AustLit

'In the fierce English summer of 1976 the Punk movement is on the rise and chaos is the catchcry down in its heartland at the World's End of London. But things take a darker turn as a new group calling themselves Sudden Deff show signs of wanting to live up to their name. When [detective] Briony [Williams] learns that she and two close colleagues have appeared on 'Deff Row' in the group's fanzine, she is drawn into a fatal game with a set of adversaries who always seem to be two moves ahead.' (Publisher's blurb)

Detect'ive Briony Williams is a rookie appointed to an all-male team investigating a bizarre murder at an anatomy college in Bloomsbury. Her superiors constantly make her feel left out. But a killer obsessed with following Jack the Ripper soon changes that. The killer is a practised anatomist with a theatrical streak. He arranges his victims bodies in cruel parodies of famous satirical engravings by Hogarth. As the summer and the swinging 60s wind to a terrible climax, this multi-layered thriller brings the startling and terrible strands of the story together. ' (Publication summary)