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    The Yard
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    The Yard
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    The Yard
    Audiobook13 hours

    The Yard

    Written by Alex Grecian

    Narrated by Nigel Carrington

    3.5/5

    ()

    Unavailable in your country

    Unavailable in your country

    About this audiobook

    1889, London. Jack the Ripper's reign of terror is finally over, but a new one is just beginning… In the late Victorian era, as many as 96 bodies a month are pulled from the Thames, the majority of them with their throats slit. The broken body of a Scotland Yard detective is found in a steamer trunk, his eyes and lips sewn shut. Inspector Walter Day's first assignment is to catch the killer…
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherW. F. Howes Ltd
    Release dateAug 1, 2012
    ISBN9781471211270
    Unavailable
    The Yard
    Author

    Alex Grecian

    ALEX GRECIAN is the national bestselling author of Red Rabbit, The Yard, The Black Country, The Devil’s Workshop, The Harvest Man, Lost and Gone Forever, and The Saint of Wolves and Butchers, as well as the critically acclaimed graphic novels Proof and Rasputin, and the novellas The Blue Girl and One Eye Open. He lives in the Midwest with his wife, his son, their dog, and a tarantula named Rosie.

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    Reviews for The Yard

    3.5/5

    451 ratings70 reviews

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    • 5/5
      4.5★1889 Victorian LondonThe Scotland "Murder Squad" is a force in transition.We meet "newly appointed, one-armed Metropolitan Police Force Commissioner of Scotland Yard, Colonel Sir Edward Bradford."Also, Walter Day is a detective new to Scotland Yard, yet chosen to head up the investigation of the brutal murder of Murder Squad Inspector Christian Little.....and the list of characters goes on.Although I've not mentioned more by name, the characterswere vivid and many can easily move on into future historicalofferings.Audio flavored the cast, the area and the times.I thought Toby Leonard Moore did a fine job introducingus to the Scotland Yard murder squad.
    • 1/5
      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?My Thoughts:I was disappointed with this book. To say it is set post Jack the Ripper, Victorian London and I could have been anywhere. The book had no atmosphere and I felt it was rather flat.The idea behind the book seemed ok but it just had didn’t live up to it. I can see that the characters could develop more if there are more books with them in. As it stands now I didn’t connect with any of the characters and they didn’t seem real enough.So it is with deep regret that after nearly half the book, trying to keep going I have given up.
    • 5/5
      What a fantastic tale! You will laugh, you will cry but you will feel as though you are right there, in 1889, you will feel these characters and forget they are fictional. Thankyou Sir for a book that takes me places. Have not felt that from books for ages and here you are. Thanks again and please please please keep writing. Much love
    • 3/5
      In 1889 London, the morale of the Metropolitan Police is at a low ebb. They were never able to catch Jack the Ripper and are not much respected by the city's citizenry. They're underpaid, called "bluebottles" or worse, and their status in society is at a critical point. Colonel Sir Edward Bradford, police commissioner, is determined to turn the department around and build a professional Murder Squad that uses inventive methods to track down killers.Just when the last thing Scotland Yard needs is more killings that could panic the city, a gruesome discovery is made at the Euston Square train station. The body of Inspector Little of the Murder Squad is found there, his corpse stuffed in a trunk with his legs broken to cram them in and, horrifically, his lips and eyes sewn shut. Sir Edward makes solving the murder his squad's first priority, appointing Inspector Walter Day, newly arrived in London from Devon, as the lead investigator.Inspector Day will work with the young, eager and relentlessly hardworking Constable Hammersmith, and the first forensic pathologist in England, Dr. Bernard Kingsley. These three, together with other members of the Murder Squad, juggle the Little murder case with several other cases, including one involving a bizarre series of throat-cuttings.When I began reading the book, I didn't much like it. The writing in the Prologue and the first part of the book is rough, with a lot of unclear descriptions, odd statements (like saying that there was no hierarchy at Scotland Yard), and non sequiturs. It soon became clear that the murder plots involve psychologically deranged killers, which is frequently a lazy and derivative choice. There is a subplot involving crimes against children; a topic I can't stand reading about and that is all too often cynically used for shock value, but at least I can say there are no graphic descriptions.Despite my misgivings, I kept reading and got caught up in the story, which became increasingly tense and involving. So much so that I wanted to overlook the fact that the murder methods and, to some extent, the choices of victims, don't bear close examination. They just don't make any kind of sense, and there is far too much coincidence involved in the murders and in other circumstances in the book. (I can't say more without spoilers, but I would be happy to discuss the plot issues in comments if anyone would like.) There are quite a few distractingly anachronistic expressions along the way as well, and scenes that seem disjointed and inconsistent with other parts of the book.With such serious criticisms, why do I give the book three stars? It's the characters. Author Alex Grecian develops Sir Edward, Inspector Day, Constable Hammersmith and Dr. Kingsley into lively, appealing personalities I became attached to and wanted to know more about. Even second-tier characters, like Day's wife, Kingsley's daughter, the "dancing man" Henry Mayhew, Blackleg, and the other members of the Murder Squad were well drawn and compelling. Grecian based many of them, including Sir Edward, Inspector Day and Dr. Kingsley, on real people. He also clearly did extensive research on the Murder Squad and the history of police investigative methods; for example, showing us Dr. Kingsley's first experiments with fingerprinting and Sir Edward's directive for detectives to begin working in pairs. I enjoyed these historical insights and the atmosphere of Victorian London.With his talent for creating strong characters and atmosphere, I hope that Grecian can develop equally strong skills in plotting. He plans future books featuring the Murder Squad and, if he can overcome his considerable plotting problems, I will look forward to reading them.
    • 4/5
      Alex Grecian's The Yard is a highly enjoyable and clever work of historical fiction/mystery which takes the reader to Victorian London and the aftermath of Jack the Ripper, the mistrust of the public, and the emergence of The Murder Squad.
    • 5/5
      Reason for Reading: I love Victorian mysteries, especially when they actually focus on early policing.Superb! Splendid! I am thrilled to hear this is the first in a proposed new series. The Yard has everything I want in a Victorian crime: authenticity, atmosphere and a peek into the underbelly of Victorian life. Though none are used as characters in the book, the book is peopled with real-life personages from the era to lend authenticity and one can tell much research has been done on the author's part as the book lives and breathes Victorian London, one can almost see the fog rising from the pages and smell the stench as a page is turned. Grecian has devised a wonderfully wicked murder mystery that involves not only one but two serial killers and not only two crimes but a handful of others which keep the characters busy and the reader on his toes trying to piece things together. This is one of those mysteries where we the reader are given access to the murderer from the beginning and the sport is in watching how the police solve the case. Mind you, there are also a handful of other crimes going on, some related, some not, but all somehow coming together one way or another. Incredibly genius really. I so enjoy a clever mystery and this is one by far.A major aspect of the novel is the introduction of forensic sciences. This book focuses on fingerprints and how they were first discovered and put into practice in policework. The general disdain for the practice except for a few forward thinking people and the amazing results as the "coroner" for the Yard applies them to the job. We also are introduced to a great cast of characters, main and auxiliary, who hopefully will be following into the next book of the series. Both of the main sleuths are green, but very clever. Quite different from each other in circumstances and character, Detective Inspector Walter Day and Constable Nevil Hammersmith both share a sense a duty and justice. I did find the first hundred pages slow reading, but that is the type of book this is, they were slow, but not boring in the least. I was drawn in right from the captivating first sentence and while the first hundred pages slowly draws us into the era, the characters, the cases on hand, the rest of the book was a riveting, fast, hard-to-put-down mystery of London's underbelly, depravity and trauma. Book two's focus is said to be on the introduction of the use of photography into policing and I'm looking forward to it with glee!
    • 4/5
      Advanced Reading copy recieved as part of the Penguin Proof Reading group. Lovely Hardback copy.

      There is the odd typographical error (mainly around pages 365/366) but as this is an ARC, then it's a small and almost expected event.

      Right, onto the book

      Set in Victorian London still recovering from Jack the Ripper, where children are still being sent up chimneys by the chimneysweeps, the Metropolitan police are trying to get public confidence, and someone is killing Policemen.

      The book deals with a police service starting out in a world that doesnt trust them, there is no concept of profiling or Serial Killers. CSI this isnt. Fingerprints are only just being "discovered". There is no DNA, blood analysis, mobile phones and no cars in the car pool.

      There was some wording (e.g. "gaining closure" over a death) which I'm not entirely sure was in use in late 19th Century London.

      Once I settled down to read, it was paced well. Couple of threads that were started but which didnt tie up (e.g Day's wife looks like she's going to get involved more, but that peters out......do have to admit this book only goes over three days so if it had gone longer there might have worked out different).

      On the whole easy and enjoyable book and this was an excellent debut novel
    • 4/5
      Very enjoyable. I particularly like Grecian's deft hand with comings and goings -- the rate at which people almost put the pieces together is almost a Shakespearian comedy of manners. That and I like characters I can get behind -- compassionate, driven and thoughtful, he's assembled a great crew.
    • 2/5
      I found it this book to be an enjoyable read, but there were a few things that bothered me about it.

      I'm not entirely sure what the author intended this book to be. It read as though it was going to be a murder mystery, but we are told who commited all the crimes early in the book and the rest of the story was a wait to see how the detectives would find who it was. The clues were interesting but in the end they were told who commited the murders, which was a complete let-down. Was it a commentary on the living conditions and criminal justice system in 1880's London? I'm not sure on this either. It seemed the author had a list of issues that effected the city and the characters that may have been around and added all of them in somehow. It didn't really work though. Much of it wasn't relevant to the plot. It didn't really read as a historical novel either.

      There were too many characters in the story, with too many storylines, and as such there was no real character development. Much of the dialogue was a little forced and difficult to read. I am so glad the upholsterer at the beginning only had a bit part or I wouldn't have been able to finish reading the book. I feel if the author had stuck to the main storyline (the murders of the inspectors), and omitted the Jack the Ripper references and related storylines, it would have been a stronger book. The story about the missing children could have been a different book altogether, and it might have worked quite nicely. Bit I felt the book was too complicated by all the stories that kind of married together, but not quite. Also many of the characters were rather stereotypical.

      The author also had a habit of over-explaining things, of telling rather than showing. It was a bit tiring in places. And everybody seemed to be obsessed with their clothing. I should have counted all the shirt references.

      Overall it wasn't a terrible book, it kept me reading to the end, but I was left feeling a little let down. I don't think I will read the second book he wrote; it's set in a part of the world I know too well and I think if it is written in the same way as this one it will infuriate me too much.
    • 2/5
      Nothing really terrible to say about this book, except that it was just kind of boring.
    • 4/5
      Grecian has written a quick, page-turning read (yes, even at 583 pages, it is a rather fast read). Of course, I love the whole Victorian England time period – a wonderful setting for such murderous activities! – and I thoroughly enjoyed following the newly minted Murder Squad of Scotland Yard while they race to try and solve the brutal murder of one of their own, while facing public scorn and ridicule for being unable to catch Jack (the Ripper) the previous year. Grecian has depicted his characters beautifully, from the intelligent if somewhat naïve Inspector Day (fresh to London from Devon, with a delightful young wife Claire in tow), perpetually inquisitive Dr. Kingsley (self-appointed forensic pathologist for Scotland Yard and father to the wonderful Fiona) to the willing and able-bodied young Constable Nevil Hammersmith. While some stories work best if told strictly from one point of view, Grecian opens the story up to the reader, making them privy, rather early on, to the identity and through processes of the perpetrator, while also providing some back story “interludes” for some of the main characters. Even with this “bird’s eye” view of events and thought processes, Grecian still manages to pull a few surprises, and managed to keep me wondering what was going to happen next. Overall, a wonderfully atmospheric first book in Grecian's Murder Squad series - aptly quoted by one reviewer as “CSI: Victorian England” - that would probably best appeal to historical murder mystery fans that are more interested in the science and the setting than the whodunit bit.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book. I would put it in the realm of books like The Alienist by Caleb Carr and other investigative types of novels. It's a good murder mystery and I'm looking forward to reading the next of the series (I need to catch up because it seems that books keep being released!).
    • 4/5
      Loved this book. Started reading it on kindle then realized I had previously read a hard copy. Continued to read it for the second time and enjoyed it all over again. Likeable characters; not a fast paced read. Interesting how crimes were solved before fingerprints etc.
    • 5/5
      I like historical mysteries set in Victorian London so I was excited to pick up a copy of The Yard by Alex Grecian. After their failure to capture Jack the Ripper, faith in the Metropolitan Police Department reached its lowest point so Scotland Yard formed its own Murder Squad. The Squad is called into action when a man's body is found in a travel trunk at the train station. Chief of the Squad, Colonel Sir Edward Bradford and new detective Walter Day soon discover who the victim is and that they must investigate the death of one of their own detectives. Not only that, but they must work out if this is a random murder or if it is an attack on the newly formed Murder Squad themselves.Sir Edward, Inspector Day, Constable Hammersmith and Dr. Kingsley are great characters with appealing personalities and I understand the author baseiid many of them on real people. I also thought the secondary characters were realistic and compelling, especially Dr. Kingsley's daughter, Fiona, who draws the autopsy photos for her father. The London atmosphere, which is an integral part of a good Victorian mystery, was missing and the characters often used some American slang which didn't make sense in the context of a Victorian London setting. I did enjoy it well enough to to pick up the second of the series, Black Country. It has a lot of potential and I hope the author continues to develop his characters and make the setting more atmospheric.
    • 5/5
      This book draws you in on the 1st page. It is interesting as this is the year after the Ripper murders and the Ripper has affected how crime is investigated as well as the pressure the police are under by the public. There are 2 serial killers in London and it is not the Ripper. I read the last 255 pages in one sitting,it was a page turner.Even the parts that are not page turners,keep you interested. I was not going to bed until this book was finished.This is the author's first nvoel and it is well done, excellent character development and his knowledge of London and landmarks is incredible! This was intense, a nail biter. Excellent! A MUST READ
      I loved the "dancing man".
    • 3/5
      After reading some of the reviews on this book I was a little worried that I might not enjoy it but I was pleasantly surprised. It was very well written and I think captures the essence of the late 1800's London. It really makes me glad that I didn't live back then. All the people dying of consumption, people thrown into workhouses, parents dying and kids turning into street urchins and being snatched to do dangerous jobs. It's a good read, fast paced and enjoyable. I would recommend it.
    • 4/5
      An excellent Victorian suspense novel, featuring the very early days of forensic detection at Scotland Yard. It's a page turner, with great characters and fine period detail, although at times it felt just a bit too "modern" in a way I can't quite put my finger on. Very enjoyable, nonetheless. Reviewed in June 2013
    • 4/5
      The Yard is Alex Grecian's debut novel. Unlike many Victorian Scotland Yard crime stories, this one is neither a thriller nor a mystery; however, it has elements of suspense and the author knows how to hold the readers' attention and interest from beginning to end.

      The Yard is a historical crime fiction with vivid scenes, interesting characters and an atmosphere that reaches the senses and places readers' firmly in grimy 1889 East London where electricity and water closets were in their infancy. Women still wore their laced corsets, carriages were drawn by horses and police resources,and communications and transportation were limited by the historical setting.

      Just when the last thing Scotland Yard needs is more killings that could panic the city, a gruesome discovery is made at the train station. Solving the crime becomes the squad's first priority, and Inspector Walter Day, newly arrived in London from Devon, is appointed as the lead investigator.

      Inspector Day will work with the young, eager and relentlessly hardworking Constable Hammersmith, and the first forensic pathologist in England, Dr. Bernard Kingsley. These three, together with other members of the Murder Squad, juggle the murder case with several other cases, including one involving a bizarre series of throat-cuttings.

      The officers who will undoubtedly be the lead characters in subsequent books in the series are often flawed, but always sympathetic. One is a newlywed who sometimes longs for the clear air of his home in Devon. Another is a scrapper who fought to leave the mines where he worked as a child. A forward-thinking medical examiner adds interest, especially when he begins experimenting with an early form of fingerprinting.

      Surprisingly, in all this grubby reality are some unexpected flashes of humor. I actually found myself laughing out loud at the welcome comic relief. However, these moments are few and far between, and the reader is soon immersed once again in the scary, overcrowded London of the 1800s. I look forward to the next in this series.
    • 5/5
      Excellent depiction of the era and how The Yard was affected by the unsolved murder spree of Jack the Ripper, especially when faced with another string of murders. Details the range of cops - those who do the job for prestige (and to impress girls), those dedicated to justice (often to the detriment of their personal lives), and those in between. Also creates an interesting team of non-law enforcement who help with the case. Clever plotting with people ending up in the wrong place (or the right place?) by chance, but in believable ways. Small amount of graphic/gruesome detail.Readalikes: The Alienist by Caleb Carr
    • 4/5
      Picturesque.This seems to be the best word to describe the way the author provides more detail about the seamy underside of Victorian London than anyone could ever possibly want to know. If you prefer stories about happy puppies and kittens you will probably want to avoid this one. Nevertheless, the characters are strong and the writing is compelling, leaving me wanting to hear more about the world that they live in. It's really more historical fiction than a true mystery, even though the scene is Scotland Yard. The identity of the murderer is given away fairly early in the book, and the rest is focused on the characters' lives with a small bit concerning catching the killer.
    • 5/5
      It’s a year after the Ripper murders, and the Yard is still reeling from its failure to capture him. A newly organized “Murder Squad” sought to change public scorn of the police force. In the city of London in the late nineteenth century, children disappeared and no one looked for them, morgues were overladen and the dead not treated respectfully, and crime was rampant and police, over-worked. Then, when one of their own was brutally murdered, the Murder Squad goes after the killer with a vengeance. Rich in imagery of nineteenth century London and not lacking in detail, both descriptive and graphic, this mystery is a masterful combination of plot and characters.
    • 5/5
      This story is like the streets of Victorian London, tight, full of life, winding in many directions, leading to a final destination that may be exciting, fun, or full of mystery.We find all these qualities in this superlative tale of the early days of Scotland Yard, including the founding of it’s Murder Squad. This is a hand picked group of detectives who are assigned to investigate only the most heinous of crimes, murder. The author fills the pages with fully fleshed characters who jump to life from the pages of the book. This is definitely worth the read and I look forward to the further episodes.
    • 4/5
      Shortly after the reign of terror by Jack the Ripper the London police form a “murder squad”. Twelve men picked for their proven investigative skills to solve murders in 19th century London. When one of the officers is found stuffed into a steamer trunk with his eyes and mouth sewn shut the whole squad is in shock. How could such a heinous crime happen to one of their own? Walter Day, the newest member of the squad is assigned to the case. Insp. Day suspects that this murder is only the beginning and the whole squad is being targeted. He forms an unusual alliance with Dr. Kingsley who performs autopsies for the department. Between the two of them CSI type investigative skills slowly begin to form.

      Being a fan of murder mysteries and historical fiction I was looking forward to reading this book when I heard about. I was not disappointed. The characters are interesting and the author brings the backdrop of 1890’s London to life for the reader. I find it particularly interesting to read the author’s perspective on how fingerprint analysis and trace evidence gathering could have been born. If you are a fan of the genre, this book is a must read.
    • 4/5
      In 1889 London is still reeling from the murders done by Jack the Ripper and the inability of the police to catch the killer. The confidence in the police is at such a low point that noone in the police expects respect from anyone in London. And this is the time when the novel opens - with a body found in a trunk. And when the body is identified as that of a police inspector, the investigation becomes a lot more important for everyone in the Murder Squad. While Jack was making his way through the prostitutes of London, the separation of police inspectors into divisions did not exist. In the aftermath of the grizzly murders, this had been one of the changes - a team of 12 detectives, called the Murder Squad, had been appointed as the only detectives that should investigate homicides (and they had also been supposed to stop investigating other things but that had been very slow at happening and by the time we meet the squad, they are still buried under a lot of non-homicide cases). 12 detectives investigating murder in London could never be enough and the fact that one of them is just starting, one turns up dead and one had moved on from his job without notifying anyone does not help. And the newbie, Walter Day, end up investigating the murder of his colleague. Grecian chose to write his novel by showing the reader the killers long before the inspectors had had a chance to even start suspecting them. In some cases this works nicely, in some cases it makes me want to scream at a detective for missing a small clue that will solve his case even if realistically noone would have picked up on it unless if they are called Hercule Poirot or if they are the killer. In this case the style suits the novel and works better than I expected it to work when I realized that this is the case. Of course the dead inspector is not the only murder at that time; nor Day is investigating only one murder. By the end there will be another dead policeman, a few non-related deaths (and the whole subplot with Esme and Liza was so pointless in that book that it seemed as if it is there for only two reasons - to connect the story to Jack the Ripper and to provide some danger for the policemen; I wish Grecian had spent more time with the inspectors instead but...), an abducted child, a dead child and one of the better descriptions of Victorian London that I had read in a long time. The focus of the novel is on the crimes but behind all it emerges London - the two faced city of the poor and the rich; the huge residences and the workhouses, the city becoming a character in the novel in the way that only the old cities can. And while the inspectors work the same way they always had, the medical examiner Dr. Kingsley is making huge strides in his craft - including introducing finger printing for example. I suspect that in the next books in the series we will see more and more forensics that we recognize from today - the time is right to introduce it and even if it was not one person that did all of it in the real world, in the world of The Yard, it most likely will be. And if that is not enough, the author builds a gallery of characters, giving them enough backstory and motivation to make them believable - Day and his wife, the doctor and his daughter, the other inspectors, the constable Hammersmith and sergeant Kett. He does not manage to escape all the stereotypes and in some cases the dialogue and the descriptions feel almost as if he was checking off a checklist but by the end of the novel you care about the characters enough to forgive some of these cases. Overall a great start of a series and I plan to read the rest of the books in it.
    • 4/5
      Slow at first but about halfway through it picks up and gets good. Great book, interesting characters.
    • 3/5
      Enjoyed this book. Victorian crime is so different to modern day, and this book introduces the way evidence is important in solving crimes. I did get a bit confused at the beginning but it cleverly all came together at the end.
    • 1/5
      40 pages. That's all I could do. The narrative is sparse and unoriginal. The dialogue aimless and fit for 7 year-olds. Absolutely nothing interesting to see here. It made me ask myself once again, can a good story still be good if written poorly? My answer is on its way to a big fat NO. Because most stories have been told, it seems the only indication or requisite of a modern "good" work of fiction is that it's written well, written with peculiar insight, written with a modicum of fucking talent. I never thought we'd live in a time where Stephen King is the literary genius of the age, but he has become so because the crap that has come out in the past ten years has made him appear our generation's Nabokov. Nothing against Mr. King, of course. He writes well. He's just not a genius. We're talking relativism here.

      If you have a discerning mind, this ain't gonna cut it. If you're into airport reads, give a whirl and go kill yourself when you're done.

      Listen, I didn't expect Mr. Grecian to floor me with his literary prowess, but I did expect him to deliver, at the very least, a solid Victorian prose, or at least put me in the heads of the characters with a unique perspective on their psychology. Nope. Maybe he researched the era and he gives us a good, accurate history, but part of the fun of reading a period piece is that you put us there with your language, with your depth of understanding of the people of the time. If one does not begin with this the history of it falls apart, for we are not convinced, nor are we even moderately entertained. For we do not believe you.

      Congratulations, Mr. Grecian, on getting your work published, but it's not good. You've got the platform, now put some effort into your prose and don't get cute with the dialogue, it's transparent and juvenile. Do this, or stick to comic books. There are talented writers out there that are dying for the shelf space at Barnes and Noble.
    • 3/5
      Lots of potential in this Victorian Age mystery but the story seems to come out in fits and starts. Not a series that I will rush to read.
    • 2/5
      Rather disappointing. This could have been an excellent novel, but somehow Alex Grecian never really seemed to get hold of it, and the plot and characters just slipped away.It is set in 1889, when London is still bruised by the unsolved 'Jack the Ripper' murders. As the novel opens, newly promoted Inspector Day is summoned to Euston Square Station where an abandoned trunk has been found. The trunk contains a body, and not just any body but that of Inspector Little. He has been murdered and his lips have been sewn together. Day's investigations anre helped by Dr Kingsley, perhaps the earliest forensic scientist. This could all have been so good! Sadly, the writer seemed to lack the ability to pull this all together in any convincing manner. There seems to be a prevailing fascination with crime stories set in bygone ages, but I worry that while the writers make huge efforts to ensure historic verisimilitude, researching their context fully, they forget the basics such as having a robust, credible plot, or creating characters who behave like people!
    • 5/5
      This is one damn good mystery novel. I could barely put it down and when I got close to the end I had to finish it. I can't wait to read the next one.