The Fiend in Human

Steven Greenhalgh is the research librarian in the Department of Public
Health Sciences at the University of Alberta.

Set in 1852 London, The Fiend in Human takes the reader on a journey
through the darker side of respectable Victorian society.

Edward Whitty is a journalist with The Falcon and the man who coined
the nickname Chokee Bill. Chokee Bill is a serial killer who preys on
the lower-class women of Victorian London. In each case, he leaves
behind a scarf wrapped around the victim’s neck, strangulation being
the method of murder. Henry Owler sells crime verses and hopes to
capture a confession from Ryan William, the man arrested for being
Chokee Bill. When Whitty and Owler meet, the journalist cannot resist
the publicity he will receive should he obtain a confession from
William, but is William the true killer? Perhaps not. The two men set
out to find the killer and save an innocent man from being hanged.

The Fiend in Human is both a mystery thriller and a poignant social
commentary worthy of Dickens. When Whitty visits the decaying slums of
The Holy Land, a lower-class neighbourhood in London, the poor and the
downtrodden quickly draw the reader’s sympathies. Gray’s novel, with
its vivid plot, suitable dialogue, and fascinating characters, is as
much a critique of today’s sensationalist media and criminal trials as
of social justice in Victorian England.