of Alex Grecian.  I have recently finished this riveting read which sees the emergence of a “Murder Squad” in London following on from the era of Jack The Ripper.

It begins with the gruesome discovery in a packing trunk on a station platform, the contents being the mutilated remains of one of their own, a fellow detective.  Tempers run high and emotion flares in eager need to seek the killer and bring justice on behalf of one of their own, but the lead investigator is a new boy, someone from the peace of the countrywide, not akin to the grit and terror of London’s streets.

The medical community is just beginning to realise that the dead can talk, and there are the early fledgling beginnings of understanding the victims dying moments.  Ideas are coming to the fore, like finger prints, hard to imagine today that in its early trials people found it impossible to comprehend that each individual ever known to have existed will have a unique unrepeated print [still is if you think about it].

The various plot threads weave together well to carry the reader through the underhand world, to mislead convincingly and then enlighten and reveal in a convincing and entertaining manner.

I will be buying the second book soon, hope it is as gripping, yet individual as the first.