The Scotland Yard Murder Squad Series by Alex Grecian

by Vicky T. (VickyJo)

 
I want to share with you a series of murder mysteries that I thoroughly enjoyed, written by Alex Grecian. The series is called the Scotland Yard Murder Squad, and the first book, The Yard, introduces us to Inspector Walter Day, a young, up-and-coming detective with Scotland Yard, Sergeant Nevil Hammersmith, an unlucky but clever colleague, and Dr. Kingsley, the coroner who has a fascination with clues.   

Walter Day has just come to London to join the newly created Murder Squad.  He is recently married to Clare, a woman who loves and supports him, but according to her parents, she’s married beneath her.  In spite of this, she is happy and adjusting to being the wife of a Scotland Yard detective. 

Alex Grecian brings Victorian London to life: rainy days in a gray city full of fog and grim alleys.  His characters are likeable (well, the good guys) and very believable.  He explores the lack of technology by showing us the difficulties of no rapid communication and no forensic science. Imagine trying to find a boy to deliver an urgent message for a penny rather than having a telephone at hand. 

Today, applying forensic science to criminal investigations is commonplace, but the Scotland Yard Murder Squad operates in Victorian London, where such practices are just being born. Dr. Kingsley is very fond of fingerprints, in spite of the Yard’s skepticism, and tries (mostly in vain) to convince the police to preserve a crime scene rather than tramp all over the place destroying evidence.  The notion of trying to understand the criminal mind, and searching for patterns of behavior and thought is also new and being tested at this time.   

The second book is The Black Country, which sees Walter and Nevil traveling to the Midlands, a place of superstitious villagers, a mysterious epidemic that is killing people, and the sinking of the village into the coal mines below.  So trying to find three missing family members suddenly takes on a bizarre edge, and Walter is challenged to the utmost.   

The third book, The Devil’s Workshop, tells us what had happened to Jack the Ripper (he was still alive, being held prisoner by a vigilante group determined to bring him to their own brand of justice) and introduced us to a murderer called the Harvest Man, after the Harvest spider who lives in attics. The Harvest Man liked to lurk in attics until the family was sound asleep, and then come out to kill.  But he had been captured, and was in prison—until he escaped with three other prisoners during a jail break.  To make matters worse, Jack the Ripper managed to escape his captors as well.  Walter Day and Nevil Hammersmith are racing against time to find these two madmen.  

Without giving too much away, let me just say that The Devil’s Workshop ended on a ‘bit’ of a cliffhanger, and the tension immediately continues in The Harvest Man, with the action picking up shortly after the third book ends.  The hunt is still on, and time is rapidly running out as the victim count rises.  Oh, and if you thought the cliffhanger was bad in book three, then brace yourself!  It’s even worse in book four.  So have book 5, Lost and Gone Forever, close by!  You won’t be sorry.  Grecian has announced that there will be a sixth book, but no definite date has been set.  I’m anxiously awaiting the next installment!   

The Lake House by Kate Morton

Review by Mirah W. (mwelday)

Kate Morton’s The House at Riverton, The Distant Hours, and The Forgotten Garden each made me a genuine fan of the Australian author.  With some historical accounts and modern-day connections, Morton delivers novels with suspense and characters with so many facets you wonder if you’ll ever really figure them out. When I had a chance to attend an author event for Morton a couple of years ago I was so excited, and she did not disappoint.  Kate was down to earth and spoke honestly about the ups and downs of being a writer.  She also spoke about how she would get intrigued by real life events and become inspired to write, which is how she got some ideas for The Lake House.

The Lake House begins in 1933 at the estate of the Edevane family.  During the night of their midsummer party, the family’s young son goes missing.  There are no leads and the mystery goes unsolved.

Fast forward seventy years to Sadie Sparrow, a detective who finds herself on the outs with the career she loves because of her blurring of the lines in a case and getting too close to the mother of a victim in one of her cases.  Sadie is feeling out of sorts while dealing with a suspension from the force and escapes to her family in Cornwall.  While there, Sadie discovers the Edevane estate and learns about the haunting disappearance of the young boy.  Not having her job to go to and a crime to solve, Sadie locks onto this mystery.

Through reaching out to an older sister of the missing boy and the original detective on the case, Sadie begins to unravel family secrets that have been buried or denied for decades to help bring closure to his family.  She finds relationships between the Edevane case and the case that lead to her suspension in a way that completes the novel.

Kate Morton combines a mysterious event with classic story telling to draw the reader into the Edevane home.  The characters are complex and haunting and leave you searching for more answers with every chapter.  I would give this a solid 5 out of 5 stars.  I greatly enjoyed the story and felt drawn into the mystery.  I thought I had a good theory but that was turned on its head and a different story unfolded than I was expecting.  When I give a book 5 stars it must be a book I would be willing to read again, and I think I could read The Lake House again and find small hints throughout that I missed the first time.  Morton is a joy to read and I encourage all who enjoy mysteries and classic novels to give her a chance.

Mirah with Kate Morton at her book event promoting The Lake House