Alex Grecian has once again delivered to us a chilling historical thriller with a whirlwind of a plot, a diverse cast of characters and a climax that will leave you sitting on the edge of your seat. 
 In his previous book, The Yard, which is the first book in his Scotland Yard Murder Squad series, we are introduced to Inspector Walter Day and Constable Nevil Hammersmith. In The Yard, Inspector Day is new and Constable Hammersmith is a workaholic both set on finding the killer of a fellow Inspector. 
 In The Black Country, Grecian's second novel in the SYMS series, we once again meet up with Day and Hammersmith as they take on the case of a missing family. Only this time, it is not the streets of London they walk. It is the Black Country. A town that is slowly sinking into the ground. A place of superstition. Of secrets. Of children's rhymes and of too many unanswered questions. 
 At first when reading The Black Country I wasn't sure exactly where it was going. Like in the first book, we have multiple storylines to follow and we are introduced to at least three different story lines within the first few chapters. We follow Day and Hammersmith, the storyline of the two Price children and an unknown American man. The introduction of these different points of view were a little disconcerting at first simply because I wasn't sure how they were all fitting in. But then the plot took on a life of its own a chapter or two later and I was content to simply ride along with it. 
 The writing itself was fluid and easily picked me up and dumped me into the middle of The Black Country. There were times when the story itself was maddening just because I was as confused as the Day and Hammersmith and I wanted answers! But with all good mystery books, you have to be patient, which really pays off in the end with The Black Country. I read this book in two sittings due to time constraints. Otherwise I most surely would have read this in one. 
 The Black Country is much more...gruesome I suppose than The Yard. It almost seems like at times Grecian was going for the shock factor and that some of the deaths that occurred weren't really necessary. (view spoiler)[ Like Constable Grimes! Where was the resolution with his killing? What was the point of it all? His corpse is just hanging out in the woods and no one pauses to think about what happened to him? And Rose the innkeeper getting impaled with that tree! Just...what?! (hide spoiler)] Actually that is my biggest complaint with this book, is that he went for the shock factor. People that didn't need to die did for no other reason aside from upping the body count. 
 The climax in this books really gets your heart pounding (view spoiler)[ I mean, it's the little girl! That creepy little girl! (hide spoiler)] and when you begin to get a glimmer as to what is going on, you hope against hope that it's not what you're thinking. But it is and it's disturbing which makes the book all that much darker. The ending...I do have some problems with (view spoiler)[Mostly with Grey eyes and Campbell. There was no resolution between them! (hide spoiler)] It felt like there were some loose ends that I'm not sure will be tied up in the next installment in this series or if we're simply going to be left wondering. It seemed that things wrapped up a bit too...conveniently but in just as dark a fashion as the plot was building up to. 
 Overall this book is exactly what I was looking for; a dark historical mystery that would captivate me and give me goosebumps. Although, I would recommend this to more mature audiences due to some of the subject matter. (view spoiler)[ Mostly the fact that the five year old killed her brother and then was killed by her father (hide spoiler)] 
 If you're looking for something to keep you up at night and to make you question the very basics of human nature then I would highly recommend this book. Even though the death toll may be high I feel like this would be a great Halloween read for a dark and stormy night if you'll allow the cliche.