Return of the Nightmare

"I face death with honour."

Writer: Justin Richards

Format: Audio

Released: April 2015

Series: Jago & Litefoot 9.04

Featuring: Jago, Litefoot

Synopsis

There is a murderer loose aboard the ship. If Jago and Litefoot can solve the mystery of the strange fog and return to London, will that make matters better, or far worse? The answers lie deep in the past, and they soon learn that not everyone is who – or what – they might seem.

Verdict

Return of the Nightmare was a great story to conclude the ninth series of Jago & Litefoot! This has been a really consistent quartet of adventures and it has been nice to take our main characters away from the traditional Victorian London setting for the most part. Sure we returned to the infamous Red Tavern pub here but that was only briefly and the events were more concerned with what had happened at sea. The threat of an unseen creature was very good and I liked the suspicions of Litefoot from the off. They hadn't seen the deaths and there had also been no sighting of the creature. Might there be more than monstrous foul play at hand? It turned out to be the case which was very well presented. The way things started following on from the cliffhanger at the end of Island of Death with Riverstock being killed and mutilated in gruesome fashion was intriguing, and there was only one place to go to try and get some gossip of mysterious happenings. Getting to hear Ellie again as she tries to hold down the fort at the Red Tavern was a delight and I liked that she was eager to help. She didn't take too kindly to Aubrey and Fowler entering her place of employ and blowing a hole in the roof, even if it was as a means of warning the punters that their lives were in danger. I wasn't expecting to get an origin explanation for the mist we saw in The Flying Frenchmen series opener, but it was most welcomed. The tale of exploration between Aubrey and Fowler was fascinating and I liked how they had stolen a trinket. Now the creature wanted it back, but just regaining possession wasn't enough. It wanted to take out anyone who had even handled it which was a fun threat because of course both Jago and Litefoot fell into that category. Jago was more concerned with getting a pint to begin with though which was quite amusing and so befitting of his character, but after all they had been through on the cruise who could blame him? It had hardly been a relaxing experience! It was good to get Inspector Quick back involved and he's always a welcomed addition to Jago and Litefoot along with Ellie. It's a strong quartet of characters and I expect the landmark tenth series will focus more on them again after a little break from the norm this time around. Aubrey's story is a pretty emotional one and the slow burn of him actually being the one with the creature instead of the suspected Fowler was nicely played. I can't say I was massively surprised, but I appreciated the means it took to get there. It was inevitable then that he would be the one to save the day and that's exactly what happened with his sacrifice, one that thankfully didn't prove to be fatal. The mystery across London was strong throughout and I did like the scale of the threat. Jago and Litefoot taking things upon themselves to solve the situation was excellent and by now they are rather well versed in tackling nefarious threats. So much so that an intriguing direction looks set to take place in the next series with the adventures of Jago and Litefoot dating all the way back to Tulp and The Mahogany Murderers being requested to be novelised! A book of this kind is certainly something I would be interested in reading, and Jago and Litefoot were rather keen on the idea. I suspect there will be more than mere book sales as the impetus for hoping to right such a book, and how had the proposed author gone hidden for so long but knowing all about their adventures? I look forward to finding out! Overall though, a really strong finale to what has been a thoroughly entertaining series once again. The spinoff continues to shine. 

Rating: 8/10