Book Reviews

Mercedes Marie : The story of Mary Jane Kelly
The dreadful events in Miller’s Court are only touched on at the end of this novel. For most of the book Billy Helston concerns herself with Mary Kelly’s life growing up in a colliery village near Wrexham and her years as a prostitute in Cardiff, London, and Paris. On the surface it’s a gritty tale of Victorian working class life shaped by poverty, tragedy, and violence. But what gives this novel special resonance is the author’s perceptive evocation of the close-knit mining communities of north Wales and the impoverished neighbourhoods of the East End: she delineates wonderfully the ties of love, resentment, need, and sympathy that bind people together and the reserves of toughness and compassion they draw on to survive. What starts out as the story of an ‘ordinary’ life in the Denbighshire hills quickly develops into something much bigger: by delving deeply into one person’s tragedy, Mercedes Marie illuminates broader truths about life and death.
Familiar figures jostle for space with characters not usually associated with the Mary Kelly story, such as Charlie Hammond, the violent landlord of the Cleveland Street brothel, and Alfred Long, the Metropolitan police constable who strikes up an intense bond with Mary. Helston has her own ideas about the identities of Mary Kelly and Jack the Ripper, and at the back of the book (separate from the story) there is a hefty appendix containing census data, newspaper reports, explanatory notes, and other material.
The book is full of sorrow and anguish, but there is humour as well, and bawdiness, and warmth. Even amid the brutality and the drab routine of Mary Kelly’s life there are small triumphs and moments of joy and surprise - a slice of Dundee cake in a Marylebone café, a dwarf in a Paris whorehouse with a parrot on its shoulder, Welsh dragons caught in the flue at Miller’s Court. Ripperologist NO 151 August 2016 Ripper Fiction Reviews, DAVID GREEN
 
Mercedes Marie : The story of Mary Jane Kelly
Of the five canonical victims of Jack the Ripper, the one who has intrigued writers and Ripperologists the most is Mary Jane – or Marie Jeannette – Kelly. She was the youngest of them, and despite there being no photograph of her in life, some people have imagined her as beautiful and vivacious, so unlike the poor broken down women whose deaths preceded hers. The author takes an imaginative and compelling look at how a beautiful girl from Limerick, with friends in high places, came to end her life as a butchered corpse in a Whitechapel hovel. She has a blog, and can also be found on Twitter. You can get hold of a copy  from Amazon in the usual way.
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Jack the Ripper : The Long Arm of the Law
This is a work of fiction but this work isn’t based on fact; it is fact. Jack the Ripper, The Long Arm of the Law, contains no false trails. Every detail quoted is documented and verifiable. From his base, south of the river at Lambeth, the murder scene locations radiate outwards from his home as if spokes on a wheel. With the advantage of using a fictional format Billy Helston takes the reader into the killer’s mind. There is little reason to suppose the Ripper’s victim were limited to the canonical five. Brutal killings and attacks didn’t tidily begin and end in the three month period of 1888. Arguments raged between experts to the exact number the killer both slew and assaulted. Meticulously researched the author uses contemporary accounts to illustrate the horror surrounding the Whitechapel killer. Billy Helston highlights the lives of the murdered women, so often portrayed as mere bit part players in the drama that is Jack the ripper, with sensitivity and humour.

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Jack the Ripper : Long Arm of the Law
By MK Alexander - Published on Amazon.com
A challenging, compelling read 6 July 2016
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
The allure of Jack the Ripper has been with us for over a century. Morbid fascination gone wild; indeed the story has become folklore, not to mention a sort of cottage industry. Why does it endure? I suppose it’s the brutality of the crimes, the number of victims, and the fact that Jack was never caught nor identified. Who was he? A surgeon, a royal personage, a deranged butcher, or a shadow who will never be found by history? Jack was not the first serial killer, but remains one of the most famous, and certainly the first to receive cult status thanks to a media frenzy of those times.
Somewhere in our imagination, the Ripper is still at large, still stalking the dank streets of London in 1888. The lore is extensive and it’s a brave author who attempts to tackle this subject, especially when they seek to dismantle the many myths that have gone before. Such is author Billy Helston’s task, and surely she has made no friends in the Ripper Community. I suspect they strive for a less prosaic explanation. Author Billy Helston’s story is told simply. It follows “Jack” and his everyday wanderings through town, his dealings with the residents of Whitechapel, most of who are low-born and struggling just to exist.
We hear some of Jack’s inner thoughts and get a sense of the man, his motives, and the events that led him to become a monster. Authentic language takes the reader right back to the dank and sordid streets of London, circa 1888; language perfectly steeped in its era. The plot is interspersed with actual newspaper accounts and police transcripts. Dialog, descriptions and accounts which need to be savored, rather than rushed through. Clearly this book is a labor of the soul, scrupulously researched and perfectly re-enacted. The murders themselves are business-like, a chilling portrayal of violence as matter-of-fact events. As piece of historical fiction, a careful blend of fact and fiction, “The Long Arm of the Law” leads to a well-thought-out, inescapable conclusion— nothing short of brilliant, compelling and believable.My favorite few lines:
“What is it, though?”
“A delicacy.”
“I’d rather have chips.”
Amazon

Jack the Ripper : Long Arm of the Law
Amazon. 
By Pattimari Sheets (Diamond)

By Pattimari Sheets (Diamond) Cacciolfi (author of 30 books) - Published on Amazon.com
Format: Kindle Edition
Jack the Ripper: The Long Arm of the Law by Billy Helston is a story, although fiction yet based on the real story. I have read other books on the Ripper, but Helston has done an excellent job of writing this story and making me want to read more of his books. He kept me reading and wanting more after I finished the book. Great job Billy. I rate this book with a five star because it is worthy of the highest ratings.
Pattimari, Therapist, Author
Amazon

Jack the Ripper : Long Arm of the Law
By Terri Parsons - Published on Amazon.com.
Fun Fictional Ripper Tale 10 Jun. 2016
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
A fictional take on the Ripper. The story is told from the POV of the Ripper and gives clues to the motive and reasons he avoided capture. It goes far beyond the canonical victims and merges with the victims of The Bank Holiday murders and The Thames Torso killings. Inserted in the story are many historical accounts and interesting facts.
Amazon

London Vampire : Bloody Streets
I felt I needed another fix from this fascinating writer, so I hunted down this dark, sensuous little vampire tale set in London during the time of the Jack the Ripper murders.
Master George returns home suddenly from a European tour suffering from an unspecified illness. He retreats to his bedroom with the curtains drawn against the daylight. But the contagion/infection spreads like a lurgy among the servants: first Eliza, then William… and in Whitechapel, women are being feasted upon and drained of their blood…
It’s the voluptuousness of the prose that lifts this story above the commonplace. Potent images of sensory gratification are set alongside scenes of death and bodily decay. I was reminded of Tanith Lee – the same decadent sensibility, the same exquisite blend of myth, Gothic horror, and erotic supernatural fantasy. The finest passages in the book are the most lusciously perverted and the most horribly gruesome. Everything dribbles and throbs with abnormal lust! Fingers are plunged into pots of strawberry jam and veins haemorrhage onto fresh white sheets. Meanwhile, Buck’s Row and Hanbury Street fall prey to the beautiful biting machines.
A delicious piece of macabre fiction. A sensuous vampire tale set in London during the time of the Jack the Ripper murders. Master George returns home suddenly from a European tour suffering from an unspecified illness. He retreats to his bedroom with the curtains drawn against the daylight. But the infection spreads among the servants: first Eliza, then William . . . and in Whitechapel, women are being feasted upon and drained of their blood . . . A decadent blend of myth, Gothic horror, and erotic, supernatural fantasy.
Ripperologist NO 151 Ripper Fiction Reviews, DAVID GREEN


Purgatory : Heaven Won't Wait.
“delightful… engrossing… great fun…” 
I love writing one word blurbs for a really good book, and Purgatory by Billy Helston qualifies. There’s plenty here to like in this short novel about wiccans and more than one pythoness. Sadly, witches of the modern era have given up their cauldrons, eyes of newt and broomsticks—all the tools of the trade that made them so lovable.
Witches of the distant past (and I’m not talking a nose-twitching Samantha Stevens) are far more interesting, warts and all. They worked very hard at their craft back in the mid-16th century, and, as the reader will find: in present day England. Don’t expect a story targeted to the YA market.
Author Billy Helston adds plenty of blood and guts, bawdiness, and timely social commentary to her cauldron of fiction. Sometimes over the top, Purgatory is also very funny with humor ranging from subtle to near-slapstick. As with any book, it takes a few paragraphs to appreciate the cadence of the author. Once you’re in sync, you’ll find an effortless writing style, and at times I felt myself in the midst an epic poem or bardic verse.
The author also excels at dialogue: short, sharp and usually barbed. “Accept, don’t question,” says Elspeth, one of the main protagonists, and this is excellent advice to the reader. With a smidgen of patience, all will be revealed. My favorite character, you ask? The ever-philosophical Rita the Rat who is missing her tail and has a bit of brain exposed to the raw atmosphere. 
Amazon. 
M.K Alexander -- author.