A new favorite series. Beautifully evocative settings; Interesting, complex characters and exciting mystery. The only bad thing about getting to read this book early (thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC ebook in exchange for this review) is that I’ll have even a longer wait for the next one! Terrific book, highly recommended!

The rebarbative (and more than slightly alcoholic) female sleuth has money and intelligence, but she is unpleasant and unconvincing. The Wilkie Collins connections come straight out of The Moonstone; the apparent ladies' maid is in fact the central characters' mother. I've tried three time to keep going, but 'Heloise Chancy' is a nasty piece of work.

It would be a good idea if the publisher decided whether the author is M. J. Tija or M. J. Tjia (the galley proof).

My policy is not to sink authors who are starting out, and I will not be reviewing this book.

This book was a little slow to start but once Heloise gets involved in the investigation it picked right up. I love Heloise. She is selfish in a way that doesn’t hurt others and can be funny despite the very dark subject matter of these books. I thank netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book. I am looking forward to more in this series.

I didn’t realise that this is the second book in a series so there was a bit I didn’t understand because I didn’t have the prior knowledge required. I loved the setting and the premise and it read really well. This is something I’d recommend. I loved the feel of it and the way it was atmospheric.