Why did Julie love this book?
I read this book when it was first published back in 1995, but I re-read it this year. Ackroyd sets his tales in London, whether modern or historic (sometimes, like in Hawksmoor, both), and this one is set in the Victorian era.
We are in the pre-Jack the Ripper East End, where there is a series of gruesome killings by the almost supernatural "Limehouse Golem" while, at the same time, Elizabeth Cree (a music hall performer) is on trial for killing her husband. Inspector Kildare has to deal with both.
Kildare is a wonderfully drawn character, world-weary but half-enamored of Ms Cree. Bill Nighy was a superb choice of actor in the film.
The dark and dangerous streets of Limehouse give way to the naptha and greasepaint of the music hall, as Dan Leno (a real person) is drawn into the case, as are Karl Marx and George Gissing. Leno…
1 author picked Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
NOW AN UNMISSABLE FILM STARRING BILL NIGHY, DOUGLAS BOOTH AND OLIVIA COOKE.
'Mesmerising, macabre and totally brilliant' Daily Mail
Before the Ripper, fear had another name.
London, 1880. A series of gruesome murders attributed to the mysterious 'Limehouse Golem' strikes fear into the heart of the capital. Inspector John Kildare must track down this brutal serial killer in the damp, dark alleyways of riverside London. But how does Dan Leno, music hall star extraordinaire, find himself implicated in this crime spree, and what does Elizabeth Cree, on trial for the murder of her husband, have to hide?
Peter Ackroyd brings…
- Coming soon!