Changes

There are several things about the book that will divide the readership – the cosy Dickens fan abhorring the overtly supernatural and blunter sections of this – but remarkably, the length of the book should not be one. Yes I would have preferred it to be a lot shorter, but I have tastes that tend towards the briefer book. I'm actually glad the book reviewing gods made me give this a second look (and third, fourth, eighth…). Were one in the mood for a long, chilling wallow in gothic Victoriana (a real ''sensation novel'' as Collins was deemed to write) this would be just the ticket.

There are more real-life people and famous criminals to be found in [[Murder in Paradise by Alanna Knight]], likewise set in the 1860s, while further subterranean, gothic Dickensian thrills are to also be had in [[Joe Rat by Mark Barratt]], which is far too much fun to be left to the teenage audience.