Inspector Blackstone is sent north away from London to caught the sadistic killer of young girls who's mutilated bodies are found in several different counties.
Shall look for others in the series starting with the first tale. ( )

Blackstone, a detective in late 19th century England, and his colleagues and female doctor have to figure out a series of murders of girls, a smuggling ring, and the death of a friend. The descriptions show 19th century England quite nicely, and the characters are quite appealing. I am glad I stumbled over this series.

Not sure what to say. I enjoyed it and finished reading it. Although set in the past the characters did have a modern vibe to them That said, I enjoyed all the detail of the canals and the salt mines.I think I may read another from the series and see how I get on with that. ( )

This author and character are new to me and all the way to the end I couldn't figure out if I actually liked it . . . plot felt drawn wayyyyy out at times with things happening that were possible irrelevant? Characters were thin -- I still have no idea who these people are. Or . . . there were very promising moments i'll try author and character again and see what happens. ( )

[Blackstone and the Heart of Darkness] by Sally Spencer (#6 in the Sam Blackstone Series)
4 stars.

Amazon description.
A sadistic killer is targeting teenage girls. A horrific pattern is emerging, with each new corpse horrendously mutilated – in precisely the same way.

But the victims aren’t just any girls. They are the children of England’s aristocracy.

Inspector Blackstone, of the Metropolitan Police, seems to be the only man in the country who stands a chance of catching ‘the Northern Slasher’. Can Blackstone find the killer before he chooses his next victim?

When Blackstone receives a letter from an old army comrade, he is plunged into the middle of an even darker horror...

Review.
When I acquired my Kindle copy of this book in October 2015, there were two things that for some reason I did not know. Firstly that it is the sixth in a series, and I had not read any of the previous five, and that the author is not a lady called Sally Spencer!

Having said that I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book which in some ways reminded me of the writings of Edward Marston, set in a slightly earlier era, but with similar language.

Sam Blackstone is one of Scotland Yard’s mist successful detectives, but is here embroiled in the Cheshire countryside in both its beauty and its ugliness. The harshness of work in its salt mines is vividly portrayed as is the cruelty with which some people behave towards others, with no regard for their safety or personal feelings. Canals also feature quite heavily in a cleverly constructed plot regarding murder and kidnap, enhanced by Blackstone’s connection with a former subordinate of his in Afghanistan, Tom Yardley, now working in those salt mines. The characters are, for the main part, highly believable, and their interaction is both accurate of its time and interesting, if somewhat different from what we would expect today. I am mindful of certain recent cases in this country that are not totally dissimilar to that involved here.

All in all a very good read, although I am not sure that I have time to visit Sam’s previous adventures – only time and other reading material will tell! ( )