The Conan Doyle Notes: The Secret of Jack the Ripper by Diane Gilbert Madsen

Justice is served in this modern mystery. No vengeance and no redemption. One of the more interesting features of this story is the discovery of a lost letter written by Conan Doyle that supposedly reveals the identity of Jack the Ripper. I suggest reading the author’s note at the end to understand what is historical and what is conjecture.

DD McGil is an insurance investigator actively assigned to a potential fraud case. But she gets pulled into an attempted murder when a friend of hers, who is a bookseller, is pushed down some stairs at a large mansion. Tom Joyce, the bookseller, is an antiquarian who has been hired to assess the David Joyce Grange book collection because the deceased lumber tycoon’s surviving relative is trying to sell the mansion and the collection. On the side, DD tries to find out who tried to kill her friend. She also gets involved in the search for a lost Conan Doyle manuscript.

Multiple mysteries compel the story forward. Who tried to kill Tom? Who is harassing DD? And the missing manuscript and letter. The history about Jack the Ripper is fascinating. Fortunately, the story is strong because I didn’t care for DD. I liked her Scottish background and many of the cast of characters surrounding her. But DD comes across as not too bright. She continually makes bad decisions that get her into more trouble. I understand that a writer is supposed to put the protagonists into difficult situations, but in this story, most of the situations are of DD’s making. She’s headstrong, which is fine, but in some cases, her decisions came across as irresponsible.

I believe the author is trying for an ambiance of a Sherlock Holmes story, but it didn’t work for me. There is too much profanity, sexual suggestion, and on-page violence to fit into that sub-genre. These things seemed thrown in for a “modern” audience. I feel sticking more to a Conan Doyle type story would have made it a stronger story.

I’ll rank this one twenty-second for this year.

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4. Book of Days by James L. Rubart
5. Whispers of a Southern Moon by Pricilla Bettis
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8. With Mercy’s Eyes by D.T. Powell
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11. Dreamwalker by Carrie Cotten
12. The Last Wife by Matt McGregor
13. Loving the Rodeo Queen by Rebecca Reed
14. The Misadventures of Itchy Izzy by N.Y. Dunlap
15. Save the Last Dance for Me by Ed Gorman
16. Ranch Showdown by Tina Wheeler
17. The Unhired Hand by R.O. Lane
18. The Shocking Truth by Steve Rush
19. Daughter of Darkness by Ed Gorman
20. Burning Angel by James Lee Burke
21. Death in the Kremlin by E.J. Simon
22. The Conan Doyle Notes: The Secret of Jack the Ripper by Diane Gilbert Madsen
23. White Gold by Michael E. Jimerson
24. Irresistible Impulse by Robert K. Tanenbaum
25. Line of Fire by Taylor S. Newport
26. The Longest Day by Terry Toler
27. Left to Die by Lisa Jackson
28. Surviving the Bringer of Death by Kira Black

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