Thank you to NetGalley for the complimentary copy of Shadow of the Knife by Richard Ayre.

Is Jack back?

A series of terrifying murders plagues Detective Jonas Handy and in the face of a murderer most foul, he needs to ask for help from Doctor Carter Jarman.

Richard Ayre describes Victorian London perfectly, you feel as if you are walking alongside Detective Handy and Doctor Jarman on their quest to discover the killer. Is it Jack?

Unfortunately I didn't connect with this book at all and after multiple attempts I have had to admit defeat and mark as dnf.

A blend of fact and fiction, that spins off from the real-life history of the Jack the Ripper murders and pays homage to the detective pairing of Holmes and Watson – there is a lot to live up to her and Richard Ayre delivers!

This doesn’t attempt to retell the tale of the Ripper murders, but instead offers an investigation of some fictional copycat murders, set a couple of years later but in the same location. Holmesian doctor and amateur investigator, ‘Jigsaw’ Jackson, his fascinating manservant Curmudgeon, and police detective Handy join forces to take on both the wannabe Ripper and a corrupt system, as they delve into the realms of prostitution, sex clubs and internal corruption in the police service.

I should warn you that there are some very, very gory details in relation to the murders – the victims are ripped apart and entrails feature extensively – so this will not be the best read for anyone with a weak stomach, and I would recommend reading it on an empty stomach, just to be on the safe side!

I always like to play along with mystery stories and try to beat the fictional detective to the reveal, and I confess that I was successful on this occasion, correctly spotting the ‘bad guys’ pretty early on. This didn’t detract in any way from my enjoyment of the story though, as I continued to follow the two detectives (and my personal favourite, Curmudgeon) in their cat and mouse chase.

The whole novel is drenched in atmosphere. You could feel the grime and soot on your skin as you read, and smell the excrement, rot and smog. It really felt like you were there with the characters, which became quite nerve-wracking as the murders stacked up.

This isn’t really historical fiction, as the characters and plot are all fictional, even though the setting feels realistic. Still, fans of historical fiction are likely to enjoy it, along with fans of gritty, dark crime and those who enjoyed Conan Doyle’s stories but felt them too sanitised and demure.

Shadow of the Knife is a very well written dark and atmospheric historical mystery by Richard Ayre. Released 12th Oct 2021 by Burning Chair, it's 304 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.

The story drew me in and kept me engaged from the first few pages. I'm still impressed over the attention to historical detail and the realistic descriptions, especially those that existed in the East End of London at the time. The author provides a hard look at the way the unfortunate locals lived (and died, early and too often to violence and disease). There are scenes of graphic violence described unflinchingly in the book, which I found myself skimming over. It's well written and very well researched.

Fans of Victorian English mysteries (not cozies) will find a lot to appeal, and the writing is very well rendered and engaging. Spelling and vernacular are British English, but that shouldn't pose any problems to American readers. The author has helpfully included a short glossary of period colloquialisms for reference.

Four stars. Very well done.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

I really liked what Ayre did with this story, and I thought it was very smart that he made his plot Ripper-adjacent rather than specifically about the Ripper murders. I feel this gave him a lot more wiggle room when it comes to artistic license, and he did not disappoint. This is a gritty, dark story, and I absolutely loved it. Despite the artistic license taken, you can tell that Ayre did his research and paid careful attention to every aspect of his novel.

Loved this book !! Such an original storyline, with great characters and a massive twist ! This would make a great start to a series ! Loved it !

Starting off with eviscerated female body, set in teemingbfilthy London of early days, really many cliches xarecassembled in this story of a stalwart doctor who is interested in crime. Pleasing in its familiarity, I suppose, I soon ground to a halt .. worthy but I've read too many just like this

This book is a very atmospheric murder mystery. Immediately readers are pulled into the dark, dismal world of late 1800's East End London, a place still haunted by the murders of Jack the Ripper.
There was a great deal of attention to detail that made the book seem well researched, but a few plot points didn't seem to fit. Characters who were unlikely to be able to have been educated at the time were able to read noteds, etc.
There were a couple of scenes that were a little bit gorey for some readers.
However, I think readers who enjoy fast-paced historical mysteries with a great sense of setting will love this book!

Shadow of the Knife.
A murder mystery set just after the time of Jack the Ripper, and set in London in and around Whitechapel.
I think that the background is set very well.
A fast moving, intense who-done-it book which takes the time to set the scene of the put down working classes, and the rich upper classes and the tensions between them.
The characters are brilliant, and the writing accomplished.
There is an element of humour within the macabre action.
The author takes some liberties with historical accuracy, which he explains in the Historical Note, but after all the author is trying to produce a good mystery, not a history book.
An excellent book!

The characters are set, I can’t wait for their next appearance.

A genius criminologist haunted by his past. A brilliant detective with everything stacked against him. A mysterious murderer that can’t be stopped.
It has been two years since Jack the Ripper stalked the streets of London. Two years in which the East End slowly returned to normality. And then the killing starts again. This was one of those books that sucked me in from the beginning and didn’t let go until I finished! I thought it was well written, with absolutely flawlessly done characters, and absolutely unputdownable.
The storyline was brilliant and fascinating you won't want to miss this novel!

I'm not sure why this one didn't suit me better. Jigsaw Jackson was an interesting character, and I liked the valet Curmudgeon, but.... It is graphic, but that is to be expected when talking about the original Ripper murders and someone who has commenced a similar spree of murders.

DNF at 69%

This book was just not it for me. I struggled SO MUCH reading this. I didn't like the characters and they felt flat to me. The writing was okay but nothing special. I can understand why people are giving this good reviews but it just was not for me.

A crime thriller that takes place in Whitechapel, London in 1891, just a few years after the gruesome murders of Jack the Ripper, Shadow of the Knife follows the mystery of new murders that share devastating similarities of Jack's murders. Amid panic that the Ripper may have returned to Whitechapel, Detective Jonas Hardy and surgeon and "criminologist" Carter Jackson must discover the true murderer and expose an apparent cover-up that limits the evidence available to them.
In terms of plot, characters, and ending, the criteria on which I judge mysteries and crime thrillers, Shadow of the Knife was well done enough, though not particularly compelling. I have to say that I wasn't able to predict the ending, which I always appreciate. Unfortunately, I found my attention wandering frequently, as I found the book too wordy in general; I feel it could have benefitted from some extensive editing. Descriptions of characters and even of the violence done to the women (which, even for a Victorian crime thriller seemed to have a pretty antagonistic view of sex work) were explicit, but matter-of-fact, and did not lend themselves to any sort of suspense or revulsion.
I will also not that there were infrequent inaccuracies (for lack of a better term), which doesn't necessarily affect my overall rating, but seemed easy enough to double-check before including-- for example: cigarettes did exist in late 19th century England, but were generally considered effeminate, and I had a hard time believing that a hardened police detective would have smoked them in favor of a pipe. Also the British Socialist Party was not established until 1920--that's not to say that communists and socialists weren't around, but it's unlikely I think that Metropolitan Police would have singled them out as a group that would start a riot as opposed to individual 'trouble-makers'.
As I said, issues like the above would probably be imperceptible to most readers, and does not affect my star rating, but they did affect my reading experience.

This was a nicely atmospheric - almost gothic - murder mystery. The obvious miasma of Jack the Ripper that surrounds this book holds it back not at all and it shows itself to stand up as an individual work with an identity of its own, and quite a good one at that.

I read good things about this author's other works but this is the first of his that I have read. I also hear that he is a history teacher and as such, some of the silly historical errors that pervade the book cannot be excused. For example one of the doomed prostitutes, was handed a note which lured her to her death, but it is extremely unlikely that she would be sufficiently literate to read it. Later on we have another prostitute 'reading' names from a hand-written list. Again, this is unlikely in the extreme, yet this fact is integral to the plot as a whole. The author himself admits to taking a little artistic license with the facts of the Ripper killings, but this can be forgiven, Less forgivable are the anachronisms - which again the author admits to introducing as they serve his purpose. Distortion of facts which do not distract one from immersion in the .Victorian setting is one thing, but introduction of anachronisms which rudely wrest one from the Victorian era and thrust one back into the 21st Century are quite another. A Victorian self-harming? Stuff and nonsense! We also have Victorians drinking coffee rather than tea. This is an error generally made by American authors who have little understanding of British culture and an Englishman should know better.

The plot was a good one, although I did find it a tad predictable. From the time of the mob riot it was clear who was involved. How else would the mob have known exactly where to find their quarry? Also, this particular character 'doth protest too much', which rather gave the game away. However, for all that, this was a good book and the characters were well-fleshed and roundly developed. The dynamic between Curmudgeon and Dr Jackson was somewhat hackneyed, but the story was none the worse for that. This will probably be the first of a series, and I would most definitely read the following books, should they ever materialise.

I was sent a copy of Shadow of the Knife by Richard Ayre to read and review by NetGalley. I was looking forward to reading this novel but unfortunately I didn’t enjoy it as much as I expected. I don’t quite know what it was about it that I didn’t like or get on with! It was OK and had quite a good plot line, but I just couldn’t seem to get involved. It may have been that I wasn’t quite in the mood when I read it, although I chose to read it at that time so I think that’s unlikely. I’m sure that many readers out there will really enjoy it and give it 4 or 5 stars, and I wish I could understand why this book didn’t engage me as I’d hoped. Still, not every book can please everyone and at least I did read it to the end, so that means that it wasn’t too bad!

A great novel set a few years after Jack the Ripper in London, when the killing of prostitutes starts again.

Detective Jonas Handy investigates the spate of new murders, with the help of Doctor Carter “Jigsaw” Jackson, a surgeon and part time criminologist. The two men find themselves in a race against time to find the murderer before any more people die. A race that will take them from the murky world of the East End to the even more shady world of the Victorian upper classes.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, liking the main characters Handy and Jackson, along with his man servant too. The atmosphere felt spot on, the characters believable, from the lower classes to those in the upper echelons. The story went at a good pace, with some background to the main characters being interwoven into the story.

My only complaint was the point of view switched from one person to another, in consecutive paragraphs a number of times, rather than seeing it through just on set of eyes and feelings.

I look forward to following this trio in the future, and the other recurring characters.

I received this book from netgalley in return for a honest review.

I was gripped by this from the first page. 1800s Victorian London is a creepy enough premise but when you add in Jack the Ripper, well... I was hooked right to the last page.
Fantastic attention to detail and so well written.

Shadow Of the knife by Richard Ayre.
A genius criminologist haunted by his past. A brilliant detective with everything stacked against him. A mysterious murderer that can’t be stopped.
I really enjoyed this book. Great story and some good characters. Jonas and Carter were my favourite characters. I loved the cover. 5*.

Shadow of the Knife might be described as Jack the Ripper "spin-off" fiction, in that it's set in the East End of London a couple of years after the notorious real-life murders, references the details of those crimes and theories around the killer's identity, but maintains a primary narrative thread that is entirely fictional.
Having read a reasonable amount of "true crime" and historical material related to the 1888 Whitechapel series of murders, widely attributed to an unidentified serial killler best known by the press moniker of "Jack the Ripper", I was curious to see how historian - speculative fiction author Richard Ayre would approach the subject matter. He freely admits in his Historical Note at the novel's conclusion to the use of "artistic licence" with some historical material and the inclusion of several anachronisms, necessary for the purposes of his own narrative. Some purist "Ripperologists" will no doubt throw their hands up in horror at this concept, but I really didn't feel that this detracted in any material way from the quality of Shadow of the Knife. So much of the historical record is either absent, the subject of significant conjecture or otherwise ambiguous in its potential interpretation that a little fictional "tweaking" is hardly going to hurt, over 130 years since the events in question. I'd recommend any reader who wishes to clarify for themselves what is known and unknown about the Ripper crimes obtain a copy of either Donald Rumbelow's The Complete Jack the Ripper or Philip Sugden's The Complete History of Jack the Ripper, both of which contain comprehensive analyses of the evidence, such as it is, without spouting wild personal theories about the identity of the killer.
Shadow of the Knife is set in 1890, two years after London was rocked by the murders of at least five (possibly eight or nine) women in the city's impoverished Whitechapel district. (Fictional) Metropolitan Police Detective Inspector Jonas Handy is called to investigate the discovery of a murdered woman, found near the same site and on the anniversary of the first "canonical" Jack the Ripper victim, Mary Ann "Polly" Nichols. Having had tangential involvement with the 1888 crimes, Handy is immediately on alert that the unknown killer may have returned.
Handy makes the acquaintance of surgeon Doctor Carter Jackson, a Holmes-like character who combines practical knowledge with an intuitive understanding of human psychology. Together, and with the assistance of Handy's sergeant, Frank Callow, and Jackson's valet-coachdriver-factotum, the gloriously named Curmudgeon, they set about investigating the crime, with a view to identifying the miscreant and preventing further death and terror in the East End.
Almost immediately, their investigation is stymied, both by political interference high in the Metropolitan Police hierarchy and by the purloining of the dead woman's remains before they can be fully examined. Before long, another woman has been murdered and the resulting riot in the street of the East End turns deadly. Handy and Jackson find themselves locked in a race against time against a deadly and powerful foe, not only to protect the women of Whitechapel, but their own lives and reputations.
Richard Ayre's depiction of the East End of London in late Victorian times is masterful, and the reader gets a real sense of the sights, sounds and smells - particularly the smells! - of this overcrowded, poverty-stricken and crime-riddled setting. His prose is well-crafted and immersive, providing a nuanced backdrop to his fictional narrative. I was interested by his reference, again contained within his Historical Note, to Hallie Rubenhold's 2019 non-fiction bestseller, The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper. Unlike virtually all other titles on the subject, her book focusses on the lives of the victims, rather than the activities of their notorious murderer. Certainly, Richard Ayre's setting and characters in Shadow of the Knife reflect a sensitivity to the plight of women, particularly those born into or subject to poverty, in the late 19th century.
While the subject matter was sometimes confronting, I found Shadow of the Knife an enjoyable and engrossing read. I'd recommend it to any reader who enjoys gritty historical crime fiction - this is no cosy and refined parlour mystery - and/or has an interest in the early history of modern crime investigation.
My thanks to the author, Richard Ayre, publisher Burning Chair Limited and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title prior to publication on 19 November 2021.

A dark, gritty and gripping historical mystery that kept me hooked till the end.
Well researched historical background, good storytelling, solid mystery and a cast of fleshed out characters.
It's the first book I read by this author and won't surely be the last.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine