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Scotland Yard’s Murder Squad Books In Order

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Publication Order of Scotland Yard's Murder Squad Books

The Yard (2012)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Black Country (2013)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Blue Girl (2013)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Devil's Workshop (2014)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Harvest Man (2015)Description / Buy at Amazon
Lost and Gone Forever (2016)Description / Buy at Amazon

Written by the New York Times bestselling author Alex Grecian, the Scotland Yard murder squad series is a mystery- thriller set in 1800’s London. Grecian created the critically acclaimed comic series; proof, and is no stranger to spinning mystery, history and fiction. The long running comic series, in which one of the titles is set in the 1800’s, acted as inspiration to the debut novel in the series, the Yard. The Scotland Yard murder squad series is certainly exceptional given his winding career path through advertising, and back to his first love; writing fiction.

The series focuses on a team of 12 detectives known as “The murder squad.” Set up to solve thousands of crimes committed in Victorian London, the team is formed following the Metropolitan’s police failure to capture Jack the Ripper. The yard bears the burden of public contempt but no one anticipates the brutal murder of one of their own.

With the master stroke of a pen, Grecian successfully recreates the atmosphere of late 19th Century London, amazing and unforgettable cast of characters, while keeping you engaged throughout the whole series.

The Yard
Published in May, 2012. The Yard is the book that marked the start of the Scotland Yard murder squad series. Set in 1889, London –a violent city with squalid living conditions: most of the city is covered in filth, competition is cut throat among pick pockets, and thieves, the dead are openly disposed in charnel houses, the downcast and mentally affected persons are housed in appalling conditions, and children are not protected by law; they are regarded as objects to be used and abused.

An understaffed Metropolitan Police force struggles with a mountain of case load. They can only attract negative publicity following their epic failure in finding Jack the Ripper. Primitive methods are employed to investigate crimes.

The murder squad is formed within the Scotland Yard. Consisting of 12 detectives, it is expected to solve the hundreds of murders committed each month. On the first week of Inspector Walter Day’s work, one of the detectives, Inspector Christian Little’s body is found stuffed in a black steamer trunk at Euston square station; murdered. With an ambition to prove himself and to seek justice for the fallen comrade, Day jumps into the case whole heartedly.

The historical setting of this book is on point, the characters as developed by the author are intriguing and interesting at the same time. Day struggles with the big city, Constable Hammersmith is down to earth and quite dirty willing to go against the law when the circumstances demand, and Dr. Bernard Kingsley, who works as an unpaid consultant to the Yard, is firmly convinced that science will change the face of policing in the future. He helps advance forensics in finger printing and evidence collection. He is truly an enigma in this series and his daughter Fiona takes after him.

The murderer is revealed to the readers early on and it is left to see whether the police will apprehend him, enabling the author take the reader through a great display of detective work and police procedures. The question we are left asking is, were the murders psychologically motivated?

The Black Country
This is the follow sequel to the first book in the Scotland Yard murder squad series. This book published in May 2013, is set in the British Midlands; nicknamed by the inhabitants “the Black Country,” and for a queer reason; very bad things are a common occurrence in this place. The Black Country is a center of coal mining and depicts the dawn of industrialization in the midlands of England.

Three members of a prominent family, a small child together with his father and step mother, disappear in the Black Country, leaving three other small children to fend for themselves. The twist in this particular case is that; the first wife also mysteriously disappeared and has never been hear of since. Together with discovery of a human eye ball, Inspector Walter Day and his squad are called in to help crack the case.

The murder squad find themselves dealing with more than just a disappearance case: the collapsing coal mines are used as a convenient cover up for murder cases, a plague that has affected over half of the villagers, a mysterious stranger is stalked by another mysterious stranger, villagers’ go on with their business totally unbothered by the disappearance of the family, and a society deeply rooted in superstition, which also happens to be a central theme of the novel.

The Black Country spins even the famed forensics pioneer; Dr. Bernard Kingsley, shaken to the core and confronted with a morality question, he is forced to work hand in hand with Inspector Day.

The detectives are faced with an urgency; solve the mystery or be drawn into the town forever. The Black Country develops an interesting connection to the America through a Scottish giant with American connections and a psychotic American.

The novel is filled with twists and turns, including a key character vanishing halfway, which makes the second sequel confusing even to the most ardent of fans. In the last thirty pages or so, it is filled with a desperate attempt by the author to tie up loose ends. Taking the reader through geological puzzles developed in the early parts of the novel is for sure not a very good way to finish up the novel.

The Scotland Yard’s murder squad series
There are many fans of the Scotland Yard’s murder squad who would like to see the series made into a television series, with one even emphasizing a television series and not a movies; so as to extend the length of enjoyment.

While there are no plans yet to adapt the series onto the big screen, the popularity of the series is steadily gaining traction, and your guess can only be as good as ours. Two sequels have subsequently been introduced; the devils workshop published in May, 2014, and the harvest man published in May, 2015. Alex Grecian says he is led by the mantra that nothing can take the place of persistence and determination. This series he creates is the stuff that talent and persistence is made of.

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