The Carnivale of Curiosities is a pretty decent debut novel by Aimee Gibbs that takes place in the always fascinating world of Victorian London
Ashe and Pretorius’s Carnivale of Curiosities arrive in London with a headline show that features a fellow who can manifest fire from his hands and a number of impressive people with startling abilities. The sideshow has become the place to be for bizarre entertainment. One of the proprietors is a magician who can make any wish come true for the right price. A troubling attraction between the main star and a new addition to the group adds to the mix as dangerous gangsters threatens to expose secrets and bring the show to a tragic end.
First of all, Gibbs does display some impressive prose style. Her efforts to capture the feel of the Victorian era in London are well executed.
I had some trouble really getting into the story or finding the characters all that interesting. That may have been more due to some of my natural reservations about new authors and genres that I don’t typically read more than any deficiency in the writer’s abilities.
Anyway, I am sure that other readers will find this more enjoyable, and they would not be wrong. It may be that I just need to give this one another go in a few years when I am in a different frame of mind. Still, Gibbs should continue her writing, and I will likely be on the lookout for a follow-up to this novel.’
Next up, I return to a genre where I am most familiar. Virgil Flowers heads to a small town in Minnesota to unravel a mystery involving shootings, religious visions, and of course, murder in Holy Ghost by John Sandford.
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