The House on Vesper Sands

It's February 1893, dark and freezing cold. Inspector Cutter of Scotland Yard and Cambridge divinity student Gideon Bliss are investigating a strange suicide in London. A seamstress named Esther Tull has jumped to her death from an upper floor of Lord Strythe's house with words stitched into her skin.

Bliss is preoccupied with another mystery: the evening he arrived in London, he discovered a girl he fell in love with years ago, Angela Tatton, lying semi-conscious in a church. Angela Tatton has gone missing. Bliss's uncle, the Rev. Dr. Neuilly, who summoned him to London, is also missing. Lord Strythe is likewise nowhere to be found–he vanished the same night that Esther Tull committed suicide.

Murders follow the suicide and disappearances, and the crazily incompatible team of Cutter and Bliss are soon tearing around London, hardly knowing what to investigate next. Cutter's interrogations and Bliss's notes must be read to be believed. They are just hilarious.

The odd disappearance of Lord Strythe captures the attention of activist reporter Octavia Hillingdon, and she begins her own investigation. Octavia is also looking into the disappearances of young working girls, including Angela Tatton. All mysteries converge and all is revealed in a shocking conclusion at the house of Lord Strythe's sister Ada, on Vesper Sands.

Besides being hilarious, especially with Bliss as his doe-eyed straight man, Inspector Cutter has strange special gifts that come to bear in solving all of the riddles and explaining all of the macabre occurrences. Rumors abound in London of "Spiriters" who steal away young women. Are they real, or are they ghosts? Hillingdon herself is having strange visions of helpless young women dressed in white, preyed upon by two men in dark suits.

This is a brilliant novel, written with dazzling finesse, plot spinning merrily like a top. Author Paraic O'Donnell hearkens back to the very first detective novels and steeps his book in jocular rationality, ghostly women in white, and Dickensian murk. Inspector Cutter resembles Sergeant Cuff ("The Moonstone") and Inspector Bucket ("Bleak House"), only with more of a temper than either, and the sense of the macabre that permeates "The House on Vesper Sands" is also old-school. However, we have a young socialite feminist cutting a wide swath through the action on her bicycle. Cutter has a soft side under his gruff exterior. As for Bliss, after studying divinity at Cambridge he just can't seem to stop talking, which gets under the Inspector's skin to no end.

I was riveted and enchanted. Cutter and Bliss are the most delightful detective duo to come along in years, and with Hillingdon also doing investigative journalism, all that is left to wish for is a series of novels starring all three.

This is a very enjoyable novel that will appeal to most mystery lovers. The writing alone is top notch and definitely worth the read. Great characters and a gripping nail biting plot sums up this novel for me. Plus it’s very humorous at times and simply wonderful to read. Highly recommend!

A beautifully written historical mystery by Paraic O'Donnell, The House on Vesper Sands will captivate readers. Once begun, I could not put it down. With twists and turns by a masterful hand you will be engrossed in the story of Gideon Bliss and his love Angie Tatton.

Told along various plot lines that coalesce into an ending that will have you on the edge of your seat. Mystery lovers have a new shining star in O'Donnell.

This book has gotten a lot of hype and I think it is well deserved. The opening is so suspenseful and strange that I was immediately hooked. It is a cracking good story with all the goodies - a damsel in distress, a determined female sleuth, a crusty detective, and a tender love struck gentleman. The cast is characters is delightful and one I hope return in a future volume.

A mysterious suicide, a wayward but passionate young man searching for his uncle, and a plucky young journalist trying to uncover the story behind several missing girls. Three stories unfold slowly before finally converging in The House on Vesper Sands. From the beginning, the dark, gothic mood is palpable as we follow Inspector Cutter, Gideon Bliss, and Octavia Hillingdon through Victorian London as they fit the pieces of this puzzle together, heightened by supernatural elements.

This is the perfect sort of book to curl up with on a gloomy winter day, for readers who enjoy a little fantasy with their historical mysteries. I thank NetGalley and the publisher for access to this advanced copy.

A creepy Victorian mystery with lovely dry wit! The death of a seamstress and the disappearance of a factory girl bring together Inspector Cutter, divinity student Gideon Bliss, and young journalist Octavia Hillingdon in a haunting and complex page turner. I have high hopes to see this cast reunited in a series.