Robin Hood Yard

Snow Hill #3

by Mark Sanderson

November, 1938. Europe is teetering on the edge of war…Anti-Semitism is on the rise in Britain, and a serial killer is at work in London.

Johnny Steadman, investigative journalist, is called to the scene of a gruesome murder – a man has been tied to his bed, mutilated and left to bleed to death. This is the second time the killer has struck, and it won’t be the last. Together with DC Matt Turner, Johnny tries desperately to find a link between the victims.

When the next Mayor of London is subjected to a vicious Anti-Semitic attack, Johnny begins to wonder if the two cases are connected. Against a backdrop of escalating violence in Nazi Germany, he uncovers a shocking conspiracy that could bring the United Kingdom to its knees. But will Johnny live to tell the tale?

288 pages, Paperback

First published April 9, 2015

Reviews

[Cerisaye · Rating 3 out of 5]

The good and not-so-good things I found in the previous two books in this series also apply to the third. I don't have much more to say. Although the novels can be read as stand-alones I recommend reading them in order because their best feature is the characterisation of journalist Johnny Steadman and his relationship with BFF police man, Matt Turner. Secondary characters are not so well fleshed out , particularly female ones. The setting might be London in 1938 but themes of antisemitism, right-wing extremism, homophobia, police corruption and financial skulduggery are relevant to current events. Beware of graphic content that might be too much for some readers.

[Ches Torrants · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not having read the previous two novels involving the same protagonist, I had difficulty with the rapid appearance of so many new characters. The narrative mentioned past events: people harmed and compromising photographs used as a threat. Another problem was the dialogue, sometimes many lines without speech tags, leaving me to wonder who had spoken and to ponder the meaning behind the terse words. Even so, a journalist with a friend in the police, working in 1938, makes a very good basis for a thriller. And there is plenty of action.

[Alan Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book (and the series) has the basis of a good historical thriller, there is just something missing where it fails to follow through on the promise.

In Robin Hood Yard it felt as though the author had tried to be too clever with the plot, to the point where I actually started to lose interest and just wanted to get to the end of the story.

There was so much potential to bring out depth in the characters and get the reader invested, but again I was left frustrated that this never really materialised. It only scratches the surface, particularly when it comes to the three main characters of Johnny, Matt and Lizzie. This book could have been so much more.

One of my biggest issues with this series is that it never feels as though the the books were thought through from beginning to end, so they are patchy and disconnected. For example, the character that turns out to be the main villain in the final book was a pathetic characature in the first book who you could never really believe would evolve into the criminal mastermind.

The book was OK, but can't see myself rushing to recommend it to anyone.

[Tom Lindsay · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book cannot be read as a stand-alone. There are too many interplays between characters which make little sense unless a prior novel in the series has been read. That there are two interwoven stories seems a reasonable premise, but the one story is let down by having no substance - just a rather contrived issue - and the other makes little sense. There are too many unexplained situations and lost plot lines for the book to be wholly enjoyable.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robin Hood Yard – Wonderful Evocation of 30’s London

Robin Hood Yard is the third in the novel in which author Mark Sanderson uses the investigative journalist John Steadman and Detective Constable Matt Turner in the evocative 1930s square mile in the City of London. This is the City of London before concrete and glass took over, this is the City in which people still lived and made things to sell, amongst the financial sector workers, in the dark backstreets and alley ways, Pubs and buildings that are no longer there as well as some that are still around today.

Investigative Johnny Steadman is the best crime reporter on the Daily News, and he does do well out of his friend (who he has been friends with since his school days) and a detective, Matt Turner. He is allowed to witness the corpse of a murder victim who has had his gentleman’s appendage removed possibly as some sort of trophy. When a second victim suffers the same fate both Johnny and Matt try to work out what the connection is to both victims as they look completely unconnected except that they live in lodgings in the City of London’s square mile.

Leo Adler is about to become the next Lord Mayor of London and with the war clouds gathering over Europe and rumours of how the Jews are being treated in Germany, a Jewish banker is set to take over at the Mansion House. In the weeks before anti-Semite attacks on Bevis Marks Synagogue as well as on Adler himself, who also is sent various items to cause distress. What Steadman discovers could bring not only Britain to her knees but quite a few City types while putting him in danger.

While Steadman runs his two investigations, Turner investigating the murders there is another story of blackmail taking place that causes intrigue which enables you to question the integrity of one or more institutions. Ye Old Mitre, an establishment even I have frequented, is mentioned quite a few times as are a few places that were either destroyed during the war or worse by city planners.

What all this adds up to is a fast paced thriller in which we get everything a reader could want, dead bodies, conspiracy theories all played out in the shadow of war. The language used is evocative of a lost age and the imagery that it gives off is the dark seedier side of London and the City, this is the London before the planners really got their hands on it. This book may only be two hundred odd pages long but it certainly packs a punch that is an entertaining read, one that I cannot recommend highly enough.

[Phil Brett · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable read, with a serial killer, political machinations and police corruption in 1938 London. Having connections with Islington, it was especially pleasing for me to see it get regularly name-checked. Though one detail, the ABC Cinema was on Essex Road, not the High Street. Other minor quibbles include whether working class Londoners in the thirties would be drinking Perrier, using the word soccer, or indeed having such enlightened liberal opinions. That said, when other people bring such nit-picking up, it does provoke my eyes rolling and muttering, "It's a thriller, not a history book". And it was a page turner with thrills and spills (of much blood), and I did like the cop/journo combination a lot. Worth checking out.

[Carmela Biscuit · Rating 2 out of 5]

The most boring of the trilogy. Half way through I had almost decided to drop it, but soldiered on to the end, feeling totally indifferent to the plot development.

[carelessdestiny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This thriller has interesting characters and a convincing sense of period. I found the plot amazingly complicated. I almost felt I had to take notes to keep track of the goings on.