The Red Jack Society

If you like your historical police procedurals gritty, gruesome, but realistic, this book is right up your alley.
PLOT: The year is 1888 and Red Jack (Jack the Ripper) is terrorizing White Chapel. Detective Adrian Hope, of Scotland Yard’s Hound Squad, is on the job, but he is working on other cases. His faithful sidekick is Grace “Gracie” O’Malley, an Irish wolfhound. In this short book, the pair investigate three interlocking cases: the murder of young boys, a murder of a police decoy, and a murderous social club.
POSITIVE: I love that this book was written by a retired crime scene supervisor. The man knows his stuff. His writing is gritty and graphic. (You have been forewarned!)
For the animal lovers in the crowd, there is no show more animal violence and yes, Gracie survives.
The characters are well written. Be prepared for the pop ins of some famous personages. (To say who would spoil the surprise.) In this regard, be prepared for a few less than realistic factors. Just go with it.
NEGATIVE: While I believe the scenes are well drawn and realistic, the author should do a little historic research. Yes, Scotland Yard did use dogs in 1888. They were brough into work on the Jack the Ripper case. However, two-way mirrors didn’t exist in 1888 and weren’t invented until 1903 and were not in use in police stations until much later in the 20th century. I did not check out electric cars or other conveyances.
I wish the book was longer. Each of these short stories could easily been stretched into a full book and those books into a series. Adrian and Gracie make a cute team. I hope the author writes more about them.
CONCLUSION: I am already looking for the earlier books by this author. I recommend it. show less

It was a quick read and well written. Detective Adrian Hope and his canine partner Grace O'Malley are smart and likeable. I guess my only complaint was that the tension never really built up. It was solved too quickly and the side characters weren't as fleshed out as they could have been. I enjoyed it, I just wished there had been more.