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I‘m so torn about this book! It was wonderfully atmospheric and I loved the characters, especially the relationship between Inspector Cutter and Bliss. However, I thought the mystery was weak and depended too much on cryptic conversations and convenient confessions.
This was my #doublespin for January @TheAromaofBooks - I don‘t think I‘ve ever been so ahead of the game in Bookspin Bingo!

Safe?‘ Miss Tatton glanced at him, but kept up her pace. ‘Ain‘t much that‘s safe, young master, when a girl must work for a living.

This story in Audio, was hard to.follow and didn't keep my engaged. I loved Gideon and Cutter and thought that if the story was just the two of them, it might have been a decent story. I didn't like the Octavia character at all and found the whole.story hard to follow. I wasn't engaged in the mystery at all.

“Fate is a fairy tale, my darling. In life, there is only opportunity and advantage.”
#quotes

I adore everything Victorian so this book was great for me set in 1893. The story begins with a seamstress and mysterious death. Gideon Bliss arrives in London at his uncle‘s request only to get involved with acerbic Sgt. Cutter as he investigates missing working class girls. Octavia H. is reporter who is investigating Spiriters. There are fantastical elements. I really enjoyed this mystery, but I did find fault with a few things:the title, as👇

I quite enjoyed this rather strange mystery, particularly the very cranky Inspector Cutter. I could have done without the supernatural elements, but overall they didn‘t detract from my enjoyment of the story. I do wish the flap summary would have mentioned the fantasy aspects — if you‘re expecting a mystery anchored in reality, you‘d hate this one.

Currently #immersionreading — this sounds good but has low Litsy ratings, so we shall see…

The Author is a master of metaphor and the bones of this story are impressive. Unfortunately, the characters were flat. They did things no living, breathing person would do but they made impressive game pieces. The characters and atmosphere in the last 50 pages were what I had hoped for throughout.

I broke my usual “If you‘re aren‘t liking the book, give it 50 pages before bailing” rule. I wasn‘t hooked at all and though by page 90 I started to like it, it still wasn‘t a favorite. This is a solid “so-so”, some parts were good and other parts dragged.

33% in and for some reason it‘s not hooked me. 🤔 The narrator is quite good, so maybe I‘ll try again some other time.

Inspector Cutter is such an ass, but he has saved me from DNF-ing this book 😂 I‘m 92 pages in and was thinking of returning it to the library, but I‘ll keep reading just to see what else he says (and does)

This gave me the same vibes that I got from The Thirteenth Tale and the Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, where there's a mystery at hand but not everything is as it seems and there's an element of the supernatural that is running the show. O'Donnell does amazing things with words, creating charming characters and vivid scenery for the story to unfold. Give me more of Octavia & Lady Ada, in particular, please!

The tagged book was my favorite in January. 16 books total with standouts ranging from a MG book about a girl and a polar bear and the sequel to The Incredibly Dead Pets of Rex Dexter to the launch of a new Star Wars series and Star-crossed lovers in New York City. Lots of comics too. Can‘t wait to see what February brings!

Seances, hansom cabs and gentleman‘s clubs, a Scotland Yard Inspector with a personal story, a female reporter and a series of strange goings and deaths all feature to create a rather grimy nineteeth century London. There‘s a touch of the supernatural and at times the pace goes a little wonky - but a higely enjoyable read. One quibble - the ending is too focused on setting up a sequel to really do justice to this book.

If I keep perfectly still (and the postman doesn‘t knock!) I might get another chapter in! 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼
#weekendvibes

“ I know what his name was, you chattering streak of gannet‘s shite”
Oh - I love a good Victorian curse! 🤣

Missing women in Victorian London may seem like an overused trope but that didn‘t stop Paraic O'Donnell from writing a new and innovative tale that pulls you in from page one. THE HOUSE ON VESPER SANDS has characters as vivid as those of Charles Dickens and a mystery worthy of the incomparable Sherlock Holmes.

This was most excellent. O‘Donnell vividly recreates late 19th c. London & populates it with residents high & low, murder & mayhem & two fantastic characters—Cutter & Bliss—charged with investigating a series of mysterious deaths. The banter between Cutter & Bliss throughout the book is a definite highlight. Brooding, atmospheric, cloying, the mystery is all that & more. I have one small (teeny tiny) quibble but this is still a definite pick.

It‘s arrived 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼#bookmail

Can‘t wait to swap notes with you @TracyReadsBooks !

Sooo good.....sooo hard to put down but...must.....do.....some.....chores.....before.....reading.....more. 😠 Good thing we‘re heading into a weekend because I really am enjoying this book and am definitely looking forward to more time for reading...after I do chores of course...have to do the chores...

Another gift from @WanderingBookaneer — my wife knows what I like! This one looks amazing!

A Victorian-inspired mystery with a wry detective, a Cambridge dropout sidekick, and a clever (female) journalist. Yes, please!

Got an arc from Tin House, I‘m about 50 pages in and it is addicting.

I can‘t. The characters are too saccharine and droll and ever so smackably witty. It just isn‘t my thing.

I received an arc of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It rare that I wish a book had an extra 50-100 pages as i loved this gothic victorian crime novel with a supernatural thread introducing 3 great characters in insp cutter, gideon bliss+octavia hillingdon investigating creepy abduction of yng women, comic and atmospheric just needed more of the background plot, if there is another id definitely read on. Now is the time when the bks of yr come out so this weekend i enjyd looking for some 2020 rds.

A gothic, historical mystery. Set in London during 1893 a young seamstress arrives at the mansion of Lord Strythe to sew a gown- she can only work at night, in a locked attic with the butler sitting outside the door. She has a plan of escape,she begins to sew, but not on the gown. By the end of the evening she is gone. Plot driven,strong characters I cared about. The cover blurb says Wilkie Collins meets Conan Doyle and that‘s pretty close.

O‘Donnell‘s first book,Maker of Swans, was a gorgeous surprise. His writing style has changed to fit Victorian London but it is equally densely wonderful and, very funny too！A failed divinity student, a vicar, a bull of a policeman, a curious woman reporter (“She would encourage the right sort of people to say the wrong sort of thing.”)are joined by a cigar smoking woman who‘s had enough,to unravel the evil Spriters,who steal souls to keep young.