Winner of Killer Nashville's 2019 Silver Falchion Award for Mystery and Edgar Finalist for Best First Novel, its audiobook won Audiofile Magazine's Earphone Award for Mystery and Suspense. Recently named as a "Recommended Read" by the Arthur Conan Doyle Estate.   This debut novel is the first in a series starring the real-life author and suffragette Margaret Harkness, continued in  Queen's Gambit .   "Ardent feminism and cerebral detection face down the Ripper in the fog-shrouded streets of London:  a feast for lovers of historical crime !"   --Laurie R. King, author of  The Beekeeper's Apprentice  and  Island of the Mad   " Arthur Conan Doyle chasing after Jack the Ripper?  Bradley Harper makes this irresistible pairing come alive. Ingenious in its premise and plotting, impressive in its unique forensic precision, infectious in its overflowing passion for the subject matter,  A Knife in the Fog  will be relished by fans of historical fiction, Sherlock Holmes, and Ripper literature.  A debut novel worth falling for. "    --Matthew Pearl, author of  The Dante Chamber Physician Arthur Conan Doyle takes a break from his practice to assist London police in tracking down Jack the Ripper in this debut novel and series starter. September 1888. A twenty-nine-year-old Arthur Conan Doyle practices medicine by day and writes at night. His first Sherlock Holmes story, A Study in Scarlet, although gaining critical and popular success, has only netted him twenty-five pounds. Embittered by the experience, he vows to never write another "crime story." A messenger arrives with a mysterious summons from former Prime Minister William Gladstone, offering one month's employment to assist the Metropolitan Police as a "consultant" in their hunt for the serial killer soon to be known as Jack the Ripper. Doyle agrees on the stipulation his old professor of surgery, Professor Joseph Bell--Doyle's inspiration for Sherlock Holmes--agrees to work with him.  The two are joined by Miss Margaret Harkness, an author residing in the East End who knows how to use a Derringer and serves as their guide and companion. Pursuing leads through the dank alleys and courtyards of Whitechapel, they come upon the body of a savagely murdered fifth victim and it soon becomes clear that the hunters have become the hunted.  Come join the creator of Sherlock Holmes as he matches wits with the man who wields... a knife in the fog.      Winner of Killer Nashville's 2019 Silver Falchion Award for Mystery and Edgar Finalist for Best First Novel, its audiobook won Audiofile Magazine's Earphone Award for Mystery and Suspense. This debut novel is the first in a series starring the real-life author and suffragette Margaret Harkness, continued in Queen's Gambit . "Ardent feminism and cerebral detection face down the Ripper in the fog-shrouded streets of London: a feast for lovers of historical crime !" --Laurie R. King, author of The Beekeeper's Apprentice and Island of the Mad " Arthur Conan Doyle chasing after Jack the Ripper? Bradley Harper makes this irresistible pairing come alive. Ingenious in its premise and plotting, impressive in its unique forensic precision, infectious in its overflowing passion for the subject matter, A Knife in the Fog will be relished by fans of historical fiction, Sherlock Holmes, and Ripper literature. A debut novel worth falling for. " --Matthew Pearl, author of The Dante Chamber Bradley Harper is a retired US Army Colonel and pathologist who has performed over two-hundred autopsies and some twenty forensic investigations. A life-long fan of Sherlock Holmes, he did intensive research for this debut novel, A Knife in the Fog , including a trip to London's East End with noted Jack the Ripper historian Richard Jones. Harper's first novel was published in October 2018 and was a finalist for a 2019 Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America for Best First Novel by an American Author and winner of Killer Nashville's coveted Silver Falchion in the Mystery category. The audiobook won Audiofile Magazine's 2019 Earphone Award for Mystery and Suspense. CHAPTER ONE THE COURIER   Thursday, September 20, 1888   It began in September of 1888, the month hastening into autumn. I was closing my clinic in Portsmouth for the day when a stranger arrived without an appointment. I asked the nature of his ailment, and he surprised me by responding that he was not there for a medical consultation but was serving as a messenger, handing me his card, which identified him as Sergeant Major (Retired) Henry Chambers, courier.   His erect carriage and regulation grooming were in character with his previous occupation and rank, as were his clothes, which were well-made but unobtrusive. When I requested the nature of his message, he handed over a thick envelope addressed to me.   Within I found a ten-pound note and a letter written on thick bond paper bearing the letterhead of former prime minister