The mystery kept me interested and engaged. The author has a nice style and knows how to interweave characters and historical events.
I found the sexual threads unnecessary and distracting. Why must so many of the characters be deviants? Why and how does Augustine wield so much power over so many? Nothing in the story leads me to a reasonable understanding of this.
This novel is ok. What makes me sad is that I think it is just steps away from being good. I doubt I would select another of her books. Time is an investment and this did not have enough of a payoff in my view. ( )

A jack-the-ripper-flavored story, set in 18th-century London - but with
enough original elements to make it a more than worthwhile read.
Jonathan Absey is a government clerk whose career has not been going very
well since he went out on a limb to get his estranged brother a pardon for
homosexual acts - and it's gone from bad to worse as he becomes obsessed
with finding the killer of his daughter. Since the girl, also estranged,
was a prostitute at the time, he's officially discouraged from pursuing
the case... but when more and more women of his daughter's description
keep turning up dead, it's hard for him to concentrate on his offical
assignment: scouring the mails for signs of French espionage.
But both murders and spies seem to lead to a group of odd and enigmatic
astronomers, obsessed with finding a new planet that they call Selene.
Cover-ups, betrayals, madness, perversion and violence will ensue before
all is revealed in this dark and gripping mystery. ( )

I enjoyed this story of espionage, serial killers and astronomy in the late 18th century, a lot more than I thought I would. There was a lot of historical detail, particularily about the advances in astronomy during that time and the period was brilliantly brought to life. ( )

Jonathan Absey works for the English government during the 1700s trying to detect correspondence from French spies. he is also trying to find out who killed his daughter and has also killed a series of other red haired women. This leads him to half his half brother join a group of astronomers including doctor Raultier whom Jonathan believes is a French spy. None of the characters was very likable which made it hard for me to invest in any of them. I also inadvertently ended up listening to an abridged audio. I dislike abridgements and would have liked to hear the whole story. ( )

This is really "can't put it down" mystery filled with interesting characters, just enough history, (maybe a bit much astronomy -- but necessary) and lots of twists and turns. I hope Redfern is working on another one. Overall good reading! ( )