Saturday, August 9, 2014

Departed by Nick Stephenson


Murder in the UK. A serial killer is stalking London leaving behind a series of victims that suggests the killer is mimicking the infamous Jack The Ripper. When the London cops hit a dead end, they contract with a NYC cop with special expertise is serial killers to help them see what they might be missing.

Leopold Blake brings his partner (Sgt. Mary Jordan) and body guard (Jerome) with him to try and help Scotland Yard and MI6, who really aren’t all that thrilled with Leopold’s presence.  After reviewing old clues and evidence from the most recent murder, Blake hones in on a suspect. When they and the local police go to the perp’s house to make an arrest, they quickly learn their error when they find the guy dead and sealed up within the wall of his house.

Back to square one and with another body due to be found quickly, Leopold’s team starts looking elsewhere, now focusing on whether there might be police involvement.

This was a pretty basic murder mystery. Because of the way the story was presented and the somewhere blustery superior-yet-flawed personality of Leopold, I had a bit of a hard time picturing the story in my head while I read. Then I started envisioning the Holmes/Watson characters of the current TV series “Elementary” played by Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu. Once I started reading Leopold in the way Miller plays Holmes on that TV show, the book started to click. But I’m not sure it clicked so well that I’ll be making any concerted effort at running down any more right now. Just OK. Hey, I did finish it. 

East Coast Don
 

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