Murder by Sarah Pinbourough, Mayhem #2 Dr. Thomas Bond, Police Surgeon, is still recovering from the event of the previous year when Jack the Ripper haunted the streets of London - and a more malign enemy hid in his shadow. Bond and the others who worked on the gruesome case are still stalked by its legacies, both psychological and tangible.
But now the bodies of children are being pulled from the Thames... and Bond is about to become inextricably linked with an uncanny, undying enemy.
One of the first titles that I received for reviewing last year from Jo Fletcher was Mayhem by Sarah Pinborough. Before this I had read a few detectives, most of them Sherlock Holmes, I find the detective books set in victorian London a real treat to read. But when I picked up Mayhem I was in for quite a surprise (meaning it in a very positive way!), the type of story that Sarah Pinborough managed to write was dark, darker than your average detective story. This along with the elegant and engaging writing really made this one true horror. At the back of Mayhem it was already mentioned that the second book was to be released in 2015! It has finally arrived and Sarah Pinborough again managed to on one part freak me out with her vision of dark horror but also keeping me glued to the pages dying to find out what would happen next!
In Mayhem, you were introduced to the protagonist of the story, Dr. Thomas Bond working as a surgeon for the London Police Department in the era of Jack the Ripper. Thomas worked the case of the Whitechapel murders, during his investigation Thomas stumbled upon a much grander and darker plot than he had dared to imagine. Being a man of science he tried to relate as much to facts as possible, but the thing that actually caused the murders, the parasite known as the Upir was something that Thomas had a hard to time to accept. I have to say that this supernatural theme, the Upir, was introduced seemlessly in the plot and really created a certain horrific sense surrounding the story. When the Upir hungers there is only one thing it can do... The ending of Mayhem was a done deal as Thomas solved the case... well if only...
Murder picks up a while after the events of Mayhem and shows Thomas steadily enjoying more and more of the returned peace on the London streets. But this peace and quite isn't of a long last as Thomas is soon confronted with another set of murder cases. The bodies of children are being pulled out of the river Thames. Besides the new murder, there is also a continuation with several characters to whom you were introduced to in Mayhem: James Harrington, Aaron Kosminski, the wife of James Harrington; Juliana who has caught the heart of our Thomas Bond. Thomas discovers that all the evidence that pointed to James Harrington might have been falsely processed and that he perhaps wasn't the Whitechapel Murder... As Thomas dives into a several leads, he uncovers much more than he wanted to have found, as he becomes a victim himself.
I really have to give a hand to Sarah Pinborough to the inventive story that she has produced in Murder, it again was utterly absorbing and riddled with a lot of twists and turns along the way keeping you glued to the pages. Though it is based on real world events, she cleverly gives it her own delicate twist, especially the return of the Upir was done in a superb way. I do think the flow and great pacing of the story are owed to how Sarah Pinborough used the layout of the book. To begin with her writing style, its clear and to the point, she doesn't drone on and on with words to describe something but also doesn't haste scenes to exclude details. It just spot on. Secondly was the type of narration that was used to tell the story of Murder, this switches from first person to third person narration. The first person narration is only used when the focus is on Thomas and the third person for the rest of the characters. I haven't encountered this very often but did really help to bolster the character of Thomas along the way, especially nearing the ending when he has something watching over his shoulder. His personal grievances and trying to woo Juliana only come over much stronger with his first person narration. And as a third, the newspaper clipping on the Thames baby murder really stand out and partly we for me a sort of interludes letting me recapture all that happened before but also helped creating that dreaded sense surround the story of Murder.
As I mentioned above, in Mayhem the main protagonist, Dr. Thomas Bond was introduced. He again makes the forefront of Murder. He is one of the most interesting detectives that I have read about. It is impossible not to relate to his character. He hasn't had an easy life and in Murder it all takes a turn for the worse again. There are a set of events that happen in Murder that made me say out loud "no way", I am not going to say what happens to Thomas but it sure was something that I hadn't dared to think about. By this plot twist I only got to feel more and more for Thomas' character. I think it comes down to this: he only wants to be left alone and deeply wishes that it all just never happened. For the secondary characters, Sarah Pinborough, also manages to capture them in the perfect manner. Even though the focus isn't neccesarily based on them and you only read about them when Thomas has an personal opinion of them in his parts or read about them in general, they were all nicely fleshed out. Some of them you got to learn about in Mayhem, but there are also a few new introductions. All in all the characterization was just spot on and when taken together with the dark idea of the story it comes together and forms one powerful story.
With Murder, Sarah Pinborough has really stepped up her game. I thoroughly enjoyed Mayhem, and had high hopes for Murder. Sarah Pinborough went above and beyond my expectations. If I look back on the first story it was great stuff but looking over the whole duology and the twist in the plot of Murder surrounding Thomas was just perfect. The follow-up of this twist spun another few layers of darkness over her story. The Mayhem series (Mayhem and Murder) is a must read for everyone who likes to read something very, very good in the genre. It's a non-stop, quite disturbing ride through one of London's darkest parts of history, with an amazing cast and brilliant storyteller! I will be keeping an eye out to what Sarah Pinborough will write next, and so should you, this is the stuff that will keep you up at night, sleeping with a light on.
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