The House on Vesper Sands

Named an Indie Next Pick, Library Reads Pick, Apple Books' Best Book, Powell’s Pick, Amazon Fiction & Literature's “Best of the Month," and one of Oprah Daily's Best Historical Novels of 2021

"Ensconced in the rich, Gothic embellishments of Mr. O’Donnell’s prose . . . . The House on Vesper Sands performs a . . . kind of enchantment, transforming a chronicle of sordid crimes into an enjoyably eerie ghost story."
― The Wall Street Journal

"In this charming jape of a thriller, Inspector Henry Cutter is known around New Scotland Yard for having 'a weakness for certain exotic cases.' In the snowy winter of 1893, he’s drawn into a doozy when young employed women around London start to vanish, or―worse, in a way―have their souls stolen by ruthless spiritualists. Preposterous, you say? Not in the hands of O’Donnell, a kind of Oscar Wilde gone tipsy, who drops some Irish whimsy into the harsh reality of Victorian England."
― Richard Lipez, The Washington Post

"A thrilling gothic mystery."
― TIME

"Practically comes with the mood lighting one would hope for when reading a Victorian-era mystery. Expect pages infused with fog and the clicks of mysterious footsteps...written with modern wit and a Dickensian sense of detail."
― Oprah Daily

"That rare mystery that’s at once gripping, elegantly written and very funny."
― The Seattle Times

This discussion guide was shared and sponsored in partnership with Tin House.