Review Praise for The Black Country“Ripe with gory details…[Grecian] has a flair.” —The New York Times Book Review “Similar to Jean Zimmerman’s atmospheric psychological novel The Orphanmaster, and as shocking as David Morrell’s Murder as a Fine Art.” —Booklist (starred review)“Devilishly dark…It isn’t often that a mystery-thriller enthralls so completely…but as usual with Mr. Grecian, there is more to this tale than complex plotting…A displaced eye, a crumpled note, cryptic limericks and lost ribbons: like our detective heroes, we follow these trails into the white-blinding snow to its brilliant and unexpected conclusion. Whether you read the tale in the dark night of winter or the haze of a summer sun, be prepared for the chill. The days are dark in Black Country.”—The Huffington Post“Grecian creates an eerie atmosphere from start to finish, and without giving anything away, the killer here is creepy and unexpected.”—Bookreporter.com“Startling and spooky . . . [a] bold melding of horror with historical elements.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)“[Grecian] presents with fine precision the gray and gritty atmosphere of late-Victorian England.”—Kirkus Reviews Praise for The Yard “Grecian has a talent for capturing gory details…extremely vivid (and strangely moving)…[Grecian] does outstanding descriptive work on the mad and the maimed, the diseased and the demented…If Charles Dickens isn’t somewhere clapping his hands for this one, Wilkie Collins surely is.”—The New York Times Book Review“[A] mix of historical facts and vivid fictional creations. It’s great fun…Grecian’s debut is the promising start of a new series and should be one of the most acclaimed and popular mysteries of the year.”—The Huffington Post“Exuberantly grisly.”—The Guardian (U.K.)“Grecian powerfully evokes both the physical, smog-ridden atmosphere of London in 1889 and its emotional analogs of anxiety and depression. His infusion of actual history adds to this thriller’s credibility and punch. A deeply satisfying reconstruction of post-Ripper London.”—Booklist “A brilliantly crafted debut novel with unforgettable characters. An utterly gripping tale perfectly evokes Victorian London and brings you right back to the depraved and traumatic days of Jack the Ripper.”—Lisa Lutz, author of The Spellman Files “Lusciously rich with detail, atmosphere, and history, and yet as fast paced as a locomotive, The Yard will keep you riveted from page one. It’s truly a one- or two-sitting read.”—Jeffery Deaver, New York Times bestselling author“Grecian successfully recreates the dark atmosphere of late Victorian London.”—Kirkus Reviews “A winner, filled with Victorian arcana and eccentric characters and more humor than one expects from such a work.”—The Rap Sheet “This excellent murder mystery debut introduces a fascinating cast of characters. Grecian displays a flair for language as well as creating vivid (and occasionally gruesome) depictions of places and events.”—Library Journal “All the gruesome sights, sounds, and smells of a depraved Victorian London are vividly depicted…not for the squeamish. a gripping police procedural mystery and cracking good read. Recommended.”—Historical Novel Society Read more About the Author Alex Grecian is the author of the The Yard, his debut novel of Scotland Yard’s Murder Squad, and the long-running and critically acclaimed graphic novel series Proof. He lives in the Midwest with his wife and son.. Read more
J**F
Bit of a misstep in a strong series
In his debut novel The Yard, the author introduced us to Scotland Yard's Murder Squad. The novel was well received as it ought to have been. It had a great sense of history and place in Victorian London, it had engaging characters at every level of the Yard, it had a great plot, and it spent a lot of plot on the introduction of modern crime detection techniques into a police force just starting to become modern. Those elements, and strong writing made the book a favorite.So why did the author chuck most of those assets out the door in the second book?Beats me. It's still a decent read, but removing most of the characters from the first book and putting the body of the book into the rural Midlands did nothing to help it. As a result, even though we learned more about our two protagonists, this book is a bit of a plod, whereas the first went by quickly.If you're a strong fan of the series, by all means read it. If not, you can skip striaght to The Devil's Workshop, the third book in the series, where the mistakes of the second book are remedied in full.
M**A
Mystery set in the coal mining region of the Scottish Highlands
The Black Country by Alex Grecian is a period piece taking place in the 1890's of Victorian England. In reading the book I felt that it could have been written in most any coal town anywhere in the world up to the present day. The reason for the setting is that it's a continuation of Grecian's first book, The Yard, which follows the adventures of Scotland Yard's Murder Squad partners Inspector Day and Sergeant Hammersmith.In this second novel of the series the detectives go to the coal mining region of the Scottish Highlands at the request of the local Constable to investigate the report of three missing persons. The three are a mother, father and youngest son from one family. There are still three children left at home and the relationships of this household is rather complex with first wives, second wives, nanny's, and sibling rivalry. I found quite a few missing plot lines as during the two days of inquiry several others seem to go AWOL without a lot of concern from the town's folks or the Murder Squad.The characters are the best part of this book with the town and it's warren of tunnels running beneath the surface acting as a character in its own right. We have the Inn keeper who may have attempted poisoning the detectives; his daughter who finds an eyeball a in tree; the pastor who is helping but also keeping secrets; the remaining three children of the missing couple who are acting shifty; a giant birdwatcher who shows up in the town when the three go missing and has mysteries of his own that cross both sides of the Atlantic.With all of this going on, and just to make matters worse, Sergeant Hammersmith incurs the "Curse of the Owl" which the suspicious townsfolk tell him promises his demise before sundown the following day. Wrap this all in a giant snowstorm and you'll be turning pages far into the night.I do think that it would do the reader best to start with Grecian's first book as an introduction to the ways of the Murder Squad, Day and Hammersmith. All in all this is quite a good book.
A**R
Great author. Make sure you read the book 1
Great Author. I picked up his first book for a trip and thoroughly enjoyed it. So much so that I was upset that he is a fairly new author to writing crime novels. I think his writing style balances humor, danger, graphic crime and emotions very well. I like crime but not graphic gory details. I thought this book, like his first, really gave graphic descriptions without giving me nightmares(sometimes happens). I quickly became invested in not only the story but in the characters themselves. The writing follows not just the crime story but of characters' lives as well. I think that if I had read this 2nd book first I still would have liked it, but the first book was in London and was so wonderful and the characters progressed in the writing soon after the first book so I was able to pull on the first novel for backstory. This second book takes place outside of London soon after the Jack the Ripper murders in a small mining town. The protagonist Inspector Day shows off his ability to think and read people to figure out the answers in the end. I was a little less invested with another side-ish backstory that was told throughout the book. I found it a little distracting but still enjoyed this second book and got the next book as soon as it was available.
D**N
"Curiosity had killed the cat, but the cat had clearly been a detective."
After reading Alex Grecian's debut novel, The Yard, I was anxious for more. In _The Black Country_, he doesn't disappoint. Police Inspector Day and Sgt. Hammersmith, invited by the local constabulary, are called to the midlands on a missing persons investigation. The initial search reveals mujch more than the locals want made public, the village of Blackhampton being in crisis: a mysterious plague striking its inhabitants, superstitions of a monster lurking in abandoned coal shafts, a grey-eyed stalker who is missing half his face watching the investigation unfold from a distance.The pace of the book is brisk, the entire story taking place over only two days in March, 1890. WIth close attention, readers should be able to solve the missing persons case 3/4 through, the remainder of the book focused on the remaining (and related) mysteries. Resolving these ancillary stories, piecing together how they are connected and serving justice to the wrong-doers kept me riveted._The Black Country_ is dark - the concluding chapters read almost like a Shakespearean tragedy (or a scene from A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1) for more contemporary reading) such was the bloodshed - but it fit the overall sense of the story. I had hoped for more attention devoted to developing Day and Hammesmith rather than focusing almost exclusively on the case and their backstories, but I very much enjoyed the book and I will look for more from Grecian in the future.
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