I read a lot of crime novels and some of them are very good. Occasionally I'll read one that completely dazzles me. "The Butcher's Hook" by Janet Ellis is one of those books that made me perspire with shock and astonishment. And this is her literary debut! Amazing. The story takes place in Georgian England. A young woman named Anne Jaccob is living a rather tedious life with her parents. Her mother is a ghost-like presence-the house has been in a state of depression and mourning for a while due