The Devil’s Workshop: A Novel of Scotland Yard’s Murder Squad

Heavy-handed telegraphing of plot turns and contrived drama mar Grecian’s third Victorian thriller featuring Insp. Walter Day (after 2013’s The Black Country). When a deliberate train derailment outside a London prison destroys the prison’s wall, a few convicts (the number is uncertain) escape through the breach. Among them are some vicious murderers, including Geoffrey Cinderhouse, the first killer Day captured as a member of Scotland Yard’s Murder Squad. Day is worried because Cinderhouse, who visited Day’s wife, Claire, shortly before his apprehension, knows where Day lives and could pose a threat to the now pregnant Claire. Several retired inspectors, including Day’s mentor, Adrian March, join the manhunt, whose challenges are amplified by the reappearance of Jack the Ripper a year or so after the Whitechapel slayings. Readers who find the storyline a frustrating tease will hope that Grecian returns to form in the next installment. [em]Agent: Seth Fishman, Gernert Company. (May) [/em]