Lestrade and the Dead Man's Hand — M.J. Trow

The London Underground railway in 1895 is described as ''dark and deadly and halfway to Hell''. Only too true, for as the last train rattles into Liverpool Street, the one remaining passenger does not get off. How could she, when her eyes stare sightless and her heart has stopped?

There is another corpse at the Elephant in the morning, wedged between the seats like an old suitcase.

And another had missed the late night connection at Stockwell. What is left of her lies on the floor of the ''padded cell'', her shoes kicked off in the lashings of her agony as she died.

There is a maniac at large and Inspector Lestrade is detailed to work with the Railway Police, something he needs a little less than vivisection. Heedless of warnings to ''Mind The Gap'' and ''Mind The Doors'' the doughty detective plunges through a tangled web of vicious deviants to solve a string of murders so heinous that every woman in London goes in fear of her life.

Who is the legendary ''Blackfriars Dan''? What are the secrets of the Seven Sisters? Whose body lies at Ealing? Will the London Transport System survive or will Lestrade run out of steam?

''Characters from fiction mix with those of the real world and have made the Lestrade books best sellers... putting Trow well on the way to becoming one of this country''s top literary humorists.''
Portsmouth News