The Death Collector
Department of Unclassified Artefacts • Book 1
by Justin Richards
Why You'll Love This
Victorian London, reanimated dinosaurs loose in the streets, and three mismatched teens are the only ones who know — this one moves fast and never apologizes for it.
- Great if you want: fast-paced Victorian adventure with monsters and young heroes
- The experience: breezy and propulsive — reads like a Saturday serial in the best way
- The writing: Richards keeps things lean and plot-driven, no atmospheric detours
- Skip if: you want depth or complexity — this plays it gleefully straightforward
About This Book
Victorian London is already a city of fog, secrets, and unease — but Justin Richards pushes deeper into the shadows, conjuring a world where the dead don't stay dead and the streets hide something far worse than ordinary criminals. When a pickpocket, a museum assistant, and a sharp-eyed young woman find themselves drawn into the same dangerous orbit, the stakes quickly become impossible to ignore: a ruthless industrialist with ambitions that defy nature itself, and monsters — both human and prehistoric — already loose in the city. The premise blends Gothic menace with adventure in a way that feels genuinely unsettling rather than merely playful.
Richards writes with a brisk, confident hand, keeping the pages turning through crisp plotting and a trio of young protagonists who feel distinct and credible rather than interchangeable. The Victorian setting does real work here — it's atmospheric without becoming costume, grounding the more outlandish elements in period texture and social detail. Readers who enjoy their historical fiction with a dark, propulsive edge will find this opening installment builds a world worth returning to.