From award-winning author John MacLachlan Gray comes a mesmerizing novel of corruption and murder through the looking-glass of Victorian London.

Edmund Whitty writes lurid articles for the London press. He’s investigating a quack psychic who has been murdered after revealing a scandal involving Whitty’s late brother. Whitty’s search for the truth takes him back to Oxford, where a brilliant and eccentric cleric who delights in playing croquet, telling children’s stories and taking little girls’ pictures, may or may not be involved with a murderous ring of child pornographers. Gray, who evoked “the mean streets and byways of 1852 London with a skill worthy of Dickens” (Publishers Weekly) in The Fiend in Human, spins an even more irresistible tale of the dark secrets behind the facades of Victorian respectability.


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Praise for the international bestseller The Fiend in Human:
"Tight and vivid, propelled by an addictive mystery plot, the book makes the efforts of his peers look like dilettantism… Scene after scene is packed with hilarious, raunchy repartee… The Fiend In Human is at heart an old-fashioned potboiler, with more knots and twists than a Victorian petticoat. Gray is in clear control of the intricacies here, beautifully modulating the pacing of the story while cleverly hooking us with red herrings and blindsiding us with lightning-fast plot reversals… A smart social commentary and ripping good tale, it’s clearly the work of a bona fide novelist firmly in control of his craft. A fly job, indeed, Mr. Gray."
—National Post

"A streetsmart period thriller brilliantly reimagining Victorian London with great precision and a fine and mordant zest. Wonderfully entertaining throughout."
—William Gibson

"Superb scene-setting and ripe characterization… endlessly intriguing. This is a spectacle as well as a novel."
—Times Literary Review (UK)

"Gray has a gift for dialogue and a keen sense of humour, which comes out in the hilarious exchanges between Whitty and his rival cronies."
—Hamilton Spectator

"Gray has a strong sense of place and setting… He also has a gift for dialogue, and a keen humour, much in evidence here…the action sequences are skilfully wrought and compelling."
—The Globe and Mail

"Sex, drugs, violence — it’s all here, and presented with deliciously wry humour… the unravelling of this complicated skein of secrets makes for a fascinating, enjoyable read, full of twists, reversals and last-minute shocks."
—The Edmonton Journal

"Riveting plot… Gray’s historical thriller is a step beyond slasher-horror plots. It presents us with the intellectual intrigues of murder, luring us with the hope that we can understand the stalker’s mentality… and the social evils that allow maniacs to thrive… He draws characters with colour and spark as vibrant as the theatre."
—Ottawa Citizen

"[Gray] proves himself to be a true man of letters… Gray employs a Victorian style here to great effect. You feel as if you could be reading a novel from the period, rather than one merely set in that time."
—New Brunswick Reader

"Gray delivers and in spades."
—Books in Canada

"Historical crime fiction at its finest."
—The Chronicle-Herald (Halifax)

Praise for A Gift for the Little Master:
"For readers who like baroque prose and elaborate plotting, with weird characters, this novel is for you."
—The Globe and Mail

"Part cutting-edge zine, part black-humoured thriller, this is stunning stuff… Gray’s got a wild talent — he’s deposited this reviewer down in the fiction-section mosh pit, clamouring for more."
—Quill and Quire


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John MacLachlan Gray is a writer-composer-performer for the stage, film, television, radio and print. He is best known for his stage musicals, including the phenomenally successful Billy Bishop Goes to War, and for his satirical videos on CBC-TV’s The Journal. Gray is the recipient of many awards — a Golden Globe, the Governor General’s Medal and most recently the Order of Canada. He currently writes a weekly column entitled “Gray’s Anatomy” for the Globe and Mail. He lives in Vancouver with his personal demons.


From the Hardcover edition.

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