Mind of a Killer

by Simon Beaufort

Overview

Newspaper reporter Alec Lonsdale discovers that a series of seemingly random murders may be connected in this absorbing historical mystery.

London, 1882. Alec Lonsdale, a young reporter on the Pall Mall Gazette, is working on a story about a fatal house fire. But the post-mortem on the victim produces shocking results: Patrick Donovan’s death was no accident. But why would someone murder a humble shop assistant and steal part of his brain?

When a second body is discovered, its throat cut, and then a third, Lonsdale and his spirited female colleague, Hulda Friederichs, begin to uncover evidence of a conspiracy that reaches to the highest echelons of Victorian society.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780727887627
Publisher:	Severn House Publishers
Publication date:	04/01/2018
Edition description:	First World Publication
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Simon Beaufort is a pseudonym for a pair of academics formerly at the University of Cambridge, both now full-time writers. One is an award-winning historian, the other a successful crime writer under the name Susanna Gregory. They are the authors of the highly-acclaimed Sir Geoffrey Mappestone medieval mysteries, as well as two contemporary thrillers, The Murder House and The Killing Ship.

Editorial Reviews

02/05/2018
In the tantalizing prologue of this so-so Victorian series launch from Beaufort (the pseudonym of Susanna Gregory and Beau Riffenburgh), an unnamed narrator recalls stealing a letter in 1869 from a scientist “who had proven to be a colossus greater than Newton”; the letter’s contents show the narrator that he “would be a leader of men... a saviour to future generations.” What all this means is left unclear as the action shifts to 1882. Dogged journalist Alec Lonsdale intends to break a major story in The Pall Mall Gazette after witnessing a fire in London that claims the life of haberdasher Patrick Donovan. Cath Walker, a prostitute present at the scene, has suggested to Lonsdale that Donovan was the victim of a killer who has done in at least six other people. Cath promises to tell more later, but she’s murdered before she can do so. The autopsy on Donovan shows that his cerebrum was removed. The eventual reveal and the overly busy climax disappoint, but fans of Gregory’s other, superior historical series, such as her Thomas Chaloner mysteries set in the 1660s, can hope for better next time. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"An excellent choice for fans of fast-paced, twisty, action-soaked crime fiction"

Booklist

2018-01-23
A chance encounter leads a reporter into grave danger.Two years after Alexander Lonsdale left the Colonial Service in Africa in 1880, disgust with their dealings brings him back to London, where he lives with his barrister brother, Jack, and works at the Pall Mall Gazette, a small but influential paper whose assistant editor is the well-known W.T. Stead. Returning home from another failed attempt to interview Dr. Wilson of the Zoological Gardens, he notices a fire and stops to investigate. Mr. Donovan, the homeowner, ran out of his house yelling about a chimney fire, ran back in, and died in the blaze. A prostitute tells Lonsdale that she knows a lot more about that death and several others and arranges a nighttime meeting in Regent's Park. Curiosity, meanwhile, leads him to the morgue and Dr. Bradwell, who reveals that Donovan did not die in the fire and that someone had removed his cerebrum. When Lonsdale finally catches up with Dr. Wilson, he asserts his strong belief in a eugenic approach to human breeding that would cull undesirable traits from the species. That night, Lonsdale is attacked as he approaches his meeting with the prostitute, then he finds her and another man brutally murdered. Lonsdale explains his reasons for being there to Inspector George Peters, who, along with his superiors, puts pressure on Lonsdale to repress the story. Although Stead wants him to work on other matters, he does assign tough, ambitious reporter Hulda Friederichs to help Lonsdale track down more information. Their discovery of many more people murdered for their cerebrums leads them to a conspiracy covered up by people in high places and puts Lonsdale's entire circle of friends and family in danger.In this series kickoff, Beaufort (The Killing Ship, 2016, etc.) introduces an intriguing new sleuth and an eerie mystery, cleverly mixing historical figures and crackpot theories that are still around to this day.

Kirkus Reviews