Investigating the murder scenes in Whitechapel, Holmes and Watson meet Mary Ann Monk, a casual friend of Mary Nichols, who agrees to spy on their behalf. However, when Annie Chapman is murdered in a similar manner, and Inspector Lestrade asks for help, Holmes is forced to notice the similarities between the two killings, and predicts that more will follow if the killer is not stopped. In 1888, Watson is horrified by the news of Mary Ann Nichols’s murder and mutilation, but Holmes dismisses it as an isolated incident. The account was confidential until then, but Watson feels its important that the true facts be known, since the deceased Sherlock Holmes, for once in his life, was wrong when he predicted that “the world has already forgotten. Watson decides to leave his manuscript account of the Ripper killings to his estate for publication after his death. In a foreword, writing in 1939, the elderly Dr. Dust and Shadow explores the terrifying prospect of tracking a serial killer without the advantage of modern forensics, and the result is a lightning-paced novel brimming with historical detail that will keep you on the edge of your seat.Dust and Shadow by Lyndsay Faye, 2009 Simon & Schuster hardcover, mystery novel, Sherlock Holmes pastiche, subtitled An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr.

Jack the Ripper’s identity, still hotly debated around the world more than a century after his crimes were committed, remains a mystery ripe for speculation. Stripped of his credibility, Holmes is left with no choice but to break every rule in the desperate race to find the madman known as “the Knife” before it is too late.Ī masterly re-creation of history’s most diabolical villain, Lyndsay Faye’s debut brings unparalleled authenticity to the atmosphere of Whitechapel and London in the fledgling days of tabloid journalism and recalls the ideals evinced by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most beloved and world-renowned characters.

When Holmes himself is wounded in Whitechapel during an attempt to catch the savage monster, the popular press launches an investigation of its own, questioning the great detective’s role in the very crimes he is so fervently struggling to prevent. He hires an “unfortunate” known as Mary Ann Monk, the friend of a fellow streetwalker who was one of the Ripper’s earliest victims and he relies heavily on the steadfast and devoted Dr. Watson offers a tale unearthed after generations of lore: the harrowing story of Sherlock Holmes’s attempt to hunt down Jack the Ripper.Īs England’s greatest specialist in criminal detection, Sherlock Holmes is unwavering in his quest to capture the killer responsible for terrifying London’s East End. From the gritty streets of nineteenth century London, the loyal and courageous Dr.

Dust and shadow by lyndsay faye