book cover of The House on Vesper Sands
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The House on Vesper Sands

(2018)
(The first book in the Inspector Henry Cutter and Sergeant Gideon Bliss series)
A novel by

 
 

'Tremendously good' Observer
'The most vivid and compelling portrait of late Victorian London since The Crimson Petal and the White' Sarah Perry
'
Part Wilkie Collins, part Conan Doyle' Guardian
'Huge fun'Daily Mail
'Has everything you could want in a novel' Stylist
'Dickens is whirling enviously in his grave ... Read by a fire on a cold winter evening'Irish Times

'Ladies and gentlemen, the darkness is complete.'

It is the winter of 1893, and in London the snow is falling.

It is falling as Gideon Bliss seeks shelter in a Soho church, where he finds Angie Tatton lying before the altar. His one-time love is at death's door, murmuring about brightness and black air, and about those she calls the Spiriters. In the morning she is gone.

The snow is falling as a seamstress climbs onto a ledge above Mayfair, a mysterious message stitched into her own skin. It is falling as she steadies herself and closes her eyes.

It is falling, too, as her employer, Lord Strythe, vanishes into the night, watched by Octavia Hillingdon, a restless society columnist who longs to uncover a story of real importance.

She and Gideon will soon be drawn into the same mystery, each desperate to save Angie and find out the truth about Lord Strythe. Their paths will cross as the darkness gathers, and will lead them at last to what lies hidden at the house on Vesper Sands.

'Like the love child of Dickens and Conan Doyle' Liz Nugent
'This novel is an absolute banger' Jon McGregor
'An utter joy' Joanna Cannon '

Genre: Horror

Praise for this book

"Clever and funny and exquisitely disturbing, an utter joy." - Joanna Cannon

"I'm not completely sure what the word 'rollicking' means, but I can personally guarantee that The House on Vesper Sands is a rollicking good read. For a novel about grief, estrangement, and the literal stealing of vulnerable young women's souls, this book is a lot more fun than it has any right to be. Paraic O'Donnell's sheer love of his characters is exuberant and infectious; the dialogue crackles with verve and wit, and the plotting is as intricately satisfying as a heavy pocket watch. The setting may be Victorian , but in modern parlance this novel is an absolute banger." - Jon McGregor

"Like the love child of Dickens and Conan Doyle, but funnier than both." - Liz Nugent

"The most vivid and compelling portrait of late Victorian London since The Crimson Petal and the White." - Sarah Perry


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