Good atmospheric Victorian London mystery, with good interesting characters. The mystery plot is a little weak. Thank you for the advanced copy.

The House on Vesper Sands by Paraic O'Donnell is a fun audiobook that combines mystery and crime with some supernatural elements set in 1893 London. This one took some time for me to get into but enjoyable for long and short listening.

Low 3 stars.

I was a bit disappointed by this one. I was expecting it to be more atmospheric, more eerie, more wintery... It started off that way and then it just kind of... faded away? I was loving the writing style but even that became tiresome after a while. I listened to the audiobook, which wasn't that long but it took me forever to finish it because it felt like a choir at times. I was considering giving up on it a few times, but I enjoyed the narrator and I wanted to know how the mystery resolved.

Thank you to RB Media and HighBridge Audio for an early audiobook.

The description of this mystery as gothic and set in Victorian England sounded intriguing and right up my alley, but sadly wasn’t quite as good as I had hoped for. For me, the setting was the star of this mystery. O’Donnell does an excellent job of painting the time period and atmosphere, so I felt that I was right there alongside the characters. He is skilled in his writing, and the characters created are interesting and the interactions between them are well-done. All this being said, I just didn’t become as engrossed in the story as I expected. It started out well, but then sort of lost me somewhere in the middle, only to pick up again toward the end. Overall, I enjoyed it well enough. It looks like this is the start of a series. The reader did a nice job with telling the story.

I was halfway through this book The House on Vesper Sands when it suddenly disappeared off my phone. I had been given an advance copy through Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I have been reviewing for Netgalley for five or six years and this was a first. Netgalley tried to investigate but got nowhere and we can only assume that this particular publisher takes books back once they are published.

Given that --- I was disappointed. It had taken me quite some time to get committed to this book. I found the beginning confusing and couldn't keep the characters straight. But once it became a murder mystery, I found myself involved. At that point, I read some other reviews to learn how others had responded to this book. Most had enjoyed it although a number found it slow out of the starting gate as I did. I gather there was to be a bit of the supernatural involved but I hadn't gotten that far.

So I recommend that you read other reviews, expect a slow start, expect an internally unknown culture from the past, and then get involved.

The House on Vesper Sands is a mystery set in 1890's London. A woman has thrown herself out the 2nd story window of an established gentleman's home with a cryptic message stitched into her side.

Inspector Cutter and Gideon Bliss are on the case after a slight deception leads them to be partners. Cutter seems like he was sculpted out of Sherlock Holmes, Harry Dresden, and pure sarcasm. Gideon is a bumbling sweetheart with a weak constitution but strong skills at observation and note taking. It is an interesting pairing to say the least. Octavia (whom should have had more page time) is a strong woman trying to make a name for herself as a journalist while escaping the stigmas of her upbringing.

What I must describe as magical realism meets mystery seems primed for a sequel.

What I liked:
The characters were well developed, interesting, and likeable.
The dialogue was well done.
The tone and setting were dark and foreboding.
The concept as a whole was intriguing and different.
The narrator had clear and distinguishable voices for all the characters.
He delivered lines in a captivating manner

What I didn't like:
It took more than half the book for the story to get going.
It was hard to keep up at points.
There were 2 or 3 5-minute stretches where the narrator was very audible with inhalation. It was distracting.
Two of the female voices were strange. They were small characters though.
The ending was a bit lack luster.

It has definitely been set up for a sequel. If there is one have more Octavia.

A very atmospheric Gothic horror story, with fantasy and cozy mystery thrown in, making for an amusing Victorian tale set in 1893 England.

The story has a lot in its favor. It grabbed my interest from the start, had engaging characters and although mostly dark, the author managed to inject some humor at certain points which lightened the mood. The back and forth between Gideon and Inspector Cutter was a highlight of the book.

I did feel it lagged a bit midway through, but the wonderful narration by Charles Armstrong kept me staying on course.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Highbridge Audio for allowing me to listen to an early audio version and give my honest review.

I want to thank the author and NetGalley for gifting me the audio book. I enjoyed this story so much. The author made this feel like it was written 150 years ago. It feels like a classic novel and an Agatha C type book, which I love! I have to say that the author is a fantastic writer, he made me feel like I was back in time in London. All the characters are very interesting. I loved the two main characters, their conversations actually made me laugh out loud a couple of times. I really hope the author comes out with more books with the two main characters.. they are great together, very Sherlock Holmes and Watson type! I would read from this author again.

Narrator is fantastic. Absolutely loved the quirky characters, setting and the mix of supernatural within the mystery. Gideon was an absolute fly by his seat mishap with the best of intentions who truly had so much to offer to the investigation. Especjally in dealing with a partner that would never have connected dots or considered pieces Gideon brought to light

The audiobook won't download :( so I won't be reviewing that particular edition. But, I got a copy from the publisher and I can't wait to read it!

A surprising thing happened as I listened to this book, I started to enjoy it.

Gideon Bliss, a failed student, comes back to London after being sent for by his uncle. Through a series of events he ends up pretending to be a new sergeant for Detective Cutter. Why doesn't he introduce himself during a case of mistaken identity? Don't know. Overall, the character of Gideon Bliss is a very flat character. If Cutter wasn't introduced, I might have stopped listening. However, Cutter is a delight. Thanks to the narrator, Cutter and all of the supporting characters are humorous and snarky.

The second part of the story is about Octavia Hillingdon, who is also flat but, like Gideon, is surrounded by interesting side characters. Her part felt useless because everything she discovered was already discovered by Cutter and Bliss. This made her seem like always a step behind. The ending finally made her purpose in this story clear, though.

The audiobook made this book for me. The narrator did a great job on the voices. I don't think I would have enjoyed it much as I did without him.

This review is based on an advanced reader copy provided through Netgalley for an honest review.

‘The House on Vesper Sands’ by Paraic O’Donnell (Tin House)

A supernatural mystery that has been compared to the likes of Dickens, Paraic O’Donnell’s “The House on Vesper Sands” has a lot to live up to. The book delivers.

The year is 1893 and the place is London. When young female workers — scullery maids, seamstresses and the like — begin disappearing, O’Donnell assembles an unlikely combination of characters interested in the Jack the Ripper-esque crimes: an orphan-turned-heiress-turned-journalist, a poor university student, an inspector from Scotland Yard and a downtrodden clergyman.

When it is revealed that the inspector handles special cases dealing with the occult, the novel takes on its true gothic overtones while the separate lives of these characters collide, merge and approach the truth. A seamstress jumping to her death opens the novel, but nothing is really sewn together until the mystery centering on the Spiriters is teased from the backstories of O’Donnell’s cast.

Tautly plotted, this richly atmospheric novel — even the snow becomes a character of force — from the Irish author already has earned voluminous awards and accolades. Read the book in front of your fire on a dark, winter day, or better, listen to the audio book from HighBridge’s division of Recorded Books. Charles Armstrong’s reading approaches the miraculous, not only putting you deep into O’Donnell’s foggy streets, but even deeper into the characters who roam there.

I hardly every read any book marked as historical, but after listening to this one on audio, I am officially a convert. The House on Vesper Sands was such a treat to listen to.

When a seamstress jumps to her death with a strange message literally sown to her skin, Inspector Cutter is besides himself trying to figure out what is going on in Vesper Sands, especially since her case might be connected to another case - of missing girls. Accompanying him are two delightful characters: Octavia, a journalist and a woman truly ahead of her time, and Gideon, an intelligent boy in love with one of the missing girls.

Altogether, you got yourself a twisted, sometimes bizarre, often funny and always engaging mystery with a dark, 19th century London vibe.

I had a really great time with this audiobooks, not only thanks to the atmospheric setting and edgy plot, but also some truly great writing. This book is filled with eerie language that truly carried me away in time and space, which is something I'll want to return time and again,

*Thank you yo the Publisher for a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really fun story. The ending completely grabbed my attention and the setting was atmospheric. The middle somewhat lost me and I had trouble keeping the characters straight. But overall this was a fun mystery and I will definitely read from this author again.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for approving this audiobook for me.
Unfortunately, when I went to my NetGalley shelf to start listening to it, it was no longer there.
Curious, because I did download it before the archive date.

Set in 1893 a seamstress has jumped out a window and is dead. She has a cryptic message sewn into her skin. How is she connected to a series of missing girls. This is how this Victorian gothic mystery starts. Along the way we meet some well written characters who are charming and witty. I like how the mystery unfolded and thought the ending was good. The narrative really felt like you were in gloomy dark times.

Thanks NetGalley + HighBridge Audio for the advance listening copy of House on Vesper Sands by Paraic O'Donnell.
The hype around this one is real - I'm not typically one for mysteries but I love books set in the Victorian Era and bookseller friends have been talking about how good this one is and it did not disappoint - twisty, suspenseful, and full of characters you won't soon forget.

Audiobook provided by NetGalley and HighBridge Audio in exchange for an honest review.

O'Donnell's novel fully immerses readers in Victorian London and has the feel of novels written during that time. Starting with the death of a young woman that has sewed a cryptic message into her own skin, THE HOUSE ON VESPER SANDS is told in two different story arcs where readers meet a bicycle riding (scandalous!) Octavia Hillingdon who is determined to be taken seriously as a journalist and Cambridge scholar Gideon Bliss who is in London to meet his uncle - who is missing. After a night where a young woman he has feelings for goes missing as well under strange circumstances, Bliss happens to be in the right place at the right time to pretend to be a police sergeant to try and enlist the help of surly Inspector Cutter to help him find both missing persons. The dynamic between Bliss and Cutter is entertaining and I appreciated how it grew throughout the novel. As with most good Victorian novels, all is not as it appears and there is a rash of missing girls that seems to be tied with the growing mysticism trend in high society.

Overall this was an enjoyable read, it's a slow moving story, but this is on par for a Victorian novel. The mystery was entertaining and the main characters were interesting. The conclusion was a bit odd and wasn't as fleshed out as I was hoping given how much of the story was spent leading up to the climax. I felt like not all loose ends were tied up. Charles Armstrong does a good job with the audiobook and I think this story was enhanced by listening to it.

The House on Vesper Sands is a tale of a lot of things that seem disconnected. Crimes happening all over that, if you can get to it, do come together in the end. Unfortunately, it was a slog for me to get to that point and the pay off was good enough to redeem the story some, but not make the previous ten hours enjoyable. The narrator had a good voice and he expressed the right mood. However, it was sometimes hard to distinguish characters.

***Thanks to HighBridge Audio via NetGalley for providing a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.*** The story of mysterious goings on in late-19th century London, The House on Vesper Sands transported me through both time and place. I enjoyed the unique premise: several seemingly unrelated incidents eventually appear to be linked as a pattern, entangling several young working girls who seem to share something... unique (no spoilers!) in common.

I think this story was harder for me to get on board with and follow along closely to because I listened to the audiobook; I wish I had read it instead. I was confused a few times by the minor characters, and the multiple or similar names characters shared. The setting, which I don't encounter often in my reading, may also have been trickier than normal. That said, this is a fine historical mystery, presented by an excellent narrator.