Bessie was a stunner, and she shone out of that picture like she was going to walk out of it, saying ‘Wotcher, Tom,’ and winking in that way she had. But she couldn’t. She’d stay there stuck fast in paint forever.A chimney sweep in Victorian London’s poverty-stricken East End, Tom Wasp is highly flattered to be asked to model for Valentine Drake, a painter in fashionable Chelsea, especially since … Chelsea, especially since his co-model is the beautiful and warm-hearted Bessie Barton, a red-headed stunner who becomes his friend.
Grief-stricken when her body is found by mudlarks on the muddy banks of the river Thames, Tom vows to find her murderer. Tracking her pitiful past through London’s seamiest quarters, he discovers the monstrous shadow that hangs over her life, Moonman, from whose clutches Bessie had fled, only to fall into his murderous hands at last. But who is Moonman? Is he one of the Angels, the high-minded group of artists to which Valentine belongs? Or is the truth more terrifying still?
Step by step Tom hunts down his quarry through the darkness, guided by his faith that there is goodness in this world as well as evil, and assisted by his chummy, the eleven-year-old Ned.
Narrated by Tom himself, this unusual historical thriller whirls the reader from the squalor of London’s Victorian slums to the heady pleasures of its high-life, revealing both the evil and the goodness in both. Tom and Ned make a formidable team as they clean the filthy chimneys of life in this first book of the Tom Wasp series.
Praise for Amy Myers
‘Victorian England hides a dark underbelly of misery and degradation along with a vicious murderer.’— Kirkus Reviews
‘Tom Wasp is one of the most engaging characters I’ve encountered in yeats’ – Ellen Keith, Historical Novels Review
AMY MYERS has been a full-time writer since 1988, and has written a wide range of novels from historical sagas and contemporary romance to crime. She is married to an American and lives in Kent. Many of her novels have been published under the name of Harriet Hudson.more
I rarely give five stars to any book and I have read countless of them. So why five stars for this? Let me explain. The world of Tom Wasp is an almost entirely new one to me, despite having read numerous Victorian mysteries, in addition to all I have learned about being a chimney sweep from Mary Poppins (i.e. very little). Tom is crafted with such deftness, he nearly jumps off the page. It is clear to me this character knocked on the door of this author’s brain in his complete form. I absolutely adore how he relates everything to his work as a chimney sweep. The way he thinks, the way he speaks, the way he walks (one can’t help but see it in ones mind) is utterly compelling. I very much enjoy being a fly on the wall of this character’s brain.
The mystery part was great. Even if it hadn’t been, I wouldn’t have minded when taken along for the ride with Tom and sweet little Ned. I didn’t see the twist coming, but I don’t try to figure these things out. I want it to be as much a surprise for me as it is to the sleuth, or whatever the author intended. It might be more obvious to those who like to figure out the puzzle ahead of time, but, for me, the historical aspect of this book was pitch perfect, and is what shines. Not once did I get pulled out of the world the author built. That is rare. The emotional content of this book is greater than most historical mysteries I have read. I loved that about it, too. I have already started reading book two of this remarkable series.
This book is about a chimney sweep who helps solve a murder in Victorian England.
good picture of the miserable conditions in which the poor of London lived in the 1800s.
Loved it. Full of real characters.
What happened to Bessie? Although we never actually meet her, we learn to know her by Wasp’s descriptions.
Enjoyed especially the view into 17th century English life for those on the outside or edges of society.
Tom Wisp makes a great narrator of this story. I enjoyed it tremendously. Looking forward to some follow on stories I have in my kindle queue.
The story’s narrator is a chimney sweep in 1860’s London. Took me a little bit to get into the chimney sweep vernacular: “‘Your dosh.’ He flipped a joey and a few mags at me. Four pence and a few halfpennies was all I got from the pigmen.” Tom decides to pursue the murder of an artist’s model after the police think they got their man and don’t want to search further. The accused is one of the “Angels,” a group of artists competing with the pre-Raphaelites. (The young woman died the same day the very real Lizzie Siddal committed suicide. And like the pre-Raphaelites, the Angels prefer models with red hair. One of the Angels says he lives next door to Dante Gabriel Rossetti.). Tom follows various clues all over the place, his trade giving him access to all levels of London society. Various characters look quite guilty, and you can’t guess the culprit beforehand. I was at the 98% point of the book before the murderer became clear. This the first in a series, so I’ll check out the others.
loved the characters and style of writing, well done
Overlooked! Tom Wasp may be unique: a London chimney sweep — and a hero! Educated, intelligent, creative — and covered with soot. There are millions of worlds to explore in books. This one is worth visiting.
Chimney sweep Tom tells the story of murder and his investigation in his own words. In doing so he delivers more truths than most whodunnits could ever claim. Tom’s homespun reasoning uses metafors from why life he knows. Who knew there was so much wisdom in chimneys?
Had some difficulty getting in to this.
I enjoyed this book. Although it was difficult going as there were many older English terms which I was not familiar with and could not always gather meaning from context. The story is told through the eyes of the chimney sweep Tom Wasp, whose character was the most developed.
I’m not quite done with the book but I love the way Tom is so tender. He may not have much but his heart is made of the right stuff.
Great Characters!
Really captures the mood of Old London.
A Super Excellent Read!!