I loved the cover and the blurb for this book, but when I began reading it I wasn’t too sure at first. Then as new characters were introduced in new situations, along with an intriguing mystery to be solved, I became hooked.

A lot of thought has gone into the book and its setting so the reader really gets a great sense of the awful lives of the poor in Victorian England and London in particular. Tied to that is the way so many people were exploited by unscrupulous people for their own benefit.

Yet in spite of this world’s dark aspects, the story is fun, overall. Not only does this strange band of peculiars look after one-another, they each use their individual traits to great effect as they investigate a worrying number of poverty-stricken children.

I thoroughly recommend this book to adults and children alike.