I don’t read much historical fiction but when I do, it normally has a dark or magical element to it. The Wicked Cometh with its beautiful bewtiching cover and promises of ‘darkest London’ sounded exactly like my kind of thing, so I was really happy when NetGalley approved me for it.

Hester White is a poor orphan girl living in London, when she is hit by a carriage belonging to the wealthy aristocratic Brock family. They take her back to their house, where the master Calder Brock is a physician with a desire to conduct a social experiment. He wants to educate and raise the social status of the poverty-stricken and he sees Hester’s presence in his home as the golden opportunity to try this idea out. So he asks his sister Rebekah to step in and tutor Hester. As Hester becomes more involved with the family, it transpires that the truth behind recent disappearances amongst London’s working classes may lie closer than Hester imagined.

Throughout Carlin’s beautifully crafted prose, there is a thick shadow creeping underneath the mystery. The vivid description of Hester’s meagre existence before her encounter with the Brocks creates such a harrowing, desolate atmosphere that it never shakes off. Even when her prospects start looking up, the sepia tone lingers and it gradually gets darker as the mystery unravels.

Hester’s strength of character and determination means that you can’t help but love her. Despite the fact that she has been extremely unlucky in life, she retains hope that things will improve. She is extremely self-motivated and powered by the things that matter most to her -love, security and truth. I was willing things to work out for her and I was genuinely devastated on her behalf, when they looked like they weren’t going to.

One of my favourites aspects of The Wicked Cometh was the unexpected beautiful romance. It was so slow-burning that it almost sprang out at me but at the same time, it felt so right. Once I realised that both of these characters felt this way, it was so easy to root for it. When it finally came to fruition, it was a wonderful magical awakening that unfolded at exactly the right moment. It was easily one of the best female romances I’ve ever read and shone a light straight through the middle of the black-and-white world, in which the novel is set.

The story gets very dark and there are some graphic descriptions of human and animal mutilations. Tread carefully if you’re sensitive to topics of that nature. I am used to reading bloodthirsty stories but certain scenes towards the end put me on edge. However, the very end was simply exquisite. The darkness that had haunted the entirety of the novel finally lifted and the world was smothered with light.

The Wicked Cometh is a fantastic sensational romantic mystery. It captures the essence of a Gothic Victorian London perfectly and will keep your emotions turning until the very last page.

The year is 1831

Down the murky alleyways of London, acts of unspeakable wickedness are taking place and no one is willing to speak out on behalf of the city's vulnerable poor as they disappear from the streets.

Out of these shadows comes Hester White, a bright young woman who is desperate to escape the slums by any means possible.

My first Laura Carlin novel and I will read others. A historical thriller set in 1831 a young girl tries to better herself with more than a few set backs. There's a little romance to keep us happy.
Thank you Netgalley

This was an utterly baffling book and I couldn't really get into it. I found Hester quite unlikeable as a character and didn't care what happened to her even by halfway through the book, so I gave up at around 60%. Sorry. Thanks for the opportunity to read though

Wonderfully, powerful evocative historical fiction with such well drawn characters. Would recommend for fans of the genre.

This was a book I had long been waiting to read, but sadly it didn't live up to the hype.

I found the pace to be quite slow and I wasn't whipping through the pages as much as I envisioned I would.

The characters and descriptions were strong and I did feel as though I were being sucked into the dark underbelly of London.

I really enjoy a good historical mystery! Beautiful descriptive writing that suits this genre perfectly, the pace was a little slow but it was still enjoyable. The ending was, not what I would've preferred, but still enjoyable overall!

I had hoped to like this book more than I did. It was an amazing descriptive read. I did love the writing and despite the slow start, I was interested enough to keep reading. Wasn't all that gone on the ending, if I'm honest. Which kind of ruined it for me, but other than that, I was a decent historical read.

At the end of the day this was definitely not my type of book.
I can't be too critical of the book itself. I suppose the story delivered on what it promised to, and I did get drawn into the historical streets of London during the course of the story. I definitely have respect for the historical fiction and the essence of the story.

Probably better that I got to listen to the book (Audible download) as I think I might have got a little despondent with the pace at times.

Thank you NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for a review copy.

Received a free copy from NetGalley

I really enjoyed this victorian mystery with two female detectives.
Lots of turns and twists in this books.

However I was slighty disappointed the ending the author had chosen for the story . But still a compelling page turner , especially if you like a mystery or historical fiction

Down the murky alleyways of London, acts of unspeakable wickedness are taking place and the city's vulnerable poor are disappearing from the streets. Out of these shadows comes Hester White, a bright young woman who is desperate to escape the slums by any means possible.

When Hester is thrust into the world of the aristocratic Brock family, she leaps at the chance to improve her station in life under the tutelage of the fiercely intelligent and mysterious Rebekah Brock.

But whispers from her past slowly begin to poison her new life and both she and Rebekah are lured into the most sinister of investigations, dragging them into the blackest heart of a city where something more depraved than either of them could ever imagine is lurking. . .

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

Admittedly, I'm not a fan of historic fiction but I was pleasantly surprised by this. Well-written with a wide variety of characters to like or loathe. The 'mystery' itself is a little weak and does not take much unravelling: plot development happens too easily and characters do not need much persuasion to divulge everything. There are, however, some quite dark parts which turn the stomach somewhat. The physical book itself is exquisite; the story within not so much.

This book was great.
Hester has fallen from grace and when she is ‘rescued’ by the Brock family all seems to be moving in the right direction.
Thrilling plot and great characters. 4.5 stars

Laura Carlin’s Gothic novel The Wicked Cometh is described as a historical mystery which descends into the dark secrets of slums of London. The novel certainly lives up to its blurb. It is a dark, historical mystery, following in the footsteps of Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens.

The tale begins with missing girls and children and soon descends to gruesome levels. Following the life of Hester White, Carlin paints a vivid picture of the criminal underworld of London and takes us on a compelling tale of mystery and intrigue. It is Victorian London and amidst the crime and destitution young women and children have been going missing. Orphan Hester lives in desperate poverty, and is searching in vain for her cousin, who is her ticket to a better life, when an accident befalls her and she is taken in by a doctor for treatment. Hester’s world is turned on it’s head as she is pulled from poverty but, in discovering the sinister reasons behind the disappearances, Hester is pulled into a world even darker than the one she knew before.


Told in a first person narrative, this is a well written gothic tale. The plot is convincing and compelling, if a little convenient, but this is often the case within this genre. Hester is an identifiable narrator, even if some of her decisions are frustrating. The plot is not obvious however and makes for an interesting mystery. It is a truly enjoyable tale of gothic mystery.


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The main crux of this book however is lesbian romance at the centre of it. Hester falls in love with Rebecca, the doctor’s sister and her supposed ‘mentor’. For some time the readers are not sure the feeling is reciprocated, however as their relationship develops, we see a clever exploration of their love in a time where this would have been not only taboo but entirely unimaginable. The representation in this book was wonderful, as well as being a fantastic gothic mystery

Slow starter, but an evocative read. That said it doesn’t ever seem to go anywhere despite the excellent characterisation of Hester. It seems on reflection to be an extended character study than story. The ending left me feeling a bit cheated. Farfetched bordering on the soap opera! The writing shows the author had significant descriptive talent, the book needs less genre and more theme.
A shame in truth as I really wanted to love this, but I didn’t ever get there.

It’s easy to see the influences in this novel, Dickens, Wilkie Collins and Sarah Waters loom large but everything is rather flimsy. The characterisation is flat and despite all the grubby trappings of Victorian London the historical period feels like a wobbly, two-dimensional stage-set. The convoluted and coincidence-dependent plot is straight out of the Victorian melodramas but Carlin’s writing sadly lacks the strength and bravura to pull it off.

I didn't finish this book as I could not get into it. I was busy while reading it and kept picking it up and forgetting my place, however if I was to reread at another time I think I would have enjoyed it.

An exciting tale set in the dangerous streets and back alleys of 19th century London. We follow fiesty down-on-her-luck orphan Hester White and mysterious, wealthy Rebekah Brock as they investigate a series of gruesome mysteries and murders. The story is dark, thrilling and twists and turns at breakneck speed, always keeping the reader guessing. Perfect for fans of Sarah Waters and The Crimson Petal and the White.

I was initially drawn to the plot and cover, a lesbian romance set in the 1800’s with a element of mystery, not a genre I read very often but I was looking forward to delving into Victorian London.

That being said the story fell flat for me, the romance was very non-existant there was no chemistry between Hester & Rebekah and the subplot of the mysterious disappearance was vague at best.
It’s been a long time since I have been unable to finish a book but half way in I don’t think I can go any further right now. The premise is all there and the plot premise was brilliant but it wasn’t executed well enough to pull it off.

I hate leaving a book unread so I may at some point come back and finish it but right now it’s shelved.

The proofs of these books were incredible and though I wasn't lucky enough to receive one I am grateful to the publishers for this free copy. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and have already bought a copy for a friend's birthday!

A fantastic read. Thoroughly enjoyed this and it is not something I would usually pick up. Will look for more from this author in future.