In The Devil’s Ribbon, the second in the Hatton and Roumande series of murder mysteries, D.E. Meredith deftly weaves a suspenseful and multi-faceted tale of political intrigue, abuses of power, long-held secrets, and insatiable bloodlust. Set just a decade after the devastating Great Famine in Ireland, and featuring a host of convincing characters, the story draws its inspiration from the long and bedevilled conflict between Ireland and the rest of Britain, an ugly and long-running drama from wh More...

First Line: Nothing but shadows and an eerie stillness in the heat of a simmering night as a figure stoops under a lintel and makes his way quickly, through a labyrinth of alleys, before finding Berry Street and heading north along the Farringdon Road.

It is July, 1858, and Londoners are suffering through the hottest summer on record. Forensic scientist Adolphus Hatton and his assistant Albert Roumande have a morgue filled with Irish cholera victims. A decade ago these people were forced into the More...

I have been lucky enough to read this just before the launch in the UK in preparation for interviewing the author and I have thoroughly enjoyed the dark mix of history and whodunnit. It is a thrilling murder mystery set against a backdrop of the Irish unrest in mid-Victorian London - the rookeries of St Giles and the Limehouse docks teeming with poverty stricken families and firebrand priests and journalists.

Hatton and Roumande, a team at the forefront of forensic science are drafted in to assis More...

Devoured was a fine introduction to Victorian forensic scientist Professor Adolphus Hatton and his assistant in the morgue Albert Roumande. This second novel, The Devil's Ribbon, however, is superb. Deeply atmospheric, you can almost feel yourself walking the dangerous streets of London's poorest streets, or taking tea in the parlours of Highgate. The horror and pain of Ireland's Potato Famine of the mid 19th century hangs over proceedings as Hatton and Roumande investigate a series of murders i More...

The Devil’s Ribbon is an utterly compelling story of political intrigue and gruesome murder. The violent death of Unionist MP, Gabriel McCarthy lead Victorian pathologists, Hatton and Roumande, into complex web of Fenian politics with sinister plotting, tense confrontations and dark allegiances.

This is the second investigation for expert forensic scientist, Adolphus Hatton and his assistant, Albert Roumande. When Hatton is summoned to the house of the murdered politician, he falls under the spe More...

I found this Hatton and Roumande mystery set in London in the mid-1800s to be both graphically unsettling and somewhat tedious. The author seems to linger lovingly over descriptions of decaying corpses, of which there are many, given that Hatton's profession is coroner. The characters are also not incredibly likeable either....Hatton is full of anger and judgement, whereas the police lieutenant (Gray) he is forced to work with is, at different times, foppish and appallingly violent. The setting More...

I'm really enjoying the second outing by DE. Im drawn into the twists and turns of is dark, and forensic gold mine. I enjoy this writer.. She never overwrites, and the characters are never one dimensional. Unlike authors such as Cornwell, this book is rich and multilayered. No silly scientific acronyms here. Just a ripping mystery, with smart turns and fantastics twists. Policital and well reasearched,and the relationship between Hatton and Roumanade is always entertaining! I would love to see t More...

This is the second book in the Hatton and Roumande Mystery series. Adolphus Hatton is a forensic scientist/pathologist and Albert Roumande is his assistant. The setting is 1858 London in July. They are in the middle of a terrible heatwave and cholera epidemic in the poorest Irish neighborhoods.

Tempers are high in England following the great famine in Ireland. It's the period of the birth of Irish nationalism and the rise of the Fenians and the Irish Brotherhood A series of violent murders erupts More...

Although I enjoyed this better than the first in the series and it received wonderful reviews, once again, there was something about the novel that just didn't grip me. The pacing is a little slower than I like and some of the supporting characters (i.e.: the Inspector) just annoyed me, but I think that was intentional. Other than that, I liked the two main characters, early forensics should be compelling, and Victorian England is one of my favorite historical settings...and I still can't love t More...

i was a bit disappointed with this story. I found it difficult to focus on the story because of a number of egregious grammatical errors throughout the story and, although that's probably the fault of the editing crew, it slowed down the story when I was hitting so many unfinished sentences and half phrases. The mystery felt rather slow compared to what I was expecting, and I ended up skipping large sections just so I could get to the end and see who the murderer was.

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Although The Devil’s Ribbon is Book #2 in the Hatton & Roumande series, I haven’t read the first book and still found that Book #2 works just fine as a stand-alone novel.

It’s 1858 and London is experiencing a nasty cholera outbreak among its poorest residents, the Irish. No one knows what causes cholera, although there are a lot of theories floating around so no one knows how to stop it until it’s run its course. The Irish had come to London in droves w More...

The Devil's Ribbon is an intriguing, well-written and artful crime mystery. It is far from generic or run of the mill, as D E Meredith deals with often hard-hitting political subjects and weaves the darkness of real historical events into this compelling narrative.

Bleh. In theory, I should have liked this - London setting, historical context, multiple plot lines - but it was only so-so. Too much going on to no good purpose, flat characters that didn't engage any interest, bland prose: I was skimming through the last half.

Not very impressed. It was obvious very early on that a particular character would turn out to be a villain, and there were implausible narrow escapes from death.

Not bad, in the general vein of Victorian period-piece detective novels. I think our hero was a bit useless, by and large, but the plot was interesting. I might look for another by this author.

Hi, just started this and the world is both interesting and intriguing!

finished. 1/31/12. my rating. 4

Very interesting setting and premise. Good characters and plot.

Classy cabal of characters which had me hooked from the outset, the plot slowly revealing itself until the atmospheric finale. Shall seek out the next

A good solid nail biting mystery all the way till the end! See my full review here