I checked the Amazon ratings and this currently has 41% five-star ratings. Mosse listed the book under Fantasy, Gothic, and Historica, but I wonder about the historical. It is set in Nineteenth Century England, but it seems to be fiction from top to bottom. It’s written in the style of Edgar Allen Poe but with less skill.

I almost quit before chapter two and probably would have if I had not been reading while traveling. Once I made it through the taxidermy lesson it became a more interesting read.

The basic plot centers on the disappearance of the taxidermist while his daughter worried and searched for him. Other men were introduced, at first with no apparent connection with the taxidermist. As it turned out, there was only one connection with him.

Some have called this a horror story, but I think Gothic is the better term. The deaths were all in the hands of humans.

A pleasant change of pace as books go.

Mike Lawrence