Cornelius Quaint has arrived with his circus in Victorian London. The mysterious Mr Reynolds appears to be working for the evil Bishop, setting up a series of murders to rid an area of its inhabitants to suit the Bishop’s plans to search for an elixir of life. So when one of the circus’s best loved performers is found gruesomely murdered and the circus strongman is arrested as the main suspect, Cornelius is drawn into a tale of intrigue and deceit.

Darren Craske weaves a tale with layer upon layer of crime, villainy and murder. No-one is quite what they seem, except possibly the horse Cornelius steals to get to Hyde Park more quickly. The story moves rapidly from one side of London to the other and back again, with one character after another proving to have been duped by Mr Reynolds, and most of them ending up dead.

It is a challenging story which moves at a fast pace, yet I felt dissatisfied with it on a number of levels. After the first quarter of the book, the prose became unduly descriptive, with such intricate detail of the surroundings it detracted from the action. The scene and the suspense had been set, such detail was unnecessary. Shortly after there were two or three chapters where long interchanges of dialogue were run together in a single paragraph, so that it was difficult to see who was talking. And the two main characters seemed to delight in making long speeches at each other. Especially once they were finally stripped of their pretences and approaching the denouement. At this stage, the detail had faded into the background, quite in contrast to the earlier chapters. I felt the book needed a good edit to help sort it out. And a map to help them work out why they are having trouble getting from Kensington to Hyde Park when they started from Wapping.

So although I hoped to find a tale that intrigued as much as the description had promised, I am afraid I found Mr Quaint rather tedious in the end, and I won’t be following his further adventures. ( )

This book starts out with a good opening of a betrayal and pious rich paying others to do their dirty work. However, after the opening, things get confusing. The storyline is there, but it is rather difficult to follow. It's set back in old London and so the language and setting are obviously more difficult to see. In some cases of description and explanations, the writer takes you through fluidly so that you can see and sense the plot. In others, he is choppy at best. I found myself rubbing my head from the headache of just trying to understand what was happening. However, by the end I was rewarded with a great tale of adventure, mystery, thriller, murder, and a good ending.

The characters are good. You find those you love and those you hate. Others, you understand and some you don't. Quaint, being the main character, is a good kind of guy you love to laugh at. His straightforwardness is what gets him into more trouble than most is worth and you definitely feel the connection to his fortune teller, Destine. With those two characters, you can not only visualize but even see through their eyes. Parm has had some bad luck but it hopefully changes, while Butter is a constant and reliable chracter. Sometimes it was difficult to visualize the chracters, but for the main ones you got.

There is a funny fight scene where Quaint and Butter have to take on a mob of guys, and mystery and enough action to keep you occupied. Overall, the story is good but could be better written. Maybe the next one will be better with a setting in Egypt. I know I liked this one enough to give it a try. ( )

The Equivoque Principle was a purchase I made in an airport while waiting for a flight because I had forgotten to bring a book with me. Out of all the choices I could have made, this one popped out at me as being a unique story. The synopsis on the back of the book I think is what really caught my interest having been described as a mixture of Sherlock Holmes and Harry Houdini and being set in the Victorian age involving a circus. I was a little skeptical, because it was also the first book in a series, and because I am already involved with so many other series, I was a little reluctant to start in on a new series to add to my list of books to keep up on, however, I am very glad I did.
This author grabbed me from the very first chapter. The characters were very well developed and the story transitions were easy to follow and not confusing at all. And the thing I loved was the story ended letting you know there were going to be more adventures for Cornelius Quaint but did not leave you hanging because this story was intact and complete for this adventure.
So I am looking forward to reading the next adventure for Cornelius Quaint. ( )

Its 1853 and something nasty is in the air in Crawditch, London. A series of grisly murders coincides with the arrival of Dr Marvello's Traveling Circus, which is the business run own by Cornelius Quaint, ringmaster and conjuror extraordinaire. Suspicious immediately falls upon the circus performers, and their strongman Prometheus finds himself wrongly incarcerated for the crimes. Quaint, with the help of a number of his performers and the guidance of his good friend Madame Destine sets out to clear Prometheus's name - but before long he realises that the murders are just the tip of the iceberg concerning some very dodgy dealings occurring in the criminal fraternity. And as the mystery unfolds, it becomes clear that the events are related to Cornelius's own history. Will he be able to prove his friend's innocence...and will he manage to escape with his own life?

This is a rip-roaring adventure story, populated with an eccentric cast of characters. Cornelius is a great main character, who has plenty of cunning, an acute sense of humour and a quick intelligence - all of which he needs to employ to navigate his way through several deadly situations.

More of an adventure story than a mystery, the tale twists and turns, so that the reader is often caught unaware by the events that take place. The main characters are well drawn, so that I did feel that I got to know them. Some of the villains are a little cartoony, but that's fine and all adds to the atmosphere of fun and excitement. My favourite character was probably Cornelius's loyal valet, Butter, and I would have liked to have learned more about him. I also particularly liked one of the police officers investigating the murders - Horace Berry, who was perhaps the most conventional character in the whole story.

This is the first story in a series (of three books, apparently), and I hope that the further instalments of Quaint's life and adventures are as much fun to read as this one. It's not completely accurate on some historical details (occasionally using descriptive words and terms that were not around at the time that the book is set), but that hardly matters - after all, this is a romp, not a study of the period. It doesn't take itself too seriously, and I don't think the reader is expected to do so either.

Overall, I would certainly recommend this book - it left me with a smile on my face. ( )

I picked up this book for free on my kindle with absolutely no expectations. It was a wonderful surprise - it was fast paced with interesting (albeit bizarre characters). I finished it in two days and look forward to the next book. If you are looking for something historically correct or truly believeable this book is probably not for you but if you are looking for a fun, well written mystery with a good storyline and strong characters give it a try - you will not be disappointed. ( )