(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

It is the time of Jack the Ripper, the widowed Queen Victoria sits on the throne of England. The whole of London is on edge wondering when or where Jack will kill next. The Palace, Parliament, and the press are demanding the police do more to find him.
In another part of London, rough-around-the-edges war hero, Metropolitan Detective Inspector Rudyard Bloodstone has his own serial killer to find. Inter departmental rivalries, politics, and little evidence to go on hamper the investigation at every turn. In a battle of wills, Bloodstone presses forward following his instincts in spite of the obstacles.
Adding to those problems, away from the strains of the investigation, he is engaged in the ups and downs of a new relationship with a lovely hat maker.

*2.5 stars*

This was a tough read. Half the time, I was really digging the story - the other half, I was tearing my hair out at silly editing oversights and character choices. But let's start with what was good:

From the outset, Rudyard Bloodstone was a fantastic detective. His ability to notice nuance in people's words and actions made me make the connection to Holmes in some way. There was certainly a little inspiration there...but not to the point of being a rip-off. Also, the story itself was intriguing. Rather than a mystery (as we know who the antagonist is very early on), it is more about the cat-and-mouse between the killer and detectives. It was written really well and the finale did make sense and worked very well in the context of the whole novel.

On the downside? Lots of poor word choices, spelling errors and, at times, I felt some modern terms creep into the story. That sort of thing is really hard to deal with - why would I want to spend time on a really poorly edited novel when I have thousands more on stand-by? Also, the characterizations of women in this book was pretty painful - they spent a lot of time whining about things, and were then shut up by going shopping. What? May not have annoyed me too much if it had only been once or twice...but over and over, the women in this book are just parodies of real human beings. Was not cool.

Overall, this could have been a far better novel, for me, with a decent edit and real female characters.


Paul
ARH

London - May 1888: contemporary with the Whitechapel Murders, another serial killer is on the loose. On the case is Inspector Rudyard Bloodstone and DS Archie Holbrook.

Whilst we have an inkling early on as to the identity of the killer, we are still drawn into the investigation, station politics, and a budding romance (of Victorian standards). Like many others before, I too was drawn into the world of both Bloodstone and his nemesis, William Everhard.

Cleverly written and looking forward to Snifter of Death (book 2).