Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem

Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem
Author Peter Ackroyd
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Publisher Sinclair-Stevenson
Publication date
 1994
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages 282 pp
ISBN 1856195074
Preceded by The House of Doctor Dee
Followed by Blake

Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem is a 1994 novel by the English author Peter Ackroyd.[1] It is a murder mystery framed within a story featuring real historical characters, and set in a recreation of Victorian London.[2]

Plot summary

As Elizabeth Cree sits every day in a courtroom, on trial for the murder of her husband, the story moves from courthouse to music hall to the back alleys of Limehouse, a notorious district of Victorian London, teeming with the poorest of the poor, the most violent of criminals and helpless preyed-upon immigrants, following the trail of slaughter laid by the Golem, an almost mythical predecessor of Jack the Ripper. Fact and fiction blend as Dan Leno, king of the music-hall comedians, is dragged unwittingly into the investigation of some of London’s most notorious murders. Karl Marx and George Gissing are connected to the same crimes.

Reception

A review in The Independent on Sunday declared that "Ackroyd has pulled off the greatest coup of all, a foursquare crime novel as aesthetically pleasing as it is morally shocking". A review in The Observer called the novel "a flawlessly good read".[3][4]

Film adaptation

In 2015 it was announced that a film adaptation based on the book was planned, starring Olivia Cooke, Bill Nighy and Douglas Booth, with a script written by Jane Goldman, to be directed by Juan Carlos Medina. The film was completed in 2016 and is scheduled for release in September 2017.

References

  1. ↑ http://catalogue.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?dscnt=0&frbg=&scp.scps=scope%3A%28BLCONTENT%29&tab=local_tab&dstmp=1402500191259&srt=rank&ct=search&mode=Basic&vl%28488279563UI0%29=any&dum=true&tb=t&indx=1&vl%28freeText0%29=dan%20leno%20and%20the%20limehouse%20golem&vid=BLVU1&fn=search
  2. ↑ Book Review Peter Ackroyd by Sun Meilan | Humanities 360
  3. ↑ BOOK REVIEW / Pea Soupers and the Smell of Babbage: Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem - Peter Ackroyd: Sinclair Stevenson, 14.99 - Books - Arts and Entertainment - The Indepe...
  4. ↑ The Trial of Elizabeth Cree, or Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem by Peter Ackroyd — Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists


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