Susan's review
The Somnambulist
by Jonathan Barnes
Susan's review
The Somnambulist by Jonathan Barnes
Susan's review
rating:
bookshelves:
fiction-adult
Having just finished Jonathan's Stroud's second book in his Bartimaeus Trilogy, I couldn't have picked a more fitting follow-up read if I tried. The magical/fantastical element is here in spades in this Victorian era detective story that brings to mind the darker parts of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, with the atmosphere of T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" with that ominous yellow fog licking at every corner. Edward Moon, a fading magician/illusionist and sometime detective is drawn into a case involving a series of impossible and disturbing murders that may be representative of a growing threat to the viability of the city of London itself.
His companion in crime-solving is an enigmatic giant known as the Somnambulist, who often seems to know more than he lets on. The conspiracy plot with a multitude of side-changing morally ambiguous characters is admittedly a bit convoluted at times, but even so, it chugs along at a good pace and if you're fascinated by...more
His companion in crime-solving is an enigmatic giant known as the Somnambulist, who often seems to know more than he lets on. The conspiracy plot with a multitude of side-changing morally ambiguous characters is admittedly a bit convoluted at times, but even so, it chugs along at a good pace and if you're fascinated by...more
