Mayhem

 

Mayhem by Sarah Pinborough.

Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Jo Fletcher Books (January 6, 2015)
ISBN-10: 1623658764

(Book 3 for RIP)

Amazon Review

"A compulsively readable story that starts as a conventional murder mystery and morphs, by degrees, into a horrifying supernatural thriller," The Guardian said of Mayhem.
A virtuoso fantasy writer, Sarah Pinborough has won numerous awards including the British Fantasy Award for Best Short Story. In Mayhem Pinborough turns her attention to one of the most baffling and notorious crime sprees in Victorian times.
Already frustrated in their attempts to capture serial murderer Jack the Ripper, the detectives of Scotland Yard are suddenly confronted with a new monster, dubbed the Torso Killer for his habit of leaving behind neatly wrapped parcels of his victims' body parts, minus the heads. With the terrible increase in mutilated corpses to examine, the highly regarded police surgeon Dr. Thomas Bond has lost the ability to sleep. True, a growing dependency on opium affords him some solace in his loneliest and most desperate hours, but he also fears the grip of the drug.
During Dr. Bond's nightly tours of London's underbelly in search of pharmaceutical respite from the horrors that plague him by day, he encounters a mysterious Jesuit priest scouring the opium dens himself, clearly in search of someone--or something. The doctor at first rejects the strange priest's unnatural theories about the Torso Killer as an affront to scientific thought. But over time Dr. Bond's opium-addled mind begins to crumble under the growing impression that there might be some awful truth to the Jesuit's ideas.
As the police struggle to capture two serial killers, the troubled forensics expert begins to suspect that he may actually know the Torso Killer personally. If he is right, Dr. Bond will need all the strength he can muster to save his small circle of loved ones from falling victim to the bloody depravities of this twisted creature.

Poor England back in the 1800's, just how many mass murderers can London have?!!!

Of course I liked this book.  The time period and being in England, and I've read a number of books over the years about Jack the Ripper .. and having recently come from reading The Alienist, this followed right along with the "descriptions" of the murder victims. So if you have a weak stomach you might want to skip this one. I am not one to enjoy much "supernatural"  but it was written well so I really did enjoy the book!

Anyone who knows me knows that I really don't write a "review" since I do generally buy my books by the Amazon review, I figure many others would.  All I can add to it, without giving more away, is that if you like period piece mysteries/ murders and such then this book should go on your list.