It was hard for me to rate this book because at various points I really dug it and at other various points I almost gave up on it. O'Neill did a great job portraying and developing some of the characters and I particularly enjoyed Inspector Groves in all his blustering glory. But on the other hand, the plot became overly weird and wandered into some rather unexpected territory that I don't think worked. He really did his research on Victorian Edinburgh (always a big plus in my book-I loved the historic photographs underneath the chapter titles) and it was a nice escape from other books of this genre that seem to be almost always set in London. I guess in the end, I would recommend it only to people that I was fairly comfortable with their taste in books to know they'd enjoy it, because I'm not sure most people would.

I... just don't even know where to begin with this one. Initially reads as a fairly straightforward historical mystery, when a series of gruesome and bestial murders hits 1880s Edinburgh. Self-absorbed police Inspector Groves, who often seems more interested in how a case will be presented to future readers of his memoir-in-progress, suspects that the crimes are tied together through an odd young woman, Evelyn Todd, but resistance to his questioning by Evelyn herself, as well as the associates of the murdered men, stymies his investigation.

Meanwhile, Professor McKnight and Mr. Canavan, whose unexpected friendship has developed around a shared love of books and philosophy, take up their own investigation into Miss Todd's background and experiences, hoping to discover what links her to the deaths of such a varied cast of characters, the mighty and the seedy.

Spoiler

Evelyn's vast imagination, it ensues, is capable of somehow manifesting her desires as she sleeps. Better still, it seems that it unleashes a silent "lodger" who occupies her mind and is freed only when she is unconscious. What and who is that "lodger"? how did it come to share her mind, and why are these particular people its targets?

The last quarter of the book becomes increasingly phantasmical, requiring the reader to set aside any requirements for a tidy wrap-up.

I read this while on vacation in Edinburgh, and the Edinburgh setting was the best part for me. Otherwise, I had a hard time getting into it, and really just skimmed the last 50 pages. Too metaphysical and supernatural for my tastes....

This book was awful and the ending was stupid and pissed me off.
Not much of a review.
Total rip-off of Sherlock Holmes and Watson.

Though this story of serial killings in 19th Century Edinburgh begins a bit slowly it certainly picks up the pace and makes for interesting reading. O' Neill does a fine job of describing the atmosphere of the city at that time. I was clearly able to picture the hazy atmosphere at each sunset as the Lamplighters scurried through town illuminating its dark streets. The atmosphere and characterization are very well done, the mystery is intriguing and overall I was well satisfied with this tale of bestial murders in the cobblestoned streets of the city.

I'm not sure if O'Neill's concept was original overall but it was original to me. Never read a story quite like it. You feel sorry for Evelyn and her predicament. You feel contempt for Carus Groves, who seems to figure out the villain despite his arrogance. Thomas and Joseph are the ones I ended up rooting for. They seemed to have a handle on things (for good reason).
This book takes a look into the mind and what it will do to preserve itself.
It took me awhile to get through it, not that I didn't understand it, I've just become so used to romance (serial) books, reading a real book threw me off a little.

I liked the storyline (not your "usual serial killer") but it got way too philosophical for me, rambled on and the ending got overly weird. I would not recommend this.