The Yard

Scotland Yard's Murder Squad #1

by Alex Grecian

Victorian London is a cesspool of crime, and Scotland Yard has only twelve detectives—known as “The Murder Squad”—to investigate countless murders every month. Created after the Metropolitan Police’s spectacular failure to capture Jack the Ripper, The Murder Squad suffers rampant public contempt. They have failed their citizens. But no one can anticipate the brutal murder of one of their own . . . one of the twelve . . .When Walter Day, the squad’s newest hire, is assigned the case of the murdered detective, he finds a strange ally in the Yard’s first forensic pathologist, Dr. Bernard Kingsley. Together they track the killer, who clearly is not finished with The Murder Squad . . . but why?

Filled with fascinating period detail, and real historical figures, this spectacular debut in a new series showcases the depravity of late Victorian London, the advent of criminology, and introduces a stunning new cast of characters sure to appeal to fans of The Sherlockian and The Alienist.

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Crime, Historical, Historical Mystery, Thriller

432 pages, Hardcover

First published May 29, 2012

About the author

Grecian is the author of several bestselling thrillers, including THE SAINT OF WOLVES AND BUTCHERS, and five novels featuring Scotland Yard's Murder Squad: THE YARD, THE BLACK COUNTRY, THE DEVIL'S WORKSHOP, THE HARVEST MAN, and LOST AND GONE FOREVER, plus the original Murder Squad ebook, THE BLUE GIRL.

He also created the six-volume graphic novel series PROOF, and the two-part graphic novel RASPUTIN.

He currently lives in the American Midwest with his wife and son. And a dog. And a tarantula.

Reviews

[Arah-Lynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story takes place in London in 1889.   Scotland Yard has pretty much given up any hope of catching Jack The Ripper, a decision that does not sit well with the citizens of this great city who have been less than impressed with The Yard’s effectiveness in keeping their streets safe.  It is not the best time in London to be a copper.

Nobody noticed when Inspector Christian Little of Scotland Yard disappeared and nobody was looking for him when he was found.
A black steamer trunk appeared at Euston Square Station sometime during the night and remained unnoticed until early afternoon of the following day.  

Inside was the body of Inspector Little.

Detective Inspector Walter Day is newly married, new  to London and new to Scotland Yard.  There is no question that he harbours doubts about his own ability to succeed in his new position.  He is also happens to be  the Detective on scene when the body of Inspector Little is discovered.   Now the equally new Police Commissioner, Sir Edward Bradford is looking to Day to lead this investigation and reel in the killer, quickly.

Meanwhile in another part of London a little boy has be snatched off the streets and is being held against his will.  

The bald man closed his eyes for a moment, remembering the thick needle as it pierced Inspector Little’s lips, the tip of it pressing the skin above the detective’s beard, then thrusting through, a dot of blood following the black thread back through the dead man’s flesh.  He pushed the thought away, took a deep shuddering breath, and glanced at the clusters of women and children around him.
He reached for the boy’s hand and had to stoop to grab it.  The boy didn’t squeeze back, didn’t actually hold his hand, left it loose in the bald man’s grip, but he didn’t pull it away, either.  They were making progress.

The first of the other eleven Detectives in The Yard to offer his assistance to Day is Inspector Michael Blacker.  Together they start going through Little’s case notes in the hopes of finding a lead.  It would appear that someone has also been killing men with facial hair, most notably those with beards and it is Blacker’s theory that these cases are connected to Inspector Little’s untimely demise, a theory Day is reluctant to adopt.

While Scotland Yard does not employ a coroner as such, one Dr. Kingsley has taken it upon himself to set up a medical inspection theatre of sorts for the deceased.  He is also anxious to utilize new and exciting forensic analysis methods being developed in other parts of the world, such as fingerprinting, to further assist in identifying criminals.  But these are radical new methods that a good percentage of the police force still fail to see any benefit in.

The Yard is more of a police procedural than a mystery or thriller as the reader learns early on, who is responsible for these crimes.  Grecian sets an atmospheric stage upon which this story plays out, readily transporting the reader to the late 19th century, squalid streets of Victorian London where twelve detectives (The Murder Squad) are solely responsible for the thousands of crimes  committed monthly.  But now one of their own has been brutally murdered.

3.5 engaging stars for the first book in a series that I have no doubt I will be reading more of.

[Richard Derus · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pearl Ruled: THE YARD by Alex Grecian (p67)

This is its star:


I started getting annoyed when, at the beginning of chapter 2, Colonel Sir Edward Bradford, Commissioner of Scotland Yard, calls the sleuth into his mahogany-lined office and proceeds to make no sense at all for several pages. The sleuth is confused, too, and there appears to be no reason we-the-readers should give the ass of a rat about this little tete-a-tete.

Then came the who-cares italicized narration of the bald man, who killed the victim. We're told so in the first 20pp, I am not spoilering. The other thing I'm not is caring.

Then on p67, a clue is run down by the sleuth and the forensic scientist, but the forensic scientist says it's not really a clue, they're just being thorough, and I frankly became so disgusted with this amateurish, ramshackle mess of typing that I was physically unable to force my eyes to focus on the first sentence of chapter 10.

There are point-of-view issues. There are credibility gaps. There is a numbing expectedness in each character's responses and reactions. Well, as you can tell by my one-star rating, I am not impressed and I am not happy to have spent this time in this fashion. I don't recommend it.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

[Miriam Smith (A Mother’s Musings) · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Jeffrey Deaver quoted that this book "will keep you riveted from page one" he wasn't wrong! I loved the excellent storyline and enjoyed this fun read from start to finish.
Set in London in 1889, following the 'Ripper's' reign of terror, the Scotland Yard form a 'Murder Squad' to deal with the hundreds of deaths ongoing in the city. Based at "The Yard" the first case for the newly appointed Inspector Walter Day is the grisly murder of one of their own, Detective Little. With the help of The Yard's first ever forensic pathologist Dr. Bernard Kingsley, they are determined to catch the killer before more murders occur.
The characters were just brilliant, all were different and unique and since the author had described them so well I could visualise each and everyone perfectly. I particularly liked Dr. Kingsley and just knew he was going to be an interesting character when he exclaimed "ah ha!" early on. It was fascinating to read how early forensics started and how fastidious Dr. Kingsley was at noticing the smallest of details to help connect the killer to the crime.
Typically British, the London accents were spot one and I truly felt I was in Victorian London with all the sights, smells and conditions. As this is my favourite time in fiction, I felt the author Alex Grecian has captured an atmospheric period of history to perfection.
There's a couple of individual storylines going on throughout the book and each one was captivating to follow. The 'bald man' chapters were exceptionally good and quite scary too at times. I felt for little Fenn and loved how the whole story came together at the end seamlessly.
With the right amount of mortuary and murder gore this crime thriller is a fantastic read, well written with an ingenious plot that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend and I have every intention now of reading the further books in this series.
5 stars

Many thanks to friend and fellow reviewer Rachel Hall for the generous copy.

[Jenny · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have just finished reading a book called The Yard by Alex Grecian. It's set in London in 1889 and is a novel about the early days of the Murder Squad. Read it only for the hilarity of the wrongness of half his descriptions and his totally tin ear for period dialogue. People use such phrases as "no worries", "I'm right on it", "he's heading up the investigation" and "where was the beat cop?" and refer to a landlord in a pub as a 'barkeep'. In the first 125 pages alone we have a small boy in Wales earning 'two cents' a day, brownstone houses, a park in Trafalgar Square (this misconception is repeated later), and a housekeeper called by her master and mistress Elizabeth who makes a cup of tea unasked for two policemen who called in the middle of the night. Moreover, we have a doctor's wife knowing the first name of the chimney sweep and referring to him by it. The housekeeper appears to their only servant, and part of their living area is in the basement although the doctor has a successful practice.

We have a tailor considering himself old-fashioned for not having electricity in his home in 1889. There is a walk-in closet on p 124, which took me totally aback. This walk-in closet is in a small house belonging to a policeman and his wife. The wife, Claire, is presented as an upper class girl who has made something of a misalliance with the policeman, Walter, but her parents have bought them this small house, in which they maintain separate bedrooms, so as not to shock the 'housekeeper', who is in fact a daily woman. Claire uses the word 'bloody'. Characters consistently invite others to call them by their first name, even when they have not met previously and are of totally different social status.

I was so distressed by all this wrongness that I actually wrote to the author to beg him to get any future novels read by somebody who knew about these things (because some of the characters aren't bad and I believe it might even be being made into a TV series!) and got a very friendly reply from him, acknowledging that they were indeed clangers but saying as an American from the mid-West he hadn't actually expected his book would be so widely read. What on earth are his editors coming to that they let this kind of thing slip by? It's Penguin for goodness' sake – they can't be short of expertise! And apparently the UK edition has left a lot of these clangers in. As I said – read it only for a spot-the-clanger game. Julian Fellowes' scripts for Downton Abbey are wonderful in comparison.

Add in the clunking and clumsy plot - I can't understand how this book ever got published, except that the writing (apart from the above-mentioned lousy research) is competent and the characters and setting and concept are promising, which is why I picked it up in the first place. I finished it in a teeth-gritted "I've paid for this so I'll read it" kind of way.

[Agnieszka · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was rather disappointment. I liked the premise of the novel : to describe the inception of Scotland Yard as a modern police, show the birth of forensic science, paint the vast background, both social and economic of Victorian London. I counted on stylish and atmospheric crime noir but what I finally got in The Yard not entirely met my expectations.

I think some protagonists may have a potential to become an interesting characters though it's unlikely I would follow their further cases. Newly arrived to London, untouched by routine thinking inspector Walter Day, constable Nevil Hammersmith, leading his private crusade against the man who let the child die in the chimney (hiring kids as helpers for chimney sweepers was then on the agenda) and Dr. Bernard Kingsley with his fresh and unconventional approach to the novelty on the field of medicine are likely to push the Murder Squad on new tracks and straight into the twentieth century.

This novel of Alex Grecian is the first installment in the cycle. The author did some research for sure but apparently not very thorough and what he did here came up not too convincingly. His London, maybe because the author is American, feels like every other city; some reviewers indicated on many mistakes, both factual and topographical. I had no such knowledge about the epoch to find every awkwardness but surely some seedy alleys and foggy weather or mentioning Jack the Ripper won’t do to create a proper Victorian aura.
Some actions felt strangely disjointed or far-fetched and particular threads dropped without further clarification. Almost from the start we know who the bad guy is and in that case I expected either some gripping, mind-fucking game with the police or attempt to enter in murderer’s mind to reveal his twisted personality and things that pushed him to become the person he was. And preferably both. Well, probably I’m too spoiled by other readings.

Perhaps if Grecian had set his novel on more familiar ground, if he had stuck to facts and background known to him this one would have felt more authentic. And so he gave rather weak performance here, neither convincing nor riveting reading. Content of mystery in mystery close to nought, sound knowledge of the historic realities likewise and proverbial English sense of humour and irony, clever dialogues or other spices nowhere to be seen.

[Lou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Find yourself transported to the Victorian streets of London post-Jack the Ripper days.
The author successfully places you in the atmosphere of that time, the streets of London paved with gaslights and Hansom cabs as modes of transport, in the dark bleak workhouses and the most importantly the Yard, great Scotland yard, located at Whitehall place and their morgue in the beginnings of forensic pathology during an era when C.S.I and DNA detection was virtually unheard of.

The Victorian London era made the story that more interesting and intriguing reading , it was engrossing and dark but also quite poignant at times there was some really good moments of human kindness in here. Some characters grow on you and you get to like the Yard’s first forensic pathologist, Dr. Bernard Kingsley was a really interesting character you learn of his past and his reason he took occupation in the Yard and how he made the crimes investigation successful and a crime solving art form. You feel the atmosphere of the mortuary and smell the stench of the dead.
To the murders, yes policemen upholders of the law are found dead in very dreadful and ugly circumstances and a boy also is missing.
The citizens of London had just started to relax after a long break from Jack the Ripper murdering and due the emergence of the dead policemen a decision was made to put together a murder squad in the yard with a group of detectives with the sole purpose to detect and solve murders.
The search is on and Hammersmith and Walter Day are two gentlemen detective inspectors worthy of solving these cases they are characters that you'll find that you will want to hear more of. I do hope that we seem more from this era with the murder squad in the Yard and Dr Kingsley in the mortuary. I sense from reading that this is not going to be the last story that comes out from The Yard.











Review also @ http://more2read.com/review/the-yard-alex-grecian/

[Heidi Wiechert · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Yard is a cozy murder mystery that takes place in London in the late 1800s. Jack the Ripper has scared the heck out of everybody. First, because of the obvious reason that he kept killing people and second, because the police never caught him. Now, nobody thinks very much about Scotland Yard's Murder Squad, but the new inspector Walter Day is determined to prove his worth.

Especially when he's tapped to lead the investigation into the death of a fellow police inspector.

"You can see what's been done. The question is why has it been done?" "It's inhuman." "I'm afraid it's all too human." pg 3

The development of criminology is still underway with modern advances like fingerprinting making an appearance in the field. It doesn't help that each inspector has a heavier case load than he could possibly manage.

"Last month, ninety-six corpses were pulled from the Thames, more than half of them with their throats slit. It hadn't been an unusual body count for a city where the annual number of arrests topped sixty thousand." pg 19

A colorful cast of characters rounds out this story. Colonel Sir Edward Bradford has recently taken over as police commissioner. He won't accept the murderer of one of his inspectors.

Dr. Bernard Kingsley inspects bodies for evidence about the crimes committed to them. It is an imperfect and smelly art.

Constable Nevil Hammersmith never seems to have time to sleep. He's the son of a Welsh coal miner who's come to London to try to make something of himself.

Between the three of them, can they catch the killer before he strikes again?

I enjoyed this book, but felt that the ending went on a bit too long. I also found myself looking for the psychological tension that you would find in a Tana French book, but The Yard isn't that kind of mystery.

This is a "snuggle up with a hot cup of cocoa or glass of wine" book rather than a "stay up until midnight because you have to know what happens before this chapter ends" read. Which is fine. Recommended for the snuggle-variety of reader.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new series, set in the late 1800’s post Jack the Ripper London, actually a year past. A murder is discovered in the opening scenes & we’re swiftly introduced to the murder squad who were set-up within Scotland Yard as a direct outcome of the Ripper crimes.

Wont give much away as it’s a teccie crime series, even though the murderer is given away fairly early on & makes appearances in Italics getting bolder as the story evolves...... but will tell that it’s good on humour, characters have depth and fleshed out backstories which grow throughout the investigation(s) & there’s plenny of historical fiction essence to make you feel a part of London, the grime & the attitudes/morality of the period (No BBC a la Ripper Street changing the morality compass here). The ending(s) were well thought out too & added a good deal of suspense, bringing multiple threads to varying conclusions, maybe a little too neatly in places but for me that was in keeping with the read.

Pretty good for a debut, an enjoyable romp & I for one don’t mind an early reveal as it’s always good to see how it’s going to pan out. 4 stars & will be reading more of the Murder Squad.

Recommended to all who enjoy a mystery set in historical fiction setting especially a late Victorian / Ripper street era.

[Phrynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set at Scotland Yard in Victorian London, we meet main character, Detective Day, one of twelve detectives designated as the Murder Squad. This occurs after Jack the Ripper was never caught and the residents of London had a very poor view of the competence of the police.

Detectives Day and Hammersmith plus Dr Kingsley seem to be the future of the series and they are all interesting and likeable characters. The time period was one when forensics was just beginning to really assist the police in catching criminals and Kingsley is keen to make use of every new idea.

The author used an unusual approach in letting the reader know long before the police who the murderer is, but I did not find this a problem. I enjoyed the period setting, the characters and the mystery. Having read the blurb for book two I am sure I will be reading that soon as well.

[Wanda Pedersen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I liked The Yard. I really wanted to love it, but a couple of things stood in my way. I really felt like it was a modern forensic mystery being forced into a Victorian corset—and details were frequently straining to escape.

A little research has helped me like it more. This really was the time period during which fingerprinting became a thing that police forces did and autopsies were practiced. I found the resistance of some members of the police force to these procedures to be believable—perhaps more believable than the easy acceptance of them by the main characters.

I probably would have been more enamoured by this novel had I not been reading some of Ben Aaronovitch’s excellent Rivers of London series recently. Aaronovitch, as a Londoner, has such an advantage with the dialog—his sounds authentic, he uses slang expertly, his dialog sounds natural. This is a difficult task for a North American author to duplicate. Grecian’s characters inevitably end up sounding somewhat American. A couple of references to the modern myth of families needing "closure" especially rubbed me the wrong way, particularly since I really don't believe that there's any such thing! Having lost family traumatically in a car accident, I can tell you that there is never closure, just the careful construction of a new reality.

I didn’t get a strong sense of place in The Yard either. London is such a wonderful, rich location for a story--Rivers of London or the Slough House series by Mick Herron make the city an integral part of the action.

Still, this was an interesting first book in the series and I wouldn’t be surprised if I read at least the second book at some point to see if the author finds his footing. There are a number of interesting people who seem poised to become regulars and the possibilities are intriguing. If you enjoyed this book, I would also recommend Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson by Lyndsay Faye, a book which I feel captures the flavor of the period a little better.

[Jeanne Adamek · Rating 5 out of 5]

A extraordinary book that I found fascinating especially as it incorporated a number of things in the telling of this story that I usually do not enjoy reading (for example being in the mind of a murder...)

I really loved reading The Yard. The main characters were fantastically well described, very sympathetic. People, for the most part, I would enjoy knowing. I also found the way that the author had done Victorian London was done extremely well. I could smell the stink and see the filth, but somehow as the characters could endure and go on with hope, I did not find this depressing.

I am planning on going on with the rest of the series. I hope that there will be more information about the beginning of Scottland Yard. I also am hoping to read more about two of the minor characters as I found them quite inspiring and enjoyed the parts of this book that they were in very much.

I recommend this book highly to all who enjoy Historical Mysteries/Fiction. Those who especially enjoy reading about Victorian London.

[Kirsten · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely LOVED this book!

This book is an incredible ensemble piece. It is well structured and has engaging characters. But no one character shows up as the central character, instead it is a story about a homicide unit. One of the very first.

A lot of attention to life in Victorian London is put into the book. You see the horrible disparate life between the 1% and the great unwashed horde. But the author instead of just putting the facts out there, he includes them in a very emotional way. It was so effective that I nearly cried at one point.

I will definitely move on with this book.

[John Williams · Rating 1 out of 5]

I run a book club and we read a lot of books over the course of a year and we have been going for about five years, During this time I have only thrown one book across the room in disgust, this will be my second.

Having had the book suggested at the club with no background knowledge or being a previously author I had no expectations, just as well really because the story met these expectations within the first few pages!

To call the novel the banal meanderings of a unsophisticated mind might give the book more credence than it deserves. Quite early on I realised that this collection of pages, (I hesitate to use the word novel), was written by an American whose only source of Victorian research was to watch Disney's Mary Poppins. The main character Inspector Day aka Dick Van Dyke, shuffles cardboard like across the pages bouncing off the most improbably named similar cardboard characters with a single iota of charm or style. In parallel we get the italicised stream of conscience from the crazed killer who subtly sits watching in the wings and the pedantry drama drags it's weary cliched way across the pages.

Dick (I mean Day) declares to his good lady wife "What only Mock Turtle soup tonight!". Lawks-a-mercy what's a jolly old rozzer got to do in this grimy, fog bound, Ripper filled city to get some right Royal "Real Turtle Soup", it enough to make you jump the pond from Liverpool and live in the Great US of A. Well Mr Grecian I suggest you stick to designing typefaces rather than typing.

John Williams

[happy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel had an interesting premise, but somehow doesn’t quite hit the mark. It feels like a first novel and all that that implies. It is uneven, some of the research is suspect and they dialogue is not quite period. Also, the main killer is revealed quite early in the novel so it is not really a mystery more of a procedural/thriller. That said, I found the characters interesting and they kept me reading to find out how they solve the murders.

Set in the year following the Ripper Murders in London, the novel follows a new and quite young detective assigned to Scotland Yard’s Murder Squad. As the novel begins one of the Murder Squad's detectives is found dismembered and stuffed in steamer trunk on the platform of one of London’s many train stations. The new detective, Walter Day, is assigned to solve the murder. Along the way he is assisted by Dr. Bernard Kingsley, a physician who is assumes the role of a modern pathologist. As the plot develops, Mr. Grecian writes in two other murder cases. The first is a red herring, Bearded men keep showing up with their throats slit. The detectives think it is related to the original murder, but it turns the killer is a completely different suspect. The second is a dead boy found a chimney flue. With this subplot, the author looks at Victorian attitudes toward child labor and the murder of people who really weren’t important in great scheme of society. A constable who is working with Dec Day finds the body and is basically told to drop it; we don’t have the time to pursue the case. He doesn’t and in the end solves the case.

As a procedural this is not a bad novel. It is quite graphic is spots. Especially when describing the postmortems performed by Dr. Kingsley and the activities of the main killer. Dr. Kingsley is in the forefront of applying scientific methods to crime solving, including finger printing. I also liked the way the author portrayed the relationships and tensions between the detectives on the Murder Squad.

All in all not a bad effort, but it could have been better – a 3 star read for me.

[BAM doesn’t answer to her real name · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book read more like a drama than a mystery or thriller. "Who-dun-it" is unveiled almost from the beginning on all crimes being investigated. Instead there is a steady progression of events that ties everything together.
Police officers are being stabbed to death and left in trunks, but it's the other crimes that are discovered during the cursory probe that really get the story going. Different perspectives are used to tell the tale. The author did a brilliant job of introducing the various personalities that will pop up in subsequent novels. Day and Hammersmith, it seems, may become an accomplished sleuthing duo.
I look forward to continuing the series.

2017 Reading Challenge: book recommended by bookseller

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great start to what I hope is a new series. Dr. Kingsley, the forensic expert, was an actual person who did indeed make great strides in this series. Loved the storyline: shortly after the Ripper killings, with a disgusted public having no confidence in their police, a group of 12 detectives are designated the murder squad, their appointed leader a man having very little police background. As a group these are some very interesting characters and I loved the dark atmosphere of this novel. Reminded me somewhat of Caleb Carr.

[Chris · Rating 1 out of 5]

If some Hollywood producer decided to create a new television cop series set in 1870s London, all he or she needs is this book and the whole first season's worth of scripts are taken care of. There is one major story line: the savage killing of a Scotland Yard inspector whose eyes and lips have been sewn shut and whose body has been stuffed into a too-small trunk. All of the Yard's resources will go toward hunting down the killer. There are several minor storylines, including someone slitting the throats of men with beards--but only after shaving them first. And the characters are right out of every successful police series from Adam 12 to NYPD Blue, just with handlebar mustaches and more formality. There is the perceptive chief of police who truly cares about his men. There's the new detective trying to make a name for himself so he can be worthy of his pretty higher-class wife, whom we get to see struggling to manage a Victorian household on a policeman's pay. There's one constable who's married to the job, willing to do whatever it takes to get his man, even if it means bending the rules. There's another who's a bit of a dandy, more concerned about his shirtcuffs than his handcuffs. And there's the forward-thinking coroner who is trying to drag forensic science into the late 19th century. He even carries coal dust around with him trying to find fingerprints because he's convinced they can help solve crime. And there's a fine assortment of criminals and crazies.

Unfortunately, this is not the script to a television series, it is a novel. And as such, it is overblown and underdone. The author can't decide what he's writing about. Is this book supposed to be a thriller or a look at the criminal justice system and the streets of London in the 1870s? A good writer would have been able to combine these into a compelling whole. Crichton did it wonderfully in The Great Train Robbery. Alex Grecian is no Michael Crichton. Intead the book feels more like Grecian tried to shovel in every piece of his research. And then he blows it all up by throwing in modern lines like "Of course the family would need closure." After a while my head began to spin.

The main story does lead to some suspense as the police play cat-and-mouse with the cop killer, but even that finally falls flat. In fact, the author spends a good part of the story foreshadowing what seems like it will be the obvious final confrontation with the killer, and then he seems to have forgotten he wrote it. Other plots pop up, hang in the air like they might be going somewhere, and then fizzle out. Others are just plain stupid and have no place in the story at all. I'm still not sure what the point of the poisoning story line was. Another plot hit its peak at the end of a chapter somewhere about three-quarters of the way through the book and then wasn't mentioned again until the very end of the book. I was sure I must have skipped a chapter, but no.

There are many good books about life in Victorian London. This isn't one of them. I also think it's highly doubtful anyone will want to make a TV series out of this. After all, what would the theme song sound like?

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
This has been my long-car-ride audiobook for a bit of time now, and on the drive to PHL to catch a flight, I finally finished it. It's got very mixed, almost polarizing reviews among my friends who've read it, and while I don't necessarily disagree with all of their points, I actually enjoyed this story quite a bit. Perhaps that was because I listened to this rather than reading the print, and I really liked the way that he read most of the characters. I will say that I liked the reader a lot more by the end of the book than I did at the beginning. At the beginning, I was somewhat distracted by the fact that he would take in an audible mini-gasp of air before speaking. EVERY. SINGLE. SENTENCE. But after a while, either he stopped doing that as he got into the flow of the story, or I stopped noticing. And at some point, it just happened that whenever I would get back into this, it would just sort of immerse me, and I liked that.

It was definitely a slow build, and some of the developments and investigation techniques were somewhat baffling, and at times it was dancing right on the edge of COME ON, GUYS, THE KILLER IS LITERALLY RIGHT THERE!! territory... but the plausibility of the ignorance was realistic to me, due to the time period this takes place in, as well as the attitudes of the time, so I accepted it and moved on.

There were quite a few characters that I really liked, and one that I liked and was sad to see not make it to the end, as I would have really liked to see how they grew and developed as a character. Without a doubt, my favorite character was Constable Hammersmith, and if I continue the story, it will be to see more of him. There was just something about him that spoke to me, and I loved his character, even though he behaved and reacted to things in pretty much every way I would not. But it suited him, and I can't fault the man for being himself.

Inspector Day and Doctor Kingsley were really close second-place finishers, and I liked the way that they were open to new ideas and willing to go the extra mile to do what is right. The 'discovery' of fingerprints and its uses in investigations is a key element of this story, and I thought that it was handled well, despite being somewhat aggravated by the rejection of scientific advances by some of the characters, and even Kingsley himself, when dismissing certain things as unimportant that a modern reader would know is very important. But, they were learning and scientific discovery was not there yet, so it is what it is.

This is a police procedural wherein the procedure is somewhat maddening to modern readers, but it was still compelling and interesting to me. I like the beginnings of things, and so of course I liked that it included the beginnings of forensics, as well as a bit (JUST a bit) of criminal profiling, though not at all correct, but at least the inkling of the idea of trying to understand killers is established, instead of just treating them as something EVIL that just can't be understood, and SHOULDN'T be understood.

I also liked that, despite being set in Victorian England, this book WASN'T a Jack The Ripper story. He absolutely IS mentioned, and his legacy and presence are all throughout the book in various ways... but it isn't his story. This is a multifaceted story about a newly formed detective force figuring out how to do their jobs in a changing London, with any number of crimes being perpetrated at all hours. What's related? What's important? What should be important? What's even illegal? Who knows. That's all of the stuff they have to figure out as they go.

There were two murder investigations going on at the same time, though that wasn't apparent to the investigators until pretty late in the game. (I don't think that this is a spoiler, because it's obvious to the reader from ridiculously early that they were different). The #1 killer, though, was the least interesting and most predictable character in the book, in my opinion. We get to see the killer's perspective and thoughts, and it was pretty obvious to me what their motivation was, though the reveal in the book clearly is supposed to be a shocking twist. It wasn't really well handled, and was pretty inconsistent. But, that's almost beside the point. The point is the investigation, not the motivation.

Anyway, I had a few issues with it, but overall I liked the book, and maybe if Audible has a sale on book 2, I'll pick it up. I've definitely read worse books this week! :P

[Eric · Rating 1 out of 5]

Things I like:

- Sherlock Holmes
- Victorian London
- Detective yarns
- Forensic criminology

From looking at the list above, you would probably think I'd like this book -- and I thought so too! But...

Things I don't like:

- Falling asleep every time I open a book.

...when I tried to read it, I found I was making only three pages of progress a go before falling asleep, book in hand -- which almost never happens to a night-owl like me. Hence, why I didn't even finish this disjointed, uninspired tale of Scotland Yard detectives. That'll teach me to buy a novel by an author I've never heard of, based on it having a cool dust jacket and interesting description. Sigh.

[Nicole Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed The Alienist and The Angel of Darkness and The Alienist by Caleb Carr, so I was really excited to read this, and it didn't disappoint. I don't think that I ever got bored with this book, there is always something going on. The characters were great, I almost felt like I knew them they were so well created and there are a few flash backs of the main characters to help show where they are coming from and why they react the way they do. Actually, everyone that is of importance, has their background filled in.



It is interesting how the author takes all of these little stories that banch out from the main plot to entertwine each other and lead back to the main plot again. Each character has their own tale that becomes involved in the whole.

The London portrayed in here is dark, dank and a dog eat dog world. It's not prettied up in anyway what so ever. More true to life and how I think it really was at that period. It was quite refreshing to read something that felt like it was based more on real life then just a story made up. It was like a whole lot of research went into this to give it such reality, which I can really appreciate. Don't get me wrong, I read pretty much only fiction so of course that's what I'm looking for most of the time. A little escape and adventure that I will probably never get to realize in real life. This though, almost feels like it could have happened just this way in reality. Which I think takes just as much work as giving me that truly sweet non-existant reality I do so love.


So enough all ready, I'm probably beating a dead horse. I loved this book! And would recommend it to anyone that likes reading novels that take place in the past.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This debut novel by Alex Grecian is exactly my cup of tea, Victorian England tea that is. "The Yard," of course, refers to Scotland Yard and takes place in the year 1889, with the Jack the Ripper murders still fresh in the minds of London inhabitants and those who failed to catch the monster, the monster who introduced a new sort of murder to the city, serial murder with unrelated victims subjected to a depravity beyond the normal murders of acquaintances and kin. As a result of the Ripper murders, a new squad has been formed at the Yard called the Murder Squad, a force of 12 detectives assigned the escalating murders of London. Inspector Detective Walter Day is new to the squad and has been assigned the murder of one of their own, a member of the elite Murder Squad. The advent of criminology as a scientific method of gathering evidence and solving crimes is introduced through the character of Dr. Bernard Kingsley, coroner and meticulous investigator himself. These two dedicated crime solvers, along with a brilliantly created cast of support characters, must see their way through the fog (yes, I did) of clues and distractions to find a killer who is becoming all too comfortable with murder. Grecian's writing is so strong in so many areas--characterization, plot, setting, dialogue--that the phrase "page turner" is an easy assignation. The novel is rich with historic detail and references that blend effortlessly into the story. I was delighted to learn that this book is the first in a series that will be providing readers with what we always want after reading an especially good book, which is more, more, more.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Historical Fiction Mystery. This was a solid three stars for me. I liked this because it didn't feel formulaic. There were a few different threads going on in this book and all of them kept me pulled in. I also really liked the MC. At times though, he felt like he was always a couple of steps behind, but yet he was very likable. I also liked his wife. The one thing that kept this from 4 is...well....this was a little too neat and tidy for my tastes. But other than that, it was a very solid 3 stars for this one.

[Jill H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't seem to get a handle on this author........I have read two other books in the series, one I liked, one I didn't. So I thought I would give him another try since I like books set in the early years of Scotland Yard. I wish I could explain exactly what it is that doesn't resonate with me but there is something about his style (or maybe it is the plots) that don't engender a great deal of interest. The detectives are rather odd, both in personality and habits....but not odd in an endearing manner but rather, somewhat irritating.

We have several murders going on here, including two members of the police. Are they connected?...well, maybe or then again, maybe not. The story just stumbles forward and we never really learn very much about what drives these killings. There is one character (I will call him the bald man) whose actions are never explained which leaves the reader guessing as to what his problem might be. I guess these books are just not for me since I want a little more cohesive plot than this series offers.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

When this book showed up as a recommendation in mystery, I was nearly caught up with the excellent Charles Lenox series and I was hoping to stumble across another well-written, well-researched Victorian series. I was very impressed with “The Yard,” the first book in the Scotland Yard Murder Squad mystery series. This setting is 1889 Victorian England, about one year after the gruesome Jack the Ripper murders. After the Metropolitan Police failed to catch Saucy Jack after his bloody rampage, Londoners have completely lost all faith in the competency of their police force. A Murder Squad was formed under the leadership of Commissioner Sir Edward Bradford and twelve men he selects for his team of detectives made up of inspectors, sergeants, and constables.

It’s up to key characters as Inspector Walter Day, Constable Nevil Hammersmith and their colleagues to restore the shredded reputation of Scotland Yard. Alex Grecian has created some incredible and relatable characters especially in Day, Hammersmith, Sir Edward, Dr. Bernard Kingsley and his daughter Fiona, nearly broken Henry Mayhew the Dancing Man and even the rapscallion Blackleg.

Alex Grecian paints a realistic portrait of Victorian London in all its dark, cruel, dirty grittiness. It was very painful to read the sad plight of children during this era, women plying their sex trade on the streets were portrayed in a compassionate light. Women and children were the most vulnerable, least visible, and most susceptible victims of terrible circumstances beyond their control.

This book was very well-researched, I found Mr. Grecian’s imagining of Jack the Ripper and why/how Jack stopped murderous rampage of the prostitutes working in Whitechapel. This novel was very engrossing and compiling novel that transported me back into Victorian Scotland Yard. I look forward to enjoying the next four books in the series.

[Ed Williams · Rating 1 out of 5]

It appears the author limited his research to skimming Ken Follet to work up a sense of righteous indignation about conditions for children in late Victorian London before quickly checking the dates of the Ripper murders and starting writing. The descriptions are wrong (brownstones belong in New York), the language and attitudes are anachronistic ('No worries' and policemen worrying about street children), the central premise is fatally flawed (the Ripper could hardly have been the first serial killer not to get caught, and in fact is merely one of hundreds from the period - why his activities have gone down to posterity is the subject of much learned debate since he was neither the most vicious, nor the most prolific - and his crimes did not cause a revolution in policing), and it just plain doesn't hang together. Since we are told the killer's identity early on, why continue to read? Each mystery is quickly solved by the superhuman intellect of the doctor while the policemen obsess about the cleanliness of their uniforms and cheap tea. It isn't a murder mystery (no mystery), it isn't an historical novel (no history), and it isn't even pulp fiction (not enough action). Why bother?

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars
Really enjoyable police/detective story set in Victorian London.
Very atmospheric and well-formed characters - I will definitely be following this series.

[Sid Nuncius · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't like writing wholly critical reviews but in truth I thoroughly disliked this book. It purports to be about the Victorian police force in London, but fails to convince in any way. My copy carries an endorsement from Jeffrey Deaver promising that it is "rich with detail, atmosphere and history." It isn't. The descriptions of London (such as they are) are feeble and generic, and the language - so vital in generating a sense of period - is ludicrously inappropriate. The dialogue in particular is absurd. This is supposed to be London in 1889 but within just the first few pages people use such phrases as "no worries", "I'm right on it", and "he's heading up the investigation." These weren't in use in London in 1989, never mind 1889 and phrases like "Where was the beat cop?" still aren't. Conversation is liberally sprinkled with "yeah", "sure" and the like. It's all as phoney as Dick van Dyke's cockney accent and it destroyed any possible atmosphere or authenticity, making the book almost unreadable for me.

I wasn't convinced by the characters, the plot, the language or the period setting. This is a run-of-the-mill psychotic serial killer story with many of the clichés of the genre well in evidence. It would have been unremarkable set in the USA in the present day; set in a paper-thin caricature of Victorian London it is plain silly.

Others have obviously enjoyed the book but I really, really didn't, and to me at least, an American author trying to pass this off to a British audience is simply insulting.

[Sue Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It was not only a great change from some of the stuff I've been reading, it was a good story - well paced with an interesting story line.

Basically it follows a murder investigation in the newly operational murder squad of the Scotland Yard. It's a tense time, the period just after Jack the Ripper, where murder was rampant and no murderer is brought to justice for the horrendous crimes that were committed. The city is tense and vulnerable and the police are in a similar state. But life goes on, as does murder. This investigation follows the individuals that come together at the start of the murder squad, how they have to approach their investigations differently and how those investigations bring discoveries that will ultimately give the Scotland Yard the praise has earned over time.

It's a great story. You follow 2 or 3 threads in the story that ultimately become linked, but are linked in ways that are unexpected and unusual. It really makes for some great tension. The characters are all great, well developed and you really hope by the end of it, that the stories will continue in the future.

High recommendations on this one! Hopefully there will be more to follow from Alex Grecian.

[Shelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is set in London, 1889 (a year after Jack the Ripper’s last incident). The characters include Scotland Yard detectives, a forensic science pioneer, a serial killer, two unhinged prostitutes, an abducted child, a dead child, Victorian womenfolk in all their helpless glory, and a few seedy chaps lurking of the fringes. The dialogue is weak, and the characters are pretty two-dimensional. Overcooked dramatic irony drips from the pages and the reader squirms with frustration when both the good guys and the bad guys repeatedly miss opportunities, overestimate their understanding the situation, botch breaks in the case, or simply stumble into perilous circumstances. Grecian’s London, at the end of the 19th century, is no place I would want to visit, but makes for a disturbing backdrop for murder and mayhem. I would put this book in the lurid, ludicrous, guilty pleasure category. A fun read, but not for anyone looking for great prose, meaningful insights, or inspiring characters.

[lucky little cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun Sherlock-Holmes-ish Victorian-London murder mystery, marred only by that nagging "haven't I read this before?" feeling. (I hadn't, actually.)