The Harvest Man

March 9, 2015
In 2014’s The Devil’s Workshop, Jack the Ripper targeted Insp. Walter Day and his loved ones, having escaped the clutches of the Karstphanomen, a group of vigilantes who had captured and tortured the Ripper and whose ranks included Adrian March, a retired inspector who was once Day’s mentor. Now, in Grecian’s formulaic fourth late-Victorian crime novel, Day must contend with not only the Ripper but also the Harvest Man, a sadist who lurks in his victims’ attics before overpowering couples and slicing their faces to ribbons as part of his twisted search for his parents. The loyal Nevil Hammersmith, who has left the London police force after yet another close brush with death, assists Day. Hammersmith’s passion for bringing killers to book is one of the high points in an installment that suffers from underdeveloped characters and routine plotting. This isn’t close to the series’s best, 2013’s The Black Country. Agent: Seth Fishman, Gernert Company.

March 15, 2015
The fourth in a series of historical thrillers about the squad of detectives formed to rid London of Jack the Ripper. Detective Walter Day is still recovering from injuries inflicted on him by Saucy Jack-Jack the Ripper-in the previous book, The Devil's Workshop (2014). His wife has given birth to twin girls and his in-laws have moved in to help with the household. Day's home is used as a staging ground for the novel, as one by one the characters we've met previously in the series appear to check on Walter or help with the babies. On the streets of London, the Harvest Man is now the scourge of Scotland Yard's Murder Squad; Jack the Ripper is either dead or has gone quiet. The Harvest Man is a thoroughly disturbing character who subdues his victims, always husband and wife, with ether and removes the skin from their faces in order to find his own lost parents beneath the "masks" they wear. This seemingly macabre premise feels a step removed, the horror never really taking hold. The Harvest Man only provides background noise to the real villain lurking somewhere in the shadows of these pages. Yet when Jack reappears, stalking Detective Day and targeting his family in order to draw Day into the twisted game he plays, Jack too seems diluted, toned down. He remains mysterious, a supreme manipulator, a murderer who stalks not in bloodlust but as an intellectual exercise, but feels here like filler-a way to bridge the previous books in the series to the next one. Grecian has the chops to create a novel that engages and disturbs and has proved it before. Not here.

Starred review from April 1, 2015
Fourth in the Walter Day historical-thriller series, this is perhaps Scotland Yard Inspector Day and Sergeant Nevill Hammersmith's most frightening and twisted case yet. Grecian brings his graphic and dramatic skills to bear in a harrowing psychological drama involving Jack the Ripper and perhaps more than one copycat killer, narrated with a visual accuracy that is the stuff of nightmares. Barely recovered from their last scrape with death, deskbound Day and recently dismissed Hammersmith insert themselves into police investigations with little resistance from London's overworked Murder Squad. The Harvest Man is invading homes and slowly killing couples by carving their faces off with a knife; three shroud-wrapped corpses rot in a basement, and two orphaned boys need a safe hiding place. To make matters worse, Day's in-laws are in town to help with the twins while his wife, Claire, battles her own fears and her parents' interference. Day suspects a connection between the Harvest Man and Saucy Jack and dreads the personal attack he knows is coming. When it comes, however, readers will be as surprised and shocked by what happens as Day is. Grecian is veering into Red Dragon (Harris) and The Cabinet of Curiosities (Preston and Child) territory with this one. Prepare yourself for a compelling mix of psychological thriller and historical mystery.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

December 1, 2014

In The Devil's Workshop, the most recent title in the foggy London series that opened with the Barry-nominated The Yard, Jack the Ripper most regrettably resurfaced. Here, Sgt. Nevil Hammersmith is still tracking him down, never mind that he's lost his position at Scotland Yard, while Inspector Walter Day is after a new killer called the Harvest Man who goes after whole families.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2015

Intrepid detectives Walter Day and Nevil Hammersmith return in Grecian's fourth historical thriller featuring Scotland Yard's Murder Squad. Hammersmith has been let go from the Yard, following the events in The Devil's Workshop. However, he's not letting unemployment or his injuries keep him from investigating suspicious deaths, which is a good thing, because a serial killer nicknamed "The Harvest Man" is still on the loose and is targeting young couples. Plus, "Saucy Jack," aka the Ripper, continues to have an unhealthy interest in Day and his young family. Grecian is skilled at creating menacing villains and sympathetic secondary characters. The nonstop action would make for a strong BBC America series (think Coppers or Ripper Street). VERDICT Best for mystery fans who appreciate heroes in peril, gory autopsy details, and Victorian London. [See Prepub Alert, 11/24/14.]--Laurel Bliss, San Diego State Univ. Lib., CA

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.