Genre: Mystery

I received this book for free from Random House in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Scotland Yard’s Murder Squad—and Jack the Ripper—return, in the extraordinary new historical thriller from the author of the acclaimed national bestseller The Yard.

In The Devil’s Workshop, London discovered that Jack the Ripper was back, sending the city—and Scotland Yard’s Murder Squad—into 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 people’s 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 doesn’t 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 Ripper’s been playing a game with him—with Walter Day, as well. He is pushing both of them to their limits, and what happens when they get there . . . no one can say.

I always am up for a good mystery/thriller so when I saw this I was all about it. I haven’t read the other books from this series, but it didn’t matter. It seems that each story is its own. After reading this though, I am definitely interested in going back to read the previous ones. It wasn’t a super suspenseful mystery, but it did have that chilling factor to it. It is told from numerous points of view, and that was what kind of disconnected me from it all. I did enjoy it though. We not only have Jack the Ripper to worry about in this, but a new killer named The Harvest Man. The characters were interesting, but how this is told, I never really felt an attachment to any of them. The benefit of being told that way though was that we get a well rounded story. We know what is going on everywhere. Since this is before cell phones and all that, it was important to get other POVs.

Mainly, it’s about Walter Day. He is an Inspector on the Murder Squad and is currently on desk duty due to him being tortured by Jack. His wife also just had twins, so he is a new father. His in-laws are around, and there is a whole staff of people in his house. He is recovering from his injuries that he got when he was held captive by Jack. What I liked about him is that his is very smart. He is a great detective and is needed to solve the case of the Harvest Man. He also needs his friend Hammersmith, who is no longer part of the squad.

I don’t want to go into things too much because there is a lot going on, and a lot to discover. It’s haunting and chilling. The Harvest Man is one messed up and creepy dude. Jack is also creepy and very smart and manipulative. We are getting to see them working at two different mysteries at once. Add in two little boys who escaped the house after their parents were murdered. The story is great. It is slow and steady, but it’s also intriguing. I am really interested in reading the rest of the books now. This author weaves a fantastic story and I will be picking up more of their books.

3 Hot Espressos