Mayhem
On sale
25th April 2013
Price: £8.99
From the Number One bestselling author of Behind Her Eyes. Delve into a gaslit London, where Jack the Ripper is making headlines, but another, much more dangerous, madman is on the loose.
When a rotting torso is discovered in the vault of New Scotland Yard, it doesn’t take Dr Thomas Bond, Police Surgeon, long to realise that there is a second killer at work in the city where, only a few days before, Jack the Ripper brutally murdered two women in one night.
This is the hand of a colder killer, one who lacks Jack’s emotion.
And, as more headless and limbless torsos find their way into the Thames, Dr Bond becomes obsessed with finding the killer. As his investigations lead him into an unholy alliance, he starts to wonder:
Is it a man who has brought mayhem to the streets of London, or a monster?
‘A compulsively readable story that starts as a conventional murder mystery and morphs, by degrees, into a horrifying supernatural thriller’ Guardian
When a rotting torso is discovered in the vault of New Scotland Yard, it doesn’t take Dr Thomas Bond, Police Surgeon, long to realise that there is a second killer at work in the city where, only a few days before, Jack the Ripper brutally murdered two women in one night.
This is the hand of a colder killer, one who lacks Jack’s emotion.
And, as more headless and limbless torsos find their way into the Thames, Dr Bond becomes obsessed with finding the killer. As his investigations lead him into an unholy alliance, he starts to wonder:
Is it a man who has brought mayhem to the streets of London, or a monster?
‘A compulsively readable story that starts as a conventional murder mystery and morphs, by degrees, into a horrifying supernatural thriller’ Guardian
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Reviews
A compulsively readable story that starts as a conventional murder mystery and morphs, by degrees, into a horrifying supernatural thriller
A taut historical crime/horror that grasps you from the first page and holds you inexorably. If you enjoy John Connolly's blend of the supernatural and crime, then don't miss this!
This is deliciously inventive stuff, delivered with the narrative nous and sense of atmosphere that lifts Mayhem above the raft of many similar novels
The supernatural element adds atmosphere in the way Conan Doyle used the spectral beast in The Hound of the Baskervilles. A novel, by the way, in whose company this excellent book belongs
A very well-crafted chiller ... Pinborough successfully manoeuvres her story away from well-worn territory for a highly entertaining blend of crime procedural and Gothic horror
A huge amount of horrible fun
The grim atmosphere of fear and spiritual malaise afflicting London is evoked well
A bloody cracking thriller that sucks you in and spits you back out!
A brilliant supernatural horror novel, served by a sense of delicacy and understatement. Her handling of the period is superb
When writing a murder mystery/thriller, there is a fine line that one has to tread. Fortunately, Mayhem treads that fine line well
In this chilling exploration of madness and evil, Pinborough excels at summoning up the bleak spirit of Victorian London's mean streets and those forced to fight for survival there
Fantastic without caveat . . . wholly absorbing Victorian horror with just enough of the ordinary about it to set the extraordinary off
With breathless pacing, sinister suspense, and plenty of shocking twists, this is a perfect read for historical fiction and true-crime fans
Bloody brilliant!
