I've enjoyed Laura Joh Rowland's Sano Ichiro novels set in samurai-era Japan very much, so I decided to give The Ripper's Shadow (#670) a try. Sarah Bain has inherited a photography studio from her father, but it's difficult to make ends meet. When one of her subjects suggests that Sarah take some "boudoir" photos of her and split the profits, Sarah goes along with her idea.
The problem is that when prostitutes' bodies show up in Whitechapel, brutally murdered and mutilated, Sarah recognizes them as the models for her "boudoir" photographs. She can't go to the police because what she has done could land her in jail. How can she keep herself and the other women in her photographs safe, and out of the shadow of the Ripper?
Although this is a very dark novel, Ms. Rowland manages to keep the reader guessing in this well known cold case. Where a less skilled author might wind up the book with a suspect identified, she just ramps up the tension and postulates an even more shocking revelation. I wasn't sure Sarah Bain and her small circle of unlikely associates were going to make it out of this one alive, so I had to keep reading to find out.
I think Sarah Bain and company could form a nucleus for an interesting Victorian London series of mysteries. I hope Ms. Rowland has plans for her future.
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