The House on Vesper Sands by Paraic O'Donnell

It is the winter of 1893, and all over London the first of the snow is falling. It is falling as Esther Tull climbs onto a ledge above Half Moon Street, as she steadies herself and closes her eyes. It is falling as Gideon Bliss seeks shelter in a Soho church. Lying before the altar he finds Angie Tatton. She is at death's door, and barely able to speak. What little she does say is mysterious and troubling, and he wakes in the morning to find her gone. The snow is falling, too, as Octavia Hillingdon arrives at a gala ball in honour of the philanthropist Lord Strythe. She longs to write about matters of importance, but for now she must content herself with the society pages of the Mayfair Gazette. When Lord Strythe vanishes, Octavia is compelled to discover more. Gideon Bliss, meanwhile, finds himself pressed into the service of Inspector Cutter of Scotland Yard. Soon, they will all be drawn into the same mystery. Only Angie Tatton can lead them to the truth, and there are those in the shadows who do not want her found. Only she knows the dark secrets that Lord Strythe has kept, and what lies hidden at the house on Vesper Sands.

The atmosphere of this book was mind-blowing! The writing did an amazing job setting the scene, but I think that there was so much focus on the environment and the period accuracy that the plot and the character building fell flat. The mystery, which I thought was going to be the main plot point, didn't seem that important but the big reveal at the end did surprise me.

Thank you to HighBridge Audio and NetGalley for providing me with an audiobook copy to review.

I was provided a galley by Tin House in exchange for an honest review, which can be found below.

The The House on Vesper Sands was perhaps the perfect cozy winter read. While none of its elements seemed novel in isolation, each piece was executed exceedingly well, and the work as a whole is delightful. Taking place in the well-trod streets of Victorian London, the book tells the story of a student, a journalist, and a detective whose paths converge in hunting the truth behind the disappearances of several working class girls.

O'Donnell has the rare distinction of being an excellent prose stylist who is able to use his prose to propel his plot, rather than encumber it. I found myself racing through the book, with no run on sentences or dense constructions to impede my progress, and yet it was downright beautiful in parts, with every word seemingly perfectly placed throughout.

I was also pleased with the addition of a fantastical strain, which both enlivened the book and provided the impetus behind the central mystery. Without giving too much away, it reminded me of The Golden Compass, though O'Donnell certainly has a fresh take, putting it in service of a captivating, if heavy-handed, story of class.

Although it's been billed as a mystery and has a detective at its center, I would classify this novel as more of a crime thriller, such as the movie Se7en. The characters certainly do their legwork in tracking down the villains, but readers coming looking for a whodunnit with clues doled out along the way will, I think, be disappointed.

If you had asked me before reading this whether there were any fresh ideas to be had in the way misanthropic male detectives, I probably would have leaned towards “absolutely not.” And yet, Inspector Cutter is a welcome addition to the coterie. The combination of his fiery and cantankerous nature, which I would associate more with American detectives than the cold Sherlocks of Brit Lit, and his almost Wodehousian wit made for a truly fresh and enjoyable character.

Mrs. Cornish eyed them for a moment longer before standing aside. “Who's the young miss? Looks like death, she does. You ain't going to tell me she's a police officer and all?”“You are right there, Mrs. Cornish,” Cutter said. “I am not going to tell you.”

I highly recommend The House on Vesper Sands, and I eagerly await the author's next book, hopefully a sequel!