The Blue Girl

Scotland Yard's Murder Squad #2.5

by Alex Grecian

From the author of the nationally bestselling suspense novel The Yard and the forthcoming The Black Country, both novels of Scotland Yard’s Murder Squad, comes a short story of the Squad, a cautionary Be careful what you wish for.

October 1889: Constable Colin Pringle is a man of few illusions, but there is something about the girl in the canal, her skin a delicate shade of blue, that bothers him more than he expected it would. Perhaps it’s because Dr. Kingsley’s forensic examination suggests that she was a just-married bride. Someone needs to find out just who she was and what happened to her, Pringle decides, and he sets out to do exactly that. But the answers will not be anything like what he expects. In fact, they will shake his view of the world to the core.

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Crime, Historical, Historical Mystery, Short Stories

41 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 4, 2013

About the author

Grecian is the author of several bestselling thrillers, including THE SAINT OF WOLVES AND BUTCHERS, and five novels featuring Scotland Yard's Murder Squad: THE YARD, THE BLACK COUNTRY, THE DEVIL'S WORKSHOP, THE HARVEST MAN, and LOST AND GONE FOREVER, plus the original Murder Squad ebook, THE BLUE GIRL.

He also created the six-volume graphic novel series PROOF, and the two-part graphic novel RASPUTIN.

He currently lives in the American Midwest with his wife and son. And a dog. And a tarantula.

Reviews

[Amy H. Sturgis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short story follows London Constable Colin Pringle as he investigates the death of a woman found floating in the canal. Pringle isn't an inspector - he's not even what he himself considers to be a particularly good man - but in the end he cares and finds answers for the doomed girl who died on her wedding day.

This story is part of the Scotland Yard's Murder Squad series, and its highlights involve the familiar figures of forensic pathologist Dr. Kingley and his daughter Fiona as they do their sad work in the morgue. The tale feels a bit too rushed and neat at the end; I wish it could've been longer and more detailed, especially since the psychological angle of the story held so much dark promise. That said, Grecian excels at pathos and the human side of the equation of death, and this comes through clearly in the atmospheric and moving description of the discovery and "rescue" of the victim's body from the water and the way the crime touched those involved.

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Blue Girl was exactly what I needed-a palate cleanser after the my last (miserable) read. This is part of Alex Grecian's Scotland Murder Squad series, and features one of my favorite tropes: the rehabilitation of a scoundrel. Colin Pringle has become a Constable because he wants to get laid. Ladies love the uniform he tells us-probably not the most noble of motivations. But when Pringle gets involved in an investigation into the murder of a drowned girl, someone no one gives a fig about, everything changes.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The "Blue Girl" is well-written novella and nice addition to the outstanding Scotland Yard Murder Squad series. This short story is a poignant story whose central figure is a secondary member of the murder squad, Constable Colin Pringle. In the first book, The Yard, Pringle appeared to be a young man more interested in his appearance and attracting pretty women with his immaculate blue uniform.

In this story the reader gets a glimpse into the charming, cheeky young man that Pringle was and the compassionate, dedicated detective Pringle might have become. The story opens with Pringle at the standing on the banks of a canal where a young girl's body is discovered floating in her wedding dress. 1889 London is rife with murders and when other detectives are busy with a rash of murders, Dr. Kingsley, who has arrived on the scene, thinks that the girl was murdered and recruits Constable Pringle with helping identify the Blue Girl and finding out how she ended up dead in the canal on her wedding day.

This story was a nice homage to Colin Pringle, we go to see him in a in a richer light and it was his perseverance to seek dignity and justice on the behalf of a the dead girl which gave a glimpse into the promise of kind of detective that he might have been. I really enjoyed this poignant short story.

[Deanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short read with one of the minor characters in the series, a filler while I wait for the next book.
The crime itself is interesting, with the body of a young woman found in the river, but who is she and how did she die?
The policeman who investigates doesn't come across as the most likable man, he's vain and only interested in meeting a local girl. However this case does seem to affect him, and hopefully he'll make more appearances in the series.

[Albert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Title - The Blue Girl (Murder Squad #2.5)

Author - Alex Grecian

Genre - Mystery, Short Story

Story Summary -

In 1889, London, Scotland Yard's newly formed Murder Squad is extremely busy. So busy that when a young girl's body washes up on shore, it is left to Constable Colin Pringle to determine if a crime was committed. Teamed with Dr. Bernard Kingsley and his daughter Fiona, Pringle investigates the death of...

"...The girl's skin was a delicate shade of blue, the color of a robin's egg. Her white dress rippled and her outstretched arms and legs spread out over the canal's surface, one of her hands resting on a furry pale frond of milfoil that stretched up from the bottom of the canal seeking the hidden sun..."

"...Of course. What do you think did her?"
"Well, it wasn't only bad luck. Take a look at her throat."
I looked and saw deep purple marks in the translucent flesh. "Strangled?"
"Indeed. It looks as though someone choked her and threw her away."
"She wasn't an especially pretty girl, was she? For a bride, I mean."
"Every bride is special, Constable. This one is no exception..."

"...I know it's difficult, but these things happen every day."
"But it isn't every day this time. It was her wedding day. When she was killed, I mean. Someone killed her on her wedding day."
"It would seem so."
"She put sixpence in her shoe and she picked out a white dress and she was getting married. And then someone choked the life out of her, and if the last thing she saw was her new husband, there was no love for her in his eyes. She was discarded like rubbish, tossed in the water and left there."
"It is a shame."
"It's more than a shame, Mr. Pringle. Its a crime. And don't you have something to do with solving crimes?"

Unable to reach out to any of the Detectives on the Murder Squad, Pringle sets out himself to identify the Blue Girl. From there to find out who and why she was brought to such an end. That it was a murder Dr. Kingsley has not doubt. But by whom and why? Who would kill a young girl on her wedding day?

Review -

I thoroughly enjoyed this small mystery. It reminded me of the quick snippets of murder that filled the old Ellery Queen magazines of the seventies and eighties. What is also so good here is that you get a glimpse of the world that Alex Grecian has created with his first novel The Yard and the follow up, The Black Country.
In The Blue Girl, Grecian does not use one of his main characters from the novels, instead makes the central figure one of the bit players; Constable Pringle. This is refreshing as he breathes more life into Pringle than you ever glimpse in the novels and Pringles attitude and approach to solving the murder is so different from what the detectives would have done.
Dr. Kingsley and Fiona are central here as they are in the novels but it is Pringle who carries the story. At first approaching the death of the young bride as a nuisance and then as a challenge. More out of dislike for those involved then any desire to bring the killer to justice.
In the end, the crime and its aftermath opens Pringles eyes up to himself and his abilities as a policeman. Something we are not sure is a good thing.
A very good read.

[Ronna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a short story by the author of THE YARD, a book about the Murder Squad that began the Scotland Yard. Inspector Pringles gets a case of a "blue girl" found by the riverside. She's just been married the day before, yet someone wanted her dead.

Though this is a short story, the clues and procedurals were well done. Forensics were used to solve this murder. Something new for the time. This is a fun introduction to the Murder Squad Mysteries.

[Sebastian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, strictly speaking this doesn't really count as a "Murder Squad" short story because most of the characters from the main series weren't involved but this novella provided an interesting (an in some way even bookish) mystery and it was also fun to experience this case through the eyes of a minor character.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though this is a very short story, you can still tell your reading a Murder Squad book.
I enjoyed his ability to create a mood and give us a sense of the characters in such a short time.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although it was a pretty short story like all of the other Murder Squad books it was well written.Kind of had a Sherlock Holmes feel to it.Cant wait for the next book in the series.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

'The Blue Girl' is the story of a young woman found floating in the river, whose death has been deemed too commonplace for Scotland Yard to spare an Inspector for, and of Constable Pringle, a man so concerned with superficialities he cannot even be bothered to fetch her body from the water, as doing such might muddy his trousers. But for all he is admittedly vain, Pringle does have a heart (though one has to do their fair share of digging to excavate it) and is eventually moved by the apathy of the officials towards the fate of the blue girl.

In what evolves into just as much of a character study as it is a tightly plotted mystery, Pringle takes it upon himself to care, as he words it, and though he may be something of a rake, he's sharp witted enough to cleverly follow a veritable trail of crumbs to where they lead - a seemingly abandoned old mansion and its unnervingly strange occupants.

The characters develop through a slow process as the plot unfolds, the story is fresh and original, with a solution that was nearly as disturbing as was the crime. The ending, I confess, gave me a shiver. An absolutely wonderful read.

[Nicole Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting interlude. I'm glad I read it, but I liked the main series better so far.

Favorite Quotes:
- “Luck is for people who don’t know any better,”
- I’m not a bad-looking fellow, charming enough and, if there is work to be done, I prefer to shirk it. I generally get away with ducking responsibility through the judicious use of a wink and a smile. I’m doing my best to be a better person. When it occurs to me. I suppose I’m very much like everybody else in England, but at least I’m honest about myself.
- the buildings seemed smaller for their silence.
- “It’s not too late. It’s never too late, you know. Until it is, of course.”
- “The body is only a shell, Constable,” Kingsley said. “Only a machine that has wound down and ceased its work.”

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In October of 1889 Constable Colin Pringle is walking the beat in his good shoes when he is called to a woman in the water, dead. She is blue. Dr. Kingsley, the forensic doctor is called. He tells Colin that the woman was dead before she went in the water. Colin is usually lazy but this case bothers him. He is determined to find out what happened. The woman was blue and dressed in a white gown so she had been married the day before. Colin works to find the answers.

[Holly Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Alex Grecian's work this is a short story about what should have been the happiest day in a girl's life her wedding day but instead a girl ends up in an icy canal dead drowned and when Constable Pringle tracks down the bride groom he finds a brother and sister living in the same house and finds the answer to how the girl became deceased..... 41 pages

[Ronna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very short but still a good story.

[Megmar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little novella that has absolutely inspired me to read the entire rest of this series immediately

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice short story

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit disappointing compared to the first two books. But this was just a short story and a quick read.

[Bridget · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sad and quick

[Neil Braim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written short

There is something special about these set of books, and although this was a short it was still very enjoyable.

[Annette Meier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting novella between larger, more involved cases. Still had that edge to it which is what makes this series so intriguing.

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and straightforward, but a nice addition to the Murder Squad series.

[Mary Krisann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun quick read

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this whole series sad when it ended and enjoyed reading this short story and hearing the constables thoughts once again.

[Dan Blackley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short story from the author of the Scotland murder squad the blue girl is a interesting story about a girl who’s found in the water blue and how she got there

[Kristy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Almost forgot I was reading this series awhile back. I’ve been waiting for this short story in order to continue the rest of the series.

[Cassie Holmes-Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a 4-star rating from me, only because the book is in first-person, which I do not fancy.

[Lindsay (LindsayReads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Blue Girl is officially listed as #2.5 in Grecian’s Murder Squad series, but I decided to review it first because the story takes place before the opening novel in the series, The Yard. But, I suggest reading The Yard, which I will review tomorrow, before The Blue Girl. The Yard provides the detailed character development and established relationships that readers should know before jumping in to the short story. Also, Grecian should commend his cover artist because the covers for each book are amazing! This is my favorite; it is morbidly beautiful and it gives me chills each time I see it.

On to the review! The Blue Girl is told as an entry in Constable Colin Pringle’s personal journal. It is written from his POV and follows his investigation for the killer of the blue bride. The story needed to be longer. Grecian did not have the space to tell the story and include his usual flare and descriptive language. The Blue Girl starts out in Grecian’s normal style as he shows us selflessness of destitute Londoners retrieving the girl’s body, but such descriptive language diminishes as the story progresses. I know that Colin Pringle is a vain, but good man from The Yard; he comes across as stuck up and almost whiny in this short story. I also didn’t feel like Pringle’s view of the world was rocked to the core upon discovering the truth behind the blue girl’s death. I could tell that he was disturbed by the outcome of the investigation but nothing more. The latter half of the story was missing the vibrant ‘showing’ language that makes Grecian’s novels so enjoyable. Hopefully his next short story will be longer.
Grecian’s secondary female characters are rather flat, both in The Yard and The Blue Girl. I expect this to change as he continues writing and building his experience. I’ll discuss Grecian’s writing style further in my review of The Yard.

Overall it is a good short story and I definitely did not expect the ending! I love Grecian’s characters and I really enjoy the time period of the Murder Squad novels. I recommend The Blue Girl as a fun read but I suggest you start with The Yard to get a better feel for the characters and Grecian’s writing style. Has anyone else read The Blue Girl?

Lindsay

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple, enjoyable little short story that actually precedes the events of the first book, but maybe should be read after the first book so it has more impact.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

My absolute favorite era is the late 1800s, around 1880 to 1899 to be roughly exact. The period of time where technology and science were starting to become a more common, and believable, thing that the average bloke understood and knew....even if it were a 'new' thing. Thus, I am always on the prowl for a book to read that covers this era, usually it ends up in some sort of criminal investigation story. Crime novels are not my favorite thing, but I will let that go if it takes place in this era.

I picked up this work while walking through our local book store today and seeing that a new book titled The Black Country was out, a little digging lead my to this short story that involves the same era, though not the same folks as that novel and it's predecessor, The Yard.

The Blue Girl is a nice, quick read, took me maybe an hour to read through and deals with a murder mystery and an average beat cop in London name Constable Pringle. The constable is all together not that likable character, which in and of itself is a rather interesting choice for the lead character, but he grows on you as you flip the pages. Essentially the tale is a girl dies, one of many in the city that evening, and no one really cares that she is gone...except for Pringle. There are a few twists and turns, just a couple given the short length. But it works, a nice little mystery that will wet your appetite for more from this author, which I suspect is the reason for its existence.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short story was interesting as it was told as an excerpt of Constable Pringle's diary. He was clearly affected by the death of a young girl whom is found in the canal.

I'm not a fan of short stories but I like to read series tie-ins and this was a good one. I do really like Gracian's writing style. With this short story, there was less of a historical feel to it than his novels but I guess that's just because of the length of the story and having to fit in all the details about the investigation.

After this little "taster", I think I will bump The Devil's Workshop further up my TBR (I've already bought it).