David Gemmell Legend Award 2013 long lists

David Gemmell Legend Award is preparing for its 5^th edition and the voting process on the long lists has already started. As usual, the three categories are the Legend Award for Best Fantasy Novel, the Morningstar Award for Best Fantasy Newcomer and the Ravenheart Award for Best Fantasy Cover Art.

The Legend Award is the highlight of the nights events at our Award Ceremony where the winner of the book voted best release of the year is presented with a unique, scale model of Snaga (the legendary axe of Druss the Legend) from Raven Armoury. The blades of the axe are laser-etched with the winner's name & novel.

Readers vote for their favourite novel from the longlist nominated by publishers and the results of the first round of voting will be revealed this year at new event, Nine Worlds Geek Fest.

The Shortlist will then be open for voting until the end of September and the winner will be hailed the new champion of fantasy at our ceremony this year appearing at World Fantasy Con.

“Red Country” by Joe Abercrombie (Gollancz)

“The King's Blood” by Daniel Abraham (Orbit)

“Throne of the Crescent Moon” by Saladin Ahmed (Gollancz & DAW)

“Luck of the Draw” by Piers Anthony  (Tor)

“Range of Ghosts” by Elizabeth Bear (Tor)
“Queen's Hunt” by Beth Bernobich (Tor)

“Bard's Oath” by Joanne Bertin (Tor)

“Orion and King Arthur” by Ben Bova (Tor)

“Wards of Faerie” by Terry Brooks (Orbit)

“The Red Knight” by Miles Cameron (Gollancz)

“The Traitor Queen” by Trudi Canavan (Orbit)

“The Devil's Looking Glass” by Mark Chadbourn (Bantam Press)

“Trinity Rising” by Elspeth Cooper (Gollancz)
“Besieged” by Rowena Cory Daniells (Solaris)
“Exile” by Rowena Cory Daniells (Solaris)
“Sanctuary” by Rowena Cory Daniells (Solaris)

“Empire of the Saviours” by A.J. Dalton (Gollancz)

“The Black Mausoleum” by Stephen Deas (Gollancz)

“Forge of Darkness” by Steven Erikson (Bantam Press & Tor)
“Orb, Sceptre, Throne” by Ian C. Esslemont (Bantam Press & Tor)

“Dark Divide” by Jennifer Fallon (Harper Collins Australia)

“Seven Princes” by Jon R. Fultz (Orbit)

“Three Parts Dead” by Max Gladstone (Tor)

“Malice” by John Gwynne (Pan Macmillan UK)

“Mage's Blood” by David Hair (Jo Fletcher Books)

“Irenicon” by Aidan Harte (Jo Fletcher Books)

“The Fate of the Dwarves” by Markus Heitz (Orbit)

“The Silvered” by Tanya Huff (DAW)

“Black Bottle” by Anthony Huso (Tor)
“Kings of Morning” by Paul Kearney (Solaris)

“Stormdancer” by Jay Kristoff (Pan Macmillan UK)

“Lord of Slaughter” by M.D. Lachlan (Gollancz)

“Crown of Vengeance” by Mercedes Lackey & James Mallory (Tor)

“Bridge of Swords” by Duncan Lay (Harper Collins Australia)

“The Dusk Watchman” by Tom Lloyd (Gollancz)

“The Gathering of the Lost” by Helen Lowe (Orbit)
“Darkening Skies” by Juliet McKenna (Solaris)
“Defiant Peaks” by Juliet McKenna (Solaris)

“Scrivener’s Tale” by Fiona McIntosh (Harper Collins Australia)
“Greatshadow” by James Maxey (Solaris)

“Hush” by James Maxey (Solaris)

“Princeps” by L.E. Modesitt Jr. (Tor)

“Shadow Blizzard” by Alexey Pehov (Tor)

“Touchstone” by Melanie Rawn (Tor)
“Babylon Steel” by Gaie Sebold (Solaris)

“Winter Be My Shield” by Jo Spurrier (Harper Collins Australia)

“The Blinding Knife” by Brent Weeks (Orbit)

“Rage of the Dragon” by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman (Tor)

“Knife-Sworn” by Mazarkis Williams (Jo Fletcher Books)

The Morningstar Award is to celebrate the newcomers to the fantasy genre, whose first book published in English will fight it out amongst the other young bloods to be crowned the fans undisputed New Blood Fantasy Champion.

Our trophy for this comes from silvertrophy.com.

As with the Legend Award the winner will be crowned at the World Fantasy Con on 31st October 2013.

“Throne of the Crescent Moon” by Saladin Ahmed (Gollancz & DAW)

“The Red Knight” by Miles Cameron (Gollancz)

“Seven Princes” by John R. Fultz (Orbit)

“Three Parts Dead” by Max Gladstone (Tor)

“Malice” by John Gwynne (Pan Macmillan UK)

“Irenicon” by Aidan Harte (Jo Fletcher Books)
“Stormdancer” by Jay Kristoff (Pan Macmillan UK)
“Babylon Steel” by Gaie Sebold (Solaris)

“Winter Be My Shield” by Jo Spurrier (Harper Collins Australia)

The Ravenheart Award is to celebrate the hard working artists of the fantasy genre, whose covers tantalise and enchant readers. The award is open for any Fantasy book published in English in the year of nomination with the winner being crowned 'Ravenheart Fantasy Artist of the Year' for their work. With so many hours of hard work put into the book jackets that help make a title so special we felt that the artists deserve to be recognised.

Our trophy for this comes from silvertrophy.com and is a beautifully cut crystal award.

As with the Legend Award the winner will be crowned at our ceremony at this year’s World Fantasy Con.

Richard Anderson - “Seven Princes” by John R. Fultz (Orbit)

Kirk Benshoff – “The King’s Blood” by Daniel Abraham (Orbit)

Kerem Beyit – “The Red Knight” by Miles Cameron (Gollancz)

Jason Chan – “Throne of the Crescent Moon” by Saladin Ahmed (DAW)

Julie Dillon – “Luck of the Draw” by Piers Anthony (Tor)

Bob Eggleton – “Bard’s Oath” by Joanne Bertin (Tor)

Donato Giancola – “Range of Ghosts” by Elizabeth Bear (Tor)

Donato Giancola – “Princeps” by L.E. Modesitt Jr. (Tor)

Didier Graffet & David Senior – “Red Country” by Joe Abercrombie (Gollancz)

Scott Grimando – “Queen’s Hunt” by Beth Bernobich (Tor)

Dominic Harman – “Trinity Rising” by Elspeth Cooper (Gollancz)
Dominic Harman – “The Legion of Shadow” - Michael J. Ward (Gollancz)
Dominic Harman – “The Heart of Fire” by Michael J. Ward (Gollancz)

Darren Holt – “Bridge of Swords” by Duncan Lay (Harper Collins Australia)

Darren Holt – “Scrivener’s Tale” by Fiona McIntosh (Harper Collins Australia)

Darren Holt – “Winter Be My Shield” by Jo Spurrier (Harper Collins Australia)

Todd Lockwood – “Crown of Vengeance” by Mercedes Lackey & James Mallory (Tor)

Patrick Knowles – “Throne of the Crescent Moon” by Saladin Ahmed (Gollancz)

Michael Kormack – “Rage of the Dragon” by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman (Tor)

Kekai Kotaki – “Shadow Blizard” by Alexey Pehov (Tor)
Clint Langley – “Besieged” by Rowena Cory Daniells (Solaris)
Clint Langley – “Exile” by Rowena Cory Daniells (Solaris)
Clint Langley – “Sanctuary” by Rowena Cory Daniells (Solaris)

Bob Lea – “The Fate of the Dwarves” by Markus Heitz (Orbit)

Chris McGrath – “Three Parts Dead” by Max Gladstone (Tor)

Silas Manhood – “The Blinding Knife” by Brent Weeks (Orbit)

Cliff Neilsen – “The Silvered” by Tanya Huff (Daw)

Marek Okon – “Babylon Steel” by Gaie Sebold (Solaris)

James Paick – “Black Bottle” by Anthony Huso (Tor)

Andreas Rocha – “Empire of the Saviours” by A.J. Dalton (Gollancz)

Larry Rostant – “Heir of Novron” by Michael J. Sullivan (Orbit)

Larry Rostant – “The Dusk Watchman” by Tom Lloyd (Gollancz)

John Stanko – “Orion and King Arthur” by Ben Bova (Tor)

Matt Stawicki – “Glass Thorns” by Melanie Rawn (Tor)

Steve Stone – “Forge of Darkness” by Steven Erikson (Bantam Press & Tor)

Steve Stone – “Orb, Sceptre, Throne” by Ian C. Esslemont (Bantam Press & Tor)

Steve Stone – “The Traitor Queen” by Trudi Canavan (Orbit)

Colin Thomas – “Stormdancer” by Jay Kristoff (Pan Macmillan UK)

Unknown – “The Gathering of the Lost” by Helen Lowe (Orbit)

Stephen Youll – “The Black Mausoleum” by Stephen Deas (Gollancz)

Stephen Youll – “The Wards of Faerie” by Terry Brooks (Orbit)

Paul Young – “Malice” by John Gwynne (Pan Macmillan UK)

Paul Young – “Lord of Slaughter” by M.D. Lachlan (Gollancz)

Cover art - "Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Girl" by David Barnett

Steampunk never caught me. I am not sure if it is my tendency to go against most currents, unless they are fully on my taste and then I stop bitching about it and start swimming along them, or the association I make for this sub-genre with the works of Jules Verne, and those I raised on a pedestal I do not dare to touch. I read my small share of steampunk fiction, but these titles are not usually a priority for me. However, one such future book held my attention long enough to become very interested in reading it, David Barnett’s “Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Girl”. I could blame the cover for the UK edition of David Barnett’s upcoming novel, but that wouldn’t be entirely true. After all, I ceased the acquisitions of new books based solely on their cover artworks a long time ago. The main reason is David Barnett’s “Hinterland”, one of the novels I read in the past couple of years and failed to review properly, but one of those stories that get stuck forever to the reader. The premises of “Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Girl” are very interesting too, although “can a humble fisherman really become the true Hero of the Empire?” sounds a bit clichéd. I must admit though, that although the phrase looks too much as a cliché, the UK cover artwork did wonders in making me easily overlook it. It is a simple cover, but so much more efficient. There is enough tease behind the black figure of the girl and her key in order to complement the title successfully and both to make the book very appealing to me. The color tones are quite catchy as well.

Now, there is also a cover for the US edition of David Barnett’s “Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Girl”, due to be released by Tor Books at the same time as the UK edition published by Snowbooks. It is not a bad cover, on the contrary, but for me it suffers in comparison with the UK one. And that is the reason I chose to talk about that one, it works a little better for me. But if you prefer the US cover you can give it a vote on David Barnett’s blog because he holds a cover smackdown between the two there.

I might be on the side of the cover for the UK edition, but I cannot deny the pleasure it gives me to see another artwork made by Borja Fresco Nekro, the artist behind the US book cover, for a David Barnett short story set in the world of Gideon Smith. It is gorgeous, but I could hardly expect less from the art department of Tor.com! “Work Sets You Free” is due to be published on Tor.com and will be followed by a second tale in the same universe, “Business as Usual”, also on Tor.com. The first features Gideon Smith and an abbey with a dark secret run by gun-toting nuns, while the second shines a little light into the shadowy corners of the British Empire’s most secret service and its chief operative, the mysterious Mr. Walsingham.So, plenty of interesting things this summer and upcoming fall from David Barnett and his young hero, Gideon Smith.

In an alternative 1890, the British Empire’s reach and power is almost absolute, and from a technologically-advanced London where steam-power is king and airships ply the skies, Queen Victoria presides over three-quarters of the known world – including the east coast of America, following the failed revolution of 1775.

But London might as well be a world away from Sandsend, a tiny village on the Yorkshire coast, where Gideon Smith whiles away his days fishing on his father’s clockwork gearship and dreaming of the adventure promised him by the lurid tales of Captain Lucian Trigger, the Hero of the Empire, as presented in Gideon’s favourite “penny dreadful” periodical, World Marvels & Wonders.

When Gideon’s father is lost at sea in highly mysterious circumstances, Gideon is convinced that supernatural forces are at work. The writer Bram Stoker, holidaying in nearby Whitby, fears that a vampire from Transylvania is abroad on English soil, but is the dark agency that killed Arthur Smith and his crew even more ancient and foul – murderous, mummified creatures from the shifting sands of Egypt?

Deciding only Captain Lucian Trigger himself can aid him in his search for answers, Gideon sets off for London, and on the way rescues the mysterious mechanical girl Maria from a tumbledown house of shadows and iniquities.

Looking for heroes but finding only mysteries and unanswered questions, it falls to Gideon Smith to step up to the plate and attempt to save the day… but can a humble fisherman really become the true Hero of the Empire?

TOC - "The Best British Fantasy 2013" edited by Steve Haynes & "Imaginarium 2013: The Best Canadian Speculative Writing" edited by Sandra Kasturi & Samantha Beiko

Are there too many speculative fiction year’s best? In my opinion, they are not. And although once in a while the quality of the selections is questioned I found the ones I read constantly each year at the highest levels. Their efforts of promoting short fiction and bringing into the attention of the readers some of the best voices of speculative fiction is nothing but praiseworthy and as long as we would not have an invasion of such year’s best anthologies I will continue to read them with interest and delight. Even more so after such titles started to expend worldwide with the apparition of “The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy & Horror” in 2011 and “Imaginarium: The Best Canadian Speculative Writing” last year. After I signaled the third edition of “The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy & Horror”, due to be released this year, it gives great pleasure to see the second edition of “Imaginarium: The Best Canadian Speculative Writing” coming out on July 15^th and the publication of the first “The Best British Fantasy” by Salt Publishing. And with the likes of Amal El-Mohtar, Gemma Files, Cate Gardner, Lisa Hannett, Carole Johnstone, Helen Marshall, Alison Littlewood, Angela Slatter, Simon Bestwick, Michael Kelly, Mark Morris and Adam Nevill on their line-ups both promise plenty of excellent things. However, more good news come our way from  Salt Publishing, it seems that they will not only release a series of year’s best British fantasy, but also starting from next year a series of yearly “Best British Horror” too, edited by Johnny Mains. With so many great speculative fiction year’s best collections I only hope that soon the Romanian SF, fantasy and horror would see the publication of a similar yearly anthology. It will certainly do the local readers and writers a lot of good. And why not, one such year’s best for the global speculative fiction too.

From the post-apocalyptic American West to the rural terror in New Zealand, this major anthology has evil spirits, bin-Laden style assassinations, steampunk, sexual dysfunction, a twisted version of Peter Pan, the folklore of standing stones, mermaids, alien tour guides, zombies, gruesome beasts, voice-controlled police states, environmental disasters and off world penal colonies. Unmissable.

“Introduction” by Steve Haynes

“Lips and Teeth” by Jon Wallace

“The Last Osama” by Lavie Tidhar

“Armageddon Fish Pie” by Joseph D’Lacey

“The Complex” by E.J. Swift

“God of the Gaps” by Carole Johnstone

“Corset Wings” by Cheryl Moore

“The Wheel of Fortune” by Steph Swainston

“The Island of Peter Pandora” by Kim Lakin-Smith

“Too Delicate for Human Form” by Cate Gardner

“Imogen” by Sam Stone

“In the Quiet and in the Dark” by Alison Littlewood

“The Scariest Place in the World” by Mark Morris

“Qiqirn” by Simon Kurt Unsworth

“The Third Person” by Lisa Tuttle

“Dermot” by Simon Bestwick

“Fearful Symmetry” by Tyler Keevil

“Pig Thing” by Adam L.G. Nevill

Imaginarium 2013: The Best Canadian Speculative Writing is a reprint anthology published annually by ChiZine Publications, collecting speculative short fiction and poetry (science fiction, fantasy, horror, magic realism, etc.) that represents the best work produced by Canadian writers.

Canadian speculative fiction has been increasingly recognized internationally for the calibre of its authors and their insight into the nature of social and religious identities, the implications of new technologies, and the relationship between humankind and its environments. We use the term “speculative fiction” in order to free ourselves from the associations of terms like “science fiction,” “horror,” and “fantasy.” At their best, these stories disrupt habits, overcome barriers of cultural perception to make the familiar strange through the use of speculative elements such as magic and technology. They provide glimpses of alternate realities and possible futures and pasts that provoke an ethical, social, political, environmental and biological inquiry into what it means to be human.

“Blink” by Michael Kelly

“Nightfall in the Scent Garden” by Claire Humphrey

“The Ghosts of Birds” by Helen Marshall

“The Last Love of the Infinity Age” by Peter Darbyshire

“Too Much is Never Enough” by Don Bassingthwaite

“Bigfoot Cured My Arthritis” by Robert Colman

“Wing” by Amal El-Mohtar

“Arrow” by Barry King

“Penny” by Dominik Parisien

“Thought and Memory” by Catherine Knutsson

“Gaudifingers” by Tony Burgess

“A sea monster tells his story” by David Livingstone Clink

“Son of Abish” by Dave Duncan

“Opt-In” by J.W. Schnarr

“Last Amphibian Flees” by M.A.C. Farrant

“White Teeth” by David Livingstone Clink

“The Sweet Spot” by A.M. Dellamonica

“Verse Found Scratched Inside the Lid of a Sarcophagus (Dynasty Unknown)” by Gemma Files

“Collect Call” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

“Bella Beaufort Goes to War” by Lisa L. Hannett & Angela Slatter

“A Spell for Scrying Mirror Gremlins” by Peter Chiykowski

“The Book of Judgement” by Helen Marshall

“The Audit” by Susie Moloney

“Sixteen Colours” by David Livingstone Clink

“The Old Boys Club” by Geoff Gander

“Fin de Siècle” by Gemma Files

“Since Breaking Through the Ice” by Dominik Parisien

“The Pack” by Matt Moore

“Invocabulary” by Gemma Files

“I Was a Teenage Minotaur” by A.G. Pasquella

“Weep For Day” by Indrapramit Das

“What I Learned at Genie School” by Jocko Benoit

“Aces” by Ian Rogers

“No Poisoned Comb” by Amal El-Mohtar

“What a Picture Doesn’t Say” by Christopher Willard

“The Last Islander” by Matthew Johnson

2013 British Fantasy Awards nominees

The nominees for the British Fantasy Awards 2013 have been announced. The winners of each of these awards, as well as the winner of the Karl Edward Wagner Award (a special award decided by a vote of the British Fantasy Society committee) and the World Fantasy Awards, will be announced at the Fantasy Awards banquet at the World Fantasy Convention in Brighton on Sunday, November 3, 2013.

Best Fantasy Novel (the Robert Holdstock Award)
“Blood and Feathers” by Lou Morgan (Solaris)
“The Brides of Rollrock Island” by Margo Lanagan (David Fickling Books)
“Railsea” by China Miéville (Macmillan)
“Red Country” by Joe Abercrombie (Gollancz)
“Some Kind of Fairy Tale” by Graham Joyce (Gollancz)

Best Horror Novel (the August Derleth Award)
“The Drowning Girl” by Caitlin R. Kiernan (Roc)
“The Kind Folk” by Ramsey Campbell (PS Publishing)
“Last Days” by Adam Nevill (Macmillan)
“Silent Voices” by Gary McMahon (Solaris)
“Some Kind of Fairy Tale” by Graham Joyce (Gollancz)

Best Novella
“Curaré” by Michael Moorcock (Zenith Lives!/Obverse Books)
“Eyepennies” by Mike O’Driscoll (TTA Press)
“The Nine Deaths of Dr Valentine” by John Llewellyn Probert (Spectral Press)
“The Respectable Face of Tyranny” by Gary Fry (Spectral Press)

Best Short Story
“Our Island” by Ralph Robert Moore (Where Are We Going?/Eibonvale Press)
“Shark! Shark!” by Ray Cluley (Black Static #29/TTA Press)
“Sunshine” by Nina Allan (Black Static #29/TTA Press)
“Wish for a Gun” by Sam Sykes (A Town Called Pandemonium/Jurassic London)

Best Collection
“From Hell to Eternity” by Thana Niveau (Gray Friar Press)
“Remember Why You Fear Me” by Robert Shearman (ChiZine Publications)
“Where Furnaces Burn” by Joel Lane (PS Publishing)
“The Woman Who Married a Cloud” by Jonathan Carroll (Subterannean Press)

Best Anthology
“A Town Called Pandemonium” edited by Anne C. Perry and Jared Shurin (Jurassic London)
“Magic: an Anthology of the Esoteric and Arcane” edited by Jonathan Oliver (Solaris)
“The Mammoth Book of Ghost Stories by Women” edited by Marie O’Regan (Robinson)
“Terror Tales of the Cotswolds” edited by Paul Finch (Gray Friar Press)

Best Small Press (the PS Publishing Independent Press Award)
ChiZine Publications (Brett Alexander Savory and Sandra Kasturi)
Gray Friar Press (Gary Fry)
Spectral Press (Simon Marshall-Jones)
TTA Press (Andy Cox)

Best Non-Fiction
Ansible / David Langford
“The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature” edited by Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn (Cambridge University Press)
“Coffinmaker’s Blues” by Stephen Volk (Black Static/TTA Press)
Fantasy Faction / Marc Aplin
Pornokitsch / Anne C. Perry and Jared Shurin
“Reflections: On the Magic of Writing” by Diana Wynne Jones (David Fickling Books)

Best Magazine/Periodical
Black Static edited by Andy Cox (TTA Press)
Interzone edited by Andy Cox (TTA Press)
SFX edited by David Bradley (Future Publishing)
Shadows and Tall Trees edited by Michael Kelly (Undertow Publications)

Best Artist
Ben Baldwin
David Rix
Les Edwards
Sean Phillips
Vincent Chong

Best Comic/Graphic Novel
“Dial H” by China Miéville, Mateus Santolouco, David Lapham and Riccardo Burchielli (DC Comics)
“Saga” by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (Image Comics)
“The Unwritten” by Mike Carey, Peter Gross, Gary Erskine, Gabriel Hernández Walta, M.K. Perker, Vince Locke and Rufus Dayglo (DC Comics/Vertigo)
“The Walking Dead” by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard (Skybound Entertainment/Image Comics)

Best Screenplay
“Avengers Assemble”, Joss Whedon
“Sightseers”, Alice Lowe, Steve Oram and Amy Jump
“The Cabin in the Woods”, Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro

Best Newcomer (the Sydney J. Bounds Award)
Alison Moore, for “The Lighthouse” (Salt Publishing)
Anne Lyle, for “The Alchemist of Souls” (Angry Robot)
E.C. Myers, for “Fair Coin” (Pyr)
Helen Marshall, for “Hair Side, Flesh Side” (ChiZine Publications)
Kim Curran, for “Shift” (Strange Chemistry)
Lou Morgan, for “Blood and Feathers” (Solaris)
Molly Tanzer, for “A Pretty Mouth” (Lazy Fascist Press)
Saladin Ahmed, for “Throne of the Crescent Moon” (Gollancz)
Stephen Bacon, for “Peel Back the Sky” (Gray Friar Press)
Stephen Blackmoore, for “City of the Lost” (Daw Books)

Congratulations and good luck to all the nominees!

"Mayhem" by Sarah Pinborough

"Mayhem"

by Sarah Pinborough

Publisher: Jo Fletcher Books

Review copy received through the courtesy of the publisher, Jo Fletcher Books

A new killer is stalking the streets of London’s East End. Though newspapers have dubbed him ‘the Torso Killer’, this murderer’s work is overshadowed by the hysteria surrounding Jack the Ripper’s Whitechapel crimes.

The victims are women too, but their dismembered bodies, wrapped in rags and tied up with string, are pulled out of the Thames – and the heads are missing. The murderer likes to keep them.

Mayhem is a masterwork of narrative suspense: a supernatural thriller set in a shadowy, gaslit London, where monsters stalk the cobbled streets and hide in plain sight.

Jack the Ripper. The most notorious unidentified serial killer of the world. Rivers of ink have and will continue to flow in the wake of this murderer and the legend behind the mysterious figure will continue to inspire plenty of non-fiction and fiction books. “Mayhem”, the latest novel signed by Sarah Pinborough, is one the books taking places in set in the times of the Whitechapel murders and around Jack the Ripper’s crimes.

However, “Mayhem” might be set in a London terrorized by Jack the Ripper and its story develops at the time of these murders, but its focal point is not this series of crimes. Instead, Sarah Pinborough’s novel has as starting point another unsolved crime of that time, one less known, at least for me, the Whitehall Mystery. In 1888 on the basement of the construction site of Metropolitan Police headquarters a headless torso of a woman was discover, followed by one of the legs on the same location and an arm in the river Thames. With the discovery of another headless and legless torso in Pinchin Street on September 1889 it is possible that a different serial killer, dubbed the “Torso killer”, may have been stalked the area at the same time as Jack the Ripper. “Mayhem” assumes that the “Torso killer” and Jack the Ripper are different persons and goes in search of the former.

It is only laudable that Sarah Pinborough brings into the attention of the reader one of the parallel cases investigated by the police at the time of Jack the Ripper, because after all it was not the only event happening in the late years of the Victorian era. Even more so when East End London faced an overcrowding of population with the increased number of immigrants and refugees inhabiting the area. The atmosphere of the time is captured to perfection by Sarah Pinborough in “Mayhem”. A dark, choking and oppressive atmosphere is a constant presence in the pages of the novel. Combined with the omnipresent threat of brutal violence and a touch of supernatural the setting is so vigorous that leaves the reader grateful for experiencing it from behind the protective wall of fiction and at the safe distance offered by time and space. The feeling of authenticity is increased through the insertion of true reports from the newspapers of the period, but also of a real letter written by Thomas Bond giving his opinion on the Whitechapel murders.

Besides succeeding in the recreation of London of the 1880s final years “Mayhem” manages to give convincing voices to some of the historical figures involved in the investigation of the Whitechapel murders and the Whitehall mystery. Even to one of the presumed victims of the “Torso killer”. The Detective Inspectors Henry Moore and Walter Andrews, indirectly in his case, tell part of the story, Elizabeth Jackson offers one of the early images of the killer, but most of all Doctor Thomas Bond gets the central stage. Thomas Bond is the only character who tells the story from the first person perspective and while the other historical figures of the story might not follow the same train of thought as the doctor they give the reader the possibility to see his character from other perspectives than his own, while at the same time bring the necessary approach to the Jack the Ripper’s murders. The entirely fictional characters make the story whole and help the conclusion reaching its natural course. Aaron Kosminski and the mysterious man in the long black coat become Thomas Bond’s allies, the three of them forming an unlikely team but with the same goal. It is here that the ability of Sarah Pinborough to create such believable characters makes itself fully present, because although part of an alliance, they do not seem to belong together in any moment due to social status, destiny and beliefs.

The story of “Mayhem” doesn’t concentrate on the police procedures or crime investigations. Instead it is the story of a man in search of truth, a man becoming obsessed with finding it to the point of self-destruction. Narrated beautifully, the story grows naturally, without in the least being forced or pushed. And even the identity of the killer is revealed halfway through the novel the story doesn’t fall on the predictable course leading to the catch of the murderer. Instead, the supernatural elements are carefully introduced and knitted together with the other aspects of the tale. The background is built, without sacrificing the pace, for the plot to be better sustained. And in the end, with a masterful strike, the blame is not thrown entirely on the real or the supernatural aspects, both having plenty to account for.

Sarah Pinborough strays from the beaten paths to give her latest novel originality and although “Mayhem” is a dark story, as dark as Sarah Pinborough used us with, it is also a gripping one, certain to win its unique place in the hearts and minds of the readers.