Bloody London

It is 1888 and Sherlock Holmes is asked to investigate a series of brutal, unexplained murders in London's East End. Assisted by an unscrupulous journalist and the mysterious 'Squibby', Holmes and Watson search for a solution to the question all of England is asking: 'Who is Jack the Ripper?'

Painstakingly researched by a respected authority on Jack the Ripper, R.G Morgan's Bloody London recreates the sinsister streets of late-Victorian London to breathtaking effect.

'Of the many and varied attempts at placing the ubiquitious Sherlock Holmes on the trail of the eponymous Jack the Ripper, none seem to have combined such a rigorous knowledge of the legendary murders with so delightful an ear for the original prose of Arthur Conan Doyle. The novel is not only a homage to history's greatest murder mystery, but also a genuine 'who dunnit' in its own right. The reader is left in suspence almost to the last page as Sherlock Holmes does battle with his greatest nemesis. Top stuff' - Dan Hartwell, Ripper Notes.

Excerpt:

During my time in Afghanistan, I was witness to many appalling wounds and observed the extent to which a human may cause injury to another. I have also assisted in numerous operations and post mortems. But I confess that, despite Lestrade’s warning, I was quite unprepared for the sight which met my eyes. Before me lay the body of a woman, perhaps in her late thirties, with greying hair and delicate features. I am sure she must have once been pretty, before the corrosive life that had led her to her death had dulled any vestige of beauty. Yet my eyes were drawn in the first instance to her throat, which had been fearfully slashed in two distinct cuts from ear to ear. The poor woman had also been subject to a horrible attack upon her abdomen, performed with a ferocity I could scarcely have imagined.
‘What can you tell us, Watson?’ asked Holmes, his features quite ashen as he surveyed the horrific spectacle.
‘The throat has been savagely cut back to the vertebrae. I’m not sure I have seen anything quite like it. The abdomen has been mutilated from just below the breastbone to its lower part, laying open a portion of the belly. It is appalling, Holmes.’
‘Indeed it is, Watson,’ said Holmes. ‘Lestrade, I must warn you that in the compass of my experience, I have never encountered a case that presented so much by way of intrigue while offering so little in the prospect of clues. I fear we will find that these events may herald a chapter in the history of crime which will remain quite its own.’
‘You are certain that these two murders are linked?’
‘Watson asked me that very question before we arrived at the scene. I have seen nothing there nor before me now which dissuades me that my response to him was incorrect. I am quite certain that they are.’
‘That was our initial thought,’ said Lestrade. ‘I had hoped you would find something which would lead you to another conclusion.’
‘If I am correct, then you at least have only one murderer to find rather than two.’
‘But what’s his game, Holmes?’ asked Lestrade.
‘That is the most worrying aspect of it all,’ said Holmes, his voice drawing almost to a whisper. ‘I haven’t yet the least notion.’