Lestrade and the Ripper (Gateway Mystery)

As the victims of the infamous Jack the Ripper mount in 1888 London, Inspector Sholto Lestrade has his hands full investigating a simultaneous string of killings in nearby Brighton.

Here's an unlikely novel: an amusing mystery about the Jack the Ripper murders. Like the other Lestrade books (Brigade, etc.), this one is permeated with sharp historical detail, delightful humor and wordplay, plus a large gallery of characters. Among its players are, of course, Sherlock Holmes ("The epitome of a man inches from neurosis") and Dr. Watson ("with the unmistakable stoop of a man who had been hit by a jezail"), who provide no small amount of comic relief. Lestrade's patience and expertise are tested to the fullest when he inherits the men and caseload of a recently deceased inspector. Continuing those cases takes him to Rhadegund Hall, a public school where, by chance, young, pregnant Maggie Hollis is discovered drowned in a laundry tub. That night, back in London, the mutilated body of Mary Ann Nichols, the first of the Whitechapel murder victims, is found. Soon, Lestrade is investigating the Ripper murders as well as the rising body count at Rhadegund Hall, and in doing so the long-suffering inspector must contend with both the incompetence of his superiors (who destroy vital evidence) and the quirks of the school's masters. Despite the distractions of an attractive matron and interference from Holmes, Lestrade perseveres to the endAas will grateful readers. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Lestrade And The Ripper ($19.95; Sept.; 288 pp.; 0-89526-311-4): As if his hands weren't full enough with the depradations of Whitechapel's gift to history, Inspector Sholto Lestrade (Lestrade and the Deadly Game, p. 1091) has to contend with the unsolved murder in a Brighton hotel of psychic researcher Edmund Gurneyand the investigations of that meddlesome incompetent, Sherlock Holmes. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

This popular 16-volume Edwardian series featuring the Conan Doyle character Inspector Sholto Lestrade of Scotland Yard was first published in Britain. In his fifth adventure, Lestrade investigates a series of murders that threaten the London Olympics of 1908. Then, in September, he takes on the ripper.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.