The Solitary House - 9780345532435

“[Lynn] Shepherd follows her 2010 debut, Murder at Mansfield Park, which successfully channeled Jane Austen, with an equally satisfying reworking of Bleak House, which Dickens once considered titling The Solitary House. . . . The reader is plunged into a complex but comprehensible labyrinth of deception.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

London, 1850. In the gaslit world of Dickens, Charles Maddox had been an up-and-coming officer for the Metropolitan police until a charge of insubordination abruptly ended his career. Now he struggles to eke out a living by tracking down criminals. Whenever he needs it, he has the help of his great-uncle Maddox, a legendary “thief-taker,” a detective as brilliant and intuitive as they come. And on Charles’s latest case, he’ll need all the assistance he can get. To his shock, Charles has been approached by Edward Tulkinghorn, a shadowy and feared attorney, who offers him a handsome price to do some sleuthing for a client. A powerful financier has been receiving threatening letters, and Tulkinghorn wants Charles to find whoever is responsible. But what starts as a simple case swiftly escalates into something much darker, as Charles cascades toward a collision with a dangerous and unspeakable truth.

“A Victorian tour de force . . . a must-read.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Fans of Charles Dickens will revel in this engrossing tale . . . bursting with compelling scenes and characters.”—BookPage

“Intellectually enthralling, with dark twists at every turn . . . a haunting novel that will have you guessing until the last pages.”—Historical Novels Review

“Shepherd leaves the reader spellbound by masterfully building suspense.”—Booklist (starred review)