"Mayhem"

"Mayhem" is a novel by Sarah Pinborough set in the mid to late 1880's during the time of Jack the Ripper and another lesser known killer whose crimes were dubbed the "Torso Murders."

Pinborough weaves fact and fiction into a tale of detective work done by three men working together -  Dr.Thomas Bond, a unique priest he meets, and a supposedly demented man who sees visions.  The unlikely pair seek to find the truth of the torso murders and it leads them to hunt a "Upir" which is a vampire that can operate in daylight.  Since the Upir has to find a host in order to feed and stay "alive," they are really seeking that host that they must stop to stop the killings.

Sometimes the shift in chapters between characters and times caused me some confusion but, when I got into the swing of it, the book provided a pleasant tale and an insight into a history of murders I had not heard of before.  pazt