This is a book that wallows in the dirt, disease and heavy period detail of its era ... It is within the teeming capital’s environs that his two characters are thrust towards a dramatic conclusion in prose pinpricked with ultra-vivid imagery.
A vigorous adventure that reinforces the sense of an author with energy and wit to spare ... The danger with fine prose is that there can be more sound than substance, and occasionally Osman gets carried away with the power of his own voice ... The flaw is that its hectic pace never really allows anything to settle, any character to take root ... That said, there’s much enjoyment to be had here.
Like the romance story, the ghost-theatre theme is suffocated by too much other stuff. It is never quite clear how the characters can fit in all that they do and still find time to learn lines (Nonesuch) and fulfil responsibilities in Birdland (Shay). For many readers that won’t matter. Mat Osman offers an immersive brew, a seething, imagined world with historical referents and engaging characters.
