''Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem'' (published in the United States as ''The Trial of Elizabeth Cree'') is a 1994 novel by the English author

Peter Ackroyd Peter Ackroyd (born 5 October 1949) is an English biographer, novelist and critic with a specialist interest in the history and culture of London. For his novels about English history and culture and his biographies of, among others, William ...

. It is a murder mystery framed within a story featuring real historical characters, and set in a recreation of

Victorian London During the 19th century, London grew enormously to become a global city of immense importance. It was the largest city in the world from about 1825, the world's largest port, and the heart of international finance and trade. Railways connecting ...

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 Limehouse is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It is east of Charing Cross, on the northern bank of the River Thames. Its proximity to the river has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains through ...

, 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 Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer w ...

. Fact and fiction blend as

Dan Leno George Wild Galvin (20 December 1860 – 31 October 1904), better known by the stage name Dan Leno, was a leading English music hall comedian and musical theatre actor during the late Victorian era. He was best known, aside from his music hall a ...

, king of the music-hall comedians, is dragged unwittingly into the investigation of some of London's most notorious murders.

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

and

George Gissing George Robert Gissing (; 22 November 1857 – 28 December 1903) was an English novelist, who published 23 novels between 1880 and 1903. His best-known works have reappeared in modern editions. They include '' The Nether World'' (1889), '' New Gr ...

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".

Adaptations

In 2015, it was announced that ''

The Limehouse Golem ''The Limehouse Golem'' is a 2016 British horror-mystery film directed by Juan Carlos Medina from a screenplay by Jane Goldman. The film, an adaptation of Peter Ackroyd's 1994 murder mystery novel ''Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem'', stars Ol ...

'', a film adaptation based on the book was planned, starring

Olivia Cooke Olivia Kate Cooke (born 27 December 1993) is an English actress. In television, she has starred as Emma Decody in the thriller '' Bates Motel'' (2013–2017), Becky Sharp in the period drama ''Vanity Fair'' (2018), and Alicent Hightower in th ...

Bill Nighy William Francis Nighy (; born 12 December 1949) is an English actor. Nighy started his career with the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool and made his London debut with the Royal National Theatre starting with '' The Illuminatus!'' in 1977. There he ...

and

Douglas Booth Douglas John Booth (born 9 July 1992) is an English actor and musician. He first came to public attention following his performance as Boy George in the BBC Two film ''Worried About the Boy'' (2010). He also starred in the BBC adaptations of ' ...

, with a script written by

Jane Goldman Jane Loretta Anne Goldman''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 11 June 1970) is an English screenwriter, author and producer. With Matthew Vaughn, she co-wrote the screenplays of '' Kings ...

, to be directed by Juan Carlos Medina.

The film The Film is a 2005 Indian thriller film directed by Junaid Memon also produced along with Amitabh Bhattacharya. The film stars Mahima Chaudhry, Khalid Siddiqui, Ananya Khare, Chahat Khanna, Ravi Gossain, Vaibhav Jhalani and Vivek Madan in lea ...

was released in September 2017. The opera ''Elizabeth Cree'' by

Kevin Puts Kevin Matthew Puts (born January 3, 1972) is an American composer, best known for winning a Pulitzer Prize in 2012 for his first opera, ''Silent Night''. Early life and education Puts was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and grew up in Alma, Michi ...

and Mark Campbell, based on the novel, was given its world premiere by

Opera Philadelphia Opera Philadelphia (prior to 2013 Opera Company of Philadelphia (OCP)) is an American opera company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is the city's only company producing grand opera. The organization produces one festival in September (Festival O ...

in September 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem 1994 British novels English novels British mystery novels Golem Novels set in London Novels by Peter Ackroyd British novels adapted into films Novels adapted into operas Sinclair-Stevenson books

Plot summary

Reception

Adaptations

See also

References