Nothing like being tossed into the ghosts and demons to make a reader sit up and take notice! Craven Street is a novella set in Victorian London where a group of female members of the secret chapter of Scotland Yard have supernatural issues to settle. It shares a character with Steven's Ivy Granger series and is the lead volume in the Whitechapel Paranormal Society. I really need to read more in both series! A nice spooky read for the Halloween season!

A fine way to spend an hour or so; this is a fast-paced novella, in what I think is an intriguing world, but I found the author's style not to my liking. Characters growled, paragraphs consist of only one sentence (which I think is supposed to convey drama?), and the sentence structure could use a polishing. In all, it read to me like the work of a very, very talented young writer learning their voice. My middle-aged self didn't find this super great but I would happily recommend to a high school reader.

I’m a sucker for gaslight mysteries set in England, so I immediately requested it when I saw it on Netgalley. I like the premise of this book. A group of woman who solve paranormal mysteries. I also find it interesting that they team up with a demon to fight a bigger evil. I look forward to the next book which will be a full length novel. Novellas are tough for me to read. Especially in this genre. Too much to cover in a short amount of time.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book, which I voluntarily chose to review.

Craven Street is a novella set in an alternative Victorian London where demons and black magic abound and just a few stalwart women have the knowledge, experience and skills to protect the public from the darker side. These women are the Whitechapel Paranormal Society: psychics and fortune tellers to the public; criminal investigators and baddie vanquishers behind the scenes.

This novella gives the reader a short glimpse into the work and relationships within the agency, and also reintroduces an old ‘friend’, in the form of Forneus – demon with moral standards, just not the same ones as humans.

It feels like a lot of plot is packed into just a few pages here, as the brutal serial killings, demon possessions and mysterious mutilating marks all hold enough intrigue to carry a full novel! I felt a bit breathless by the end, having been whisked from crime scene to confrontation with the instantly-appealing Cora and co.

As a stand-alone novella I think that this runs just a little too quickly for me to really settle into the characters and plotline. As a teaser for the main series though, I think it works perfectly!



“I don’t say this to hurt you, Cora, only to relay the facts,” she said. “Either her power transferred to you, a parting gift perhaps, or the trauma of her loss triggered the change in you. Whatever the reason, the spirits of the dead have found you.”
“And I can see them,” I said.
“So it would seem,” she said.
“Bugger.”

– E.J. Stevens, Craven Street

Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog

Craven Street (Whitechapel Paranormal Society #0.5) by E.J. Stevens is a good little novella for fans of gothic mysteries with a dash of fantasy. It goes quick and the world that Stevens has created is very atmospheric, but I have to admit I felt somewhat out of the loop. There's much more I'd like to know about the world the characters inhabit. This is my first time reading anything by the author and this has gotten me interested enough to come back for more in the future.

this is a penny dreadful with a heavy emphasis on dreadful.

i can appreciate a good pulp story as much as the next person, but it takes a very good author to get the right balance between melodramatics that heighten the fun and enjoyment of a book without slipping into naff territory.

and this was, i'm afraid to say, just naff.

author is very clearly non-british and i clocked she was american very soon. this was only highlighted by the simile "like a puma," which only a denizen of the north american continent would make. this wouldn't matter except from the fact that this is written first-person perspective from a woman from victorian london and ruins the immersiveness. of course non-brits can write british people, but you need to make them sound authentic.

related to this, the faux-Victorian language is far too contrived, and at some points read a bit like Thesaurus-itis. example: "what ridiculous confabulation did they presume now?"
this works in a tongue-in-cheek manner such as gail carriger's fantastic soulless series, but not in sincerity.

other basic london errors - whitechapel is not on the thames. it's close, but it's not on it as stated in the book. i don't except super in-depth historical research, but this is a five-second google search's worth of info.

the chavunistic leader of the male paranormal branch is literally called snidely-moore. snidely. SNIDELY

snidely-moore also speaks with a rough accent that i can only assume is supposed to be cockney, where all the goodies speak like aristocracy or at least bourgeoisie. this is my ultimate pet peeve, because not only is it simply lazy, but it pen-and-inks of classism. (to all those unfamiliar with cockney rhyming slang: it stinks.)

you may notice some of my comments may seem like nitpicking. as stated in other reviews of mine, i tend to go in Nitpicking Mode when i'm already unimpressed by the writing, otherwise i can let it slide. but this was already seeming rather mediocre to me, so my Nitpicking Mode was engaged. sorry 'bout it. (another nitpick - the character called margaret who goes by lottie. lottie is not short for margaret. maybe quirky people in modern day may use it, but not the victorians.)

but, despite all these flaws, it was a little bit fun, hence the two stars rather than one. there was also a non-binary side character who uses they/them pronouns, which i appreciated very much as this is rare in any book but especially historical. i also liked the budding sapphic relationship, because y'all know i go soft for queer romances.

but there are far better dark fantasy/horror victorian works out there, and i wouldn't recommend this one.

Craven Street by E. J. Stevens, a fun little novella. There are paranormal crimes being committed and the Whitechapel Paranormal Society is on the Case...

An engrossing and entertaining novella, well written and with an interesting plot.
I look forward to reading other works by this author.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Craven Street is a unique story with interesting characters. I enjoyed reading this book and hope to read more by this author.

E J Stevens’ novella, Craven Street whets the appetite, encouraging the reader to look deeper into the historical horror/mystery series of which it is part.  The story itself isn’t very detailed. It’s designed to tease the reader, introducing characters and story elements much like a movie trailer. Essentially unconventional, gifted women at the turn of the century fight demons in Whitechapel, as well as the ire and sabotage of their male counterparts.  They uncover a conspiracy, a vast effort to release evil into the world. But are they winning the battle at the cost of the war when a demon helps them defeat their opponent? I will definitely give the series a try.


4 / 5


I received a copy of Craven Street from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.


-- Crittermom