The Rookery

Written by Emily Organ

Narrated by Gabrielle Baker

There's a killer in the slums.

London 1884. When a thief robs Fleet Street reporter Penny Green, she finds herself caught up in a horrifying murder.

Someone is terrorizing the residents of St Giles Rookery and Scotland Yard sends Inspector James Blakely to investigate. When the serial killer claims a victim outside the slums, Victorian London is sent into panic.

Can Penny's friendship with the people of St Giles uncover the culprit? She and James must overcome their complicated relationship to work together, but each new murder threatens to derail their work for good.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Nov 20, 2018
• ISBN: 9781541443921

Reviews for The Rookery

[Megan Patrick · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I genuinely can't decide if I like these characters, particularly Penny and James. Neither seem very bright to be the crime-solving duo they've been set up to be. The killer in this particular novel was obvious yet they only discover who it is by accident. James spends the entire novel annoyed at his lack of progress, when he misses several pretty obvious clues, while Penny spends it bouncing from defending someone to suspecting them, then suspecting someone else, then someone new, and then back to the first two. It's annoying and just makes her seem bad at the whole detecting thing. And she makes some achingly stupid choices in this book.

Then there's the 'romance'. I'm sorry, but James is coming across as a real cad in this one and it makes it hard to see what Penny finds so interesting about him. And it's all just rather boring on top of it. Not a lot of show OR tell.

I'll give the next book a try, but not sure I'll stick with the series beyond that.

[maureen feeney · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Really loving this series . Narrator does a great job . Good characters and good plots.

[vesper1931 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's now 1884 and Penny Green and Inspector James Blakely team up to try and catch the person who is killing people in the Rookery part of London.
An enjoyable, well-written mystery with some very likeable characters

[thequietreader · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When a young thief grabs her bag, Penny Green never expects that pursuing him will result in finding him dead shortly after. When she learns there have been two similar killings, she suspects there may be a serial killer at work in St Giles Rookery. Another killing confirms her fears and she must team up with inspector James Blakely once again to uncover the truth.This takes place shortly after the events of the first book. Penny is still healing from being shot, and she has taken on the task of compiling her father's diaries and letters into a book. This means she must reevaluate how she views her father as she learns more about her father's travels. It was interesting to see her grow as a character in this side plot.The main plot takes us into the darker side of the Victorian era. The atmosphere of the majority of the story is one of dark tension. The threat of a killer looms over every page and is fast paced.It was lovely to have Inspector Blakely back as he works so well with Penny. The attraction between them still exists, which is slightly worrying given that he is engaged to be married. His frustration at being a step behind the serial killer was understandable and made him more sympathetic.Overall, this was a good follow-up to the first book. I did find the end a surprise, with no very many clues pointing to the identity of the killerI would recommend this to readers looking a Victorian mystery series.