Tom-All-Alone's (Charles Maddox 2) [Hardcover]

This is a good idea that doesn't quite come off. Using characters from both "Bleak House" and "The Woman in White", the author attempts to fashion a detective story that runs alongside the two classic novels - that is, she is not writing a sequel or a "prequel" but inserting her novel into the same time frame as the two novels she is attempting to emulate.Like the new Sherlock Holmes novel "The House of Silk", she deliberately uses themes that would never have been considered in Victorian times - this is fine but the overall impression is of a muddle. Maybe she is attempting to put too much in- such as the Jack the Ripper suggestion - certainly her display of her own knowledge is not always welcome and the contemporary asides are just an intrusion. Considering that Charles Maddox is supposed to be a great detective there is an awful lot that he misses or only latches on to when it is too late!

There seems to be a tradition that novels set in Victorian London should be read in the dark days around Christmas. There's something about Dickensian themes which seem to suit this time, and in Tom All Alone's there is plenty of general murkiness and gloom to match what we in Britain see outside our windows.

Tom All Alone's is essentially a detective novel. Charles Maddox, a young ex-policeman has set himself up as a thief-taker. His Uncle, who Charles reveres, was an eminent detective and has mentored young Charles from his early boy-hood in the skills of his work, but alas is now a very elderly man but is still available as a sounding-board to Charles when particularly tricky problems need to be solved. Charles receives a commission from the scheming lawyer Edward Tulkinghorn but soon realises that this is a poisoned chalice which will lead him into some very dark places.

Lynn Shepherd is not constrained by the limits of Victorian sensibility in describing the gruesome murders which follow, nor the terrible conditions of the London slums in which the murders take place. We are taken on a tour around the narrow passages of central London, going in and out of coffee houses, rat-catching pits, disease-ridden brothels, foetid inns and rancid slums with no need to cover up the vile conditions of the time. Perhaps the most shocking descriptions the fate of the mentally ill (and those unfortunates who ended up in private asylums because their family wanted them safely out of the way).

A parallel narrative interleaves with the story of Charles' investigations. A young woman called Hester writes in the first person about her life in The Solitary House, which at first appears to be an idyllic setting peopled by kindly people who form a strong community of mutual support and close friendship. From the start, Hester seems to be an untrustworthy narrator; things seem too good to be true and we want to know what exactly is going on here? As the novel develops a sinister tone creeps into Hester's writing and the two narratives soon begin to feed into each other, increasing the sense of mystery (and horror) behind Charles' investigations.

Lynn Shepherd is a highly-skilled writer. I read this quite long book in three days and looked forward to resuming my reading whenever I put it down. Sometimes a book is good but you still have to slog through it but with Tom All Alone's I was swept up into the atmosphere of London's loathsome alleys and felt as if I was accompanying Charles Maddox as new layers of the horrific plot were revealed. Her character writing is excellent and she manages to achieve many distinctive voices. I especially liked Inspector Bucket which achieved just the right mix of sincerity and duplicity.

For a long time I have been hoping to find a Victorian era novel to equal Michel Faber's masterpiece The The Crimson Petal and the White, and I think Lynn Shepherd has got pretty close to it in Tom All Alone's. I was also reminded of Sarah Waters' book Fingersmith with which Tom All Alone's shares some common themes. From the afterword, I get the impression that Tom All Alone's is one-off novel but this reader at least would be delighted to hear that it is the first in a series. Charles Maddox is a strong and appealing character who could be developed over many further books and I hope the author produces a follow-up before too long.

Tom-All-Alone's is both clever and ambitious, with a compelling story, great characters and a vividly realised 1850s London setting. It's the sort of book that would repay re-reading, possibly several times. It's also a better book then the author's previous novel, Murder at Mansfield Park. Yet while I happily gave that book 5 stars, Tom-All-Alone's just misses that mark because of its use of an omniscient modern narrator. While this is a playful and, again, clever conceit, I admired it without being able to forget about it, and it did pull me out of the story a couple of times.

There's a lot going on in this book. When we first meet hard up private detective Charles Maddox, he has recently left the Metropolitan detective force under a cloud. He is hunting a client's missing daughter with grim determination and little expectation of success. Then the powerful lawyer Edward Tulkinghorn hires Maddox to discover who is harassing a client with threatening letters. Thanks to the omniscient narrator, we learn straightaway that this deceptively simple job hides a sinister secret, one that will test Maddox's detective skills - and his tenacity - to the full.

There are several subplots, but the main one of these is narrated by a young woman called Hester, detailing her life in a place called Solitary House. These passages are so dreamy and innocent that they inspired an instant sense of creepiness, especially in contrast with the more action packed events of Maddox's story. Of course, these narratives do finally intersect in a suspenseful climactic scene that had me racing to finish it. I see some other reviewers here have criticised the plotting, but this seems a laughable charge to me, as Shepherd's plotting is both detailed and totally engrossing.

Often, when historical novels try too hard to pack in the colourful background stuff, it can overpower the story. Not so here. Maddox junior and Maddox senior are both flesh and blood characters you'd like to spend time with. The scenes between them are a joy, even while heart wrenching. There are also many stand out scenes, as well as some cracking twists. The murder of one character in particular was timed perfectly yet took me completely by surprise. That's brilliant writing, with only the narrative voice providing the occasional duff note.

Just as with Murder at Mansfield Park, I couldn't stop reading this novel, even at the expense of my beauty sleep. I can't wait for the next one.