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"An exciting historical mystery"

In 1852 London, Falcon reporter Edmund Whitty dubs William Ryan, the prostitute killer, "Chokee Bill". Most of the fallen females are pleased to learn the police caught Chokee Bill because it makes it safe to offer their bodies to the West End wealthy aristocrats.

Needing money as usual, Whitty accepts a deal to partner with crime storywriter and seller Henry Owler who, on his own, failed to gain an interview with Chokee Bill. Edmund meets Ryan and soon wonders if the police arrested the wrong man. If he is right, Edmund realizes that the real murderer might be observing him, Owler, and his new partner's daughter especially as the journalist tours London in search of clues. If true, this diabolical serial killer will never allow anyone to point the finger.

Though quite similar to other serial killer tales especially those involving the Ripper, readers will enjoy this terse Victorian investigative novel. The story line provides insight into the era and includes a taste of London and a deep look at the social classes and a myopic justice system. With their flaws, obvious intelligence and moral consciences, Whitty and Owler are fine lead sleuths. They are reminiscent of Holmes and Watson so that readers of nineteenth century mysteries will appreciate this solid novel.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted August 25, 2003

It's 1852, and the ranks of the London poor have doubled. In the swollen shadow of the great St. Giles Rookery, fallen women attract the perfumed dandies of the West End into a vicious circle of venality, vanity, and vice. Edmund Whitty, correspondent for The Falcon, the city's second-best sensational tabloid, writes whatever will stimulate the reader, delay his (increasingly physical) creditors, and supply him with the alcohol and opiates required to see him through the day. His most recent triumph was to supply a name for the fiend in human form who has murdered an uncertain number of prostitutes with a white silk scarf: Chokee Bill. Chokee Bill incited a garroting panic that paralyzed the business of London---until the arrest of one William Ryan. Normality has returned. The hangman, Mr. Calcraft, as dusty and dreary as death itself, awaits. Broke again and in search of crisp copy, Whitty makes a shocking but not altogether surprising discovery: the white-scarf slayings have continued. When he endeavors to find the real Chokee Bill, he is greeted with emphatic hostility on all sides. This thrilling Dickensian tale offers galvanizing suspense and an evocative and witty vision of life in Victorian London.