After being fired from the Metropolitan Police, Sergeant
Nevil Hammersmith opened his own detective agency. The de
facto owner, and so far only client, is Claire Day, Inspector
Walter Day's wife. Walter has been missing for a year, and
Nevil is obsessed with finding his former colleague and
friend. What Nevil lacks in skills, he makes up for in
determination; he will find Walter if it kills him. Jack the
Ripper seems to have vanished, and London breathes more
easily, but Jack has merely been keeping a low profile: a
little murder here and there, nothing too conspicuous; old
habits die hard. Jack has now a different agenda. This is
what Walter deduces one morning, when the door to the cell
where Jack has been keeping him is unlocked. Walter knows
it's a trap, but he'll take his chances...
Nevil employs two young women: Eugenia Merrilow and Hatty
Pitt, the latter knows she can do a detective's job, and when
a gentleman asks that they find his missing brother, Nevil
concedes that Hatty can take care of it, and Nevil will
concentrate on finding Walter. And this is one of the very
many highlights of this amazing book: LOST AND GONE FOREVER
features some exceptionally strong female characters, and
Hatty is simply fabulous. I love this series, and Mr.
Grecian's Victorian London has never felt so real, down to
the claustrophobic fog in late spring, the advances in
forensics and crime detection, the glittering new department
stores and modern conveniences. But most notable is the
unsettling, chilling atmosphere that surrounds Walter's
ordeal, and of course Jack. It feels entirely realistic and
it is totally surreal, as we are thrown head first into the
madness of the bone-chilling Jack, who is as mesmerizing as
ever and even more frightening. The secondary characters are
smashing, particularly Mr. and Mrs. Parker.
Alex Grecian's attention to detail is stunning, especially
when it comes to Plumm's Emporium, and what takes place
there, and the care he takes with the most mundane
observations make them fascinating. LOST AND GONE FOREVER is
an extremely intense book, and the comic relief provided by
hard-of-hearing Ms. Goodpenny is very much welcome. Mr.
Grecian's prose is efficient, eloquent and so very elegant,
and he never strays from appropriate usage. It's hard to
believe that a series based around Jack the Ripper has grown
to five books, and seems to be getting stronger all the time.
LOST AND GONE FOREVER is an extremely complex thriller, some
major characters die, and this reader couldn't be happier
that Alex Grecian is far from done!
Many changes have happened to the Murder Squad. Rash actions have cost Sergeant Nevil Hammersmith his job, and in response he has set up his own private detective agency. Inspector Walter Day has been missing for a year, and no one knows where he is—though there is a strong suspicion that Saucy Jack has him. Hammersmith has made finding Day his primary case, and he has company—a pair of bounty hunters, a man and a woman. It is only gradually that he has come to realize that they are not what they seem . . .
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