The Dracula Dossier-James Reese

The Dracula Dossier
James Reese
Morrow, Oct 2008, $24.95
ISBN 9780061233548

In 1888 Oscar Wilde's mother and William Butler Yeats invites Bram Stoker to attend the Order of the Golden Dawn indoctrination ritual. Initially fascinated by the ceremony, Bram and other attendees are stunned when something goes wrong.

Visiting American patent medicine salesman Francis Tumblety, who also attended, has become possessed by the evil Egyptian god Set. Tumblety-Set is methodically killing Whitechapel prostitutes using his surgeon’s skills on these misfortunate women. Scotland Yard is stymied as there appears no motive for the homicdes, but Stoker is seen in the area and his knife used as the murder weopon. He becomes the prime suspect. However, Stoker believes he knows the reasons behind the slaughters; he plans to confront Francis-Set whom he believes he has seen stalk the shadows of Whitechapel before someone else dies.

The story line starts off purposely boring to bring a journal methodolgy as the underpinning to the tale; once established, the plot accelerates and never look back. Tumblety as an evilly possessed Ripper makes for a perfect opponent to the Dracula author with both characters fully developed. References to the period, the Ripper serial killings and the literary works of Stoker round out an excellent late nineteenth century thriller.

Harriet Klausner