Beasts in Velvet

Rating:
Summary: Gifted storyteller tries his hand at the gothic macabre.
Review: To my opinion plots are overrated. Almost everyone in this genre is stealing from his predecessors. Even the great Tolkien borrowed from the Nordic myths and other sources (anyone who feels offended can ignore the last sentence). But no matter how chewed down or trivial the plot is an adequate author will make the difference. Jack Yeovil scores far above adequate.

The story is a gothic mystery / detective style, embedded into the fantasy world of Warhammer. There is a maniac woman-slaughtering beast (jack the ripper style). A noble protecting his brother, an uncorrupted green cop, a psychic and a tough ex-cop trying to bring him to justice. Around them there is a score of minor colorful characters to serve as the prime suspects. Even though we have seen this kind of detective story a thousand times or more (on books and on TV) and even though it is not too tough to figure out the killer, the story still manages to capture the imagination. Jack Yeovil knows how to draw vivid likable characters and how to keep up suspense and intensive rhythm. There was even a nice and an unexpected twist at the end as a bonus.
For anyone who is fan of Warhammer this is an excellent buy to your collection