A Knife in the Fog, Bradley Harper
A Knife in the Fog, Bradley Harper
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
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A Knife in the Fog
A Mystery Featuring Margaret Harkness and Arthur Conan Doyle

Author: Bradley Harper

Narrator: Matthew Lloyd Davies

Unabridged: 8 hr 40 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 10/02/2018


Synopsis

September 1888. A twenty-nine-year-old Arthur Conan Doyle practices medicine by day and writes at night. His first Sherlock Holmes story, A Study in Scarlet, although gaining critical and popular success, has only netted him twenty-five pounds. Embittered by the experience, he vows never to write another "crime story." Then a messenger arrives with a mysterious summons from former Prime Minister William Gladstone, asking him to come to London immediately.

Once there, he is offered one month's employment to assist the Metropolitan Police as a "consultant" in their hunt for the serial killer soon to be known as Jack the Ripper. Doyle agrees on the stipulation his old professor of surgery, Professor Joseph Bell—Doyle's inspiration for Sherlock Holmes—agrees to work with him. Bell agrees, and soon the two are joined by Miss Margaret Harkness, an author residing in the East End who knows how to use a Derringer and serves as their guide and companion.

Pursuing leads through the dank alleys and courtyards of Whitechapel, they come upon the body of a savagely murdered fifth victim. Soon it becomes clear that the hunters have become the hunted when a knife-wielding figure approaches.

About Bradley Harper

Bradley Harper is a retired US Army Colonel and pathologist with a great deal of experience in autopsies and forensic investigation. A lifelong fan of Sherlock Holmes, he did intensive research for this debut novel, including a trip to London's East End with noted Jack the Ripper historian Richard Jones.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Chris on May 08, 2019

This book was an absolute delight! I know nothing of Arthur Conan Doyle other than he wrote Sherlock Holmes books, I know even less about who Margaret Harkness was, and all I really know about Jack the Ripper mainly comes from the Hughes Brothers' movie From Hell. I now feel like I'm an expert on al......more

Goodreads review by Lynn on July 06, 2020

Given that fiction is the "willing suspension of disbelief," A Knife in the Fog is a great book. For some reason I've been reading a lot of Sherlockian mysteries lately, and this ranks as one of the best. The storyline is complex (including a major "didn't see that coming"), the characters are fully......more

Goodreads review by Kathy on September 05, 2018

Dr. Arthur Conan Doyle is busy building his medical practice in Portsmouth and writing at night. He has published A Study in Scarlet but is determined not to write more crime fiction. However, his detective Sherlock Holmes does bring him to the attention of the former Prime Minister William Gladston......more

Goodreads review by J.R. on November 01, 2018

With few exceptions, I'm not a fan of writers appropriating the character(s) of others for their own stories. But rather than "borrowing" Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Harper has employed Conan Doyle, his creator; Dr. Joseph Bell, Doyle's mentor, and Margaret Harkness, a remarkable woman, whom I'd never hear......more

Goodreads review by Wayne on February 19, 2019

A wonderful "what if" story. What if... Arthur Conan Doyle was involved in the Jack the Ripper investigation? In lesser hands it would still be intriguing, but the author's capture of the Victorian tone makes it a terrific read.A Knife in the Fog......more