The premise of this book sparked my interest when I saw it in the line-up of Amazon First Reads. I was happy to see it pop up on Netgalley as well. Many thanks to the publisher for sending me a review copy!
This book is about Tillie Pembroke whose sister is found dead with two puncture wounds in her neck. The book takes place in 1899, around the time Dracula by Bram Stoker is published. Needless to say, Tillie who is interested in science and research jumps on the challenge to search for her sister's murderer. She comes across mysterious figures and she has a hard time trying to figure out what's real and what is not.
I leave the fact that Tillie is addicted to opiates out of this premise, because it's something that would have stopped me from reading it. Protagonists who are addicted to any kind of drug while researching a crime is one of my major tropes. I try not to touch books that use this concept, because I think a mystery should be a strong mystery without the need for the main hero to be confused by her own thoughts.
That having been said Lydia Kang executes this concept perfectly. Tillie starts using opium to ease her pain after an incident. This is how the addiction starts, which was something that happened often back in the 19th century. Sure, she didn't always remember what happened the day before; however, we did which I think was a strong way to eliminate my trope from the plot.
This novel has strong and well-developed characters and relationships. I can identify with Tillie to a certain extent, because I loved horror stories when I was younger so my real world also started to get muddled with the fictional world. I like the way she approaches the mystery and how she tackles her research. The way this novel is built up, you get to know the side characters really well, including what motivates them which adds to the mystery.
The writing is a bit of a mix between YA and Adult. I guess it's something you should be open to if you choose to read it.
Other than that, I enjoyed this Sherlock Holmesian novel a lot. I'm eager to read more of Lydia Kang's books now as they seem to be right up my alley.
4 stars
Statistics:
Date read: July 8, 2020
Date published: July 1, 2020
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Format: eBook
Pages: 379
Genre: Historical Fiction
My Number of Books Read by this Author: 1
Please note, this post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission for purchased goods/services at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting my writing!
The premise of this book sparked my interest when I saw it in the line-up of Amazon First Reads. I was happy to see it pop up on Netgalley as well. Many thanks to the publisher for sending me a review copy!
This book is about Tillie Pembroke whose sister is found dead with two puncture wounds in her neck. The book takes place in 1899, around the time Dracula by Bram Stoker is published. Needless to say, Tillie who is interested in science and research jumps on the challenge to search for her sister's murderer. She comes across mysterious figures and she has a hard time trying to figure out what's real and what is not.
I leave the fact that Tillie is addicted to opiates out of this premise, because it's something that would have stopped me from reading it. Protagonists who are addicted to any kind of drug while researching a crime is one of my major tropes. I try not to touch books that use this concept, because I think a mystery should be a strong mystery without the need for the main hero to be confused by her own thoughts.
That having been said Lydia Kang executes this concept perfectly. Tillie starts using opium to ease her pain after an incident. This is how the addiction starts, which was something that happened often back in the 19th century. Sure, she didn't always remember what happened the day before; however, we did which I think was a strong way to eliminate my trope from the plot.
This novel has strong and well-developed characters and relationships. I can identify with Tillie to a certain extent, because I loved horror stories when I was younger so my real world also started to get muddled with the fictional world. I like the way she approaches the mystery and how she tackles her research. The way this novel is built up, you get to know the side characters really well, including what motivates them which adds to the mystery.
The writing is a bit of a mix between YA and Adult. I guess it's something you should be open to if you choose to read it.
Other than that, I enjoyed this Sherlock Holmesian novel a lot. I'm eager to read more of Lydia Kang's books now as they seem to be right up my alley.
4 stars
Statistics:
Date read: July 8, 2020
Date published: July 1, 2020
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Format: eBook
Pages: 379
Genre: Historical Fiction
My Number of Books Read by this Author: 1
Please note, this post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission for purchased goods/services at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting my writing!
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