Cambridge student Gideon Bliss is summoned to London at the behest of his uncle and guardian. Arriving late at the address, and weary from the long train ride, Gideon finds no one at home. It is 1893, and strangers don’t look kindly on the penniless roaming the streets at night. Gideon’s uncle has not been generous, so his pockets are empty. He believes himself fortunate when he finds an open door at a church, where he can take shelter until morning. Groping in the dark, Gideon discovers a girl lying at the altar, drugged and fading fast. He realizes that he knows her from his past as Angela Tatton. Before he can help her, though, he is knocked out.

Angela has disappeared by the time Gideon wakes up, and he makes it his mission to track her down. But he also must find his uncle. As he embarks on this task, he runs into Inspector Cutter of the Metropolitan Police, who somehow comes to believe that Gideon is the sergeant sent to assist him. Gruff and given to a no-nonsense attitude, he takes Gideon in tow and begins ordering him about, exasperated with his manner and garrulous nature. But it is the Inspector himself who tends to be the talkative one. To Gideon’s dismay, it seems that Cutter wants to investigate the death of a seamstress who leapt --- or maybe fell --- from high up in a manor house belonging to a certain Lord Strythe.

"Paraic O’Donnell has a special talent for creating unique voices of characters.... THE HOUSE ON VESPER SANDS is enchanting and rough at the same time."

Meanwhile, dogging the Inspector --- and anyone she can cajole to speak to her --- is Octavia Hillingdon, a journalist normally assigned mundane stories such as society functions and other dullness. But she has higher aspirations, and the story of Esther Tull, the unfortunate seamstress, intrigues her. As she works on the Tull angle, the name of Angela Tatton pops up. Octavia wonders if there could be a connection. Looking further into it, she uncovers more than she ever had hoped. With this new information, she sets off like a bloodhound.

The clues ultimately converge at Lord Strythe’s seaside house at Vesper Sands, where the Inspector and Gideon have rushed to verify what they have learned so far. Octavia also follows her nose there, unknowingly dragging danger along with her. A showdown is inevitable, and Angela’s role in it is highly unconventional. By now, she has suffered a lot and knows more than anyone. Plus, she is specially equipped to handle the injustice rained down on her and others yet to be avenged. It won’t be an easy end to this crime, but it will be an end.

Paraic O’Donnell has a special talent for creating unique voices of characters. For instance, Inspector Cutter tries to be forbidding, but his soft side shines through. Gideon is pure innocence and awe. Octavia is a bold, gutsy woman for the times. The lords and ladies speak as they should, as do the common folk. Most intriguing is the spiritual thread that weaves its way through this story, which is subtle at first but constant. The “Spiriters” are an elusive force that the coppers want to look at, and a notion that Gideon wishes to ignore.

THE HOUSE ON VESPER SANDS is enchanting and rough at the same time. Enjoy a trip back in time to this fascinating Victorian-era mystery.