Part of my goal going into 2023 is to read more books by male authors. And what better time to start this goal than New Year’s Eve?

Yesterday, I requested an ARC of The Great Big Demon Hunting Agency by Peter Oxley. How did my first step towards my goal go down? Let’s find out!

What I liked about the book:
1. This was such a quick read! It was humorous and adventurous enough that I wanted to see what happened next and didn’t want to put it down.

2. The characters were overall enjoyable.

Spencer and Bart: I loved how morally grey Spencer and Bart were; they were crooks after all, but had never done anything SUPER bad and were the ultimate good guys with consciences in the end. I also liked how even though they tried to pigeonhole themselves into their roles (Spencer is usually the brains and Bart is usually the muscle), they showed a lot of other, I would say equally important, traits. Like Bart with his heart of gold and Spencer with allowing his emotions to win over his brain at several points.

Tessie was fine. I liked the idea brought forth that she was an outcast as a kid and she was the creative type rather than the social etiquette type. I also enjoyed the moments when she let herself speak her mind, especially to her husband. I feel like we’ve only scratched the surface of Tessie’s character, and I have a feeling she will just continue to bloom beautifully into a rich character as the series goes on.

Thaddeus. Thaddeus. Thaddeus. The bad boy with magic powers who “doesn’t work for anyone”. Oh, I already know I’m going to fall hard for you. Probably the most morally grey of them all, Thaddeus was only in bits and pieces of this, but I have a feeling he will be involved with a lot of the shenanigans going forward. Not necessarily as a main character, but as the character that always shows up to help out at the last minute.

3. This book does a great job of setting us up for future events. We definitely weren’t left on a cliffhanger, but not everything was fully resolved, if that makes sense. This one also set a lot of foundation for future books to be able to just dive in, so I anticipate I will enjoy those even more going forward.

4. I love that cover! It’s fun and vibrant, yet dark and enticing. It reminds me of Daughter of the Pirate King meets The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

What could have been better:
1. Based on the reviews both on Goodreads and NetGalley, I anticipated this book to be more humorous than it was. I was expecting a lot of bumbling, slapstick antics reminiscent of The Three Stooges, which it wasn’t. It was still humorous, don’t get me wrong; it was just more “hmmmms” of appreciation than outright laughter from me.

2. Similar to item 1, the action/adventure was not as actiony or adventury as I thought it would be. I was looking for Goonies meets Ghostbusters, and this fell a bit flat. There were several scenes where they were fighting demons, but none of them really stand out to me looking back. Fun enough to read in the moment, but nothing super memorable.

3. There were two pairs of names that I constantly got mixed up when they were near each other:

– the only women really in this book were named Bessie and Tessie. Did we really need them to rhyme? This was a bit confusing to me at first and had me thinking the author had a typo for part of it. Until our second encounter with Bessie where her appearance was described a bit more, I assumed they were the same person.

– Also, Seth and Spencer. While they may not have rhymed, the first real introduction to Spencer and Bart having Seth thrown in the mix definitely messed with me the entire scene and from there on out whenever Spencer and Seth were together. I constantly found myself saying, “Now, which one is this?”

Final Thoughts:
This was a fun little read that was great to end 2022 on. I’m looking forward to the next one!

Final Rating: 3.5 stars

Thank you to the publisher Burning Chair, Peter Oxley, and NetGalley for the free copy of this book. The opinions expressed above are voluntary and my own.

My final review of the year and what a book to go out on. This was a fun, fast paced mystery read that was highly enjoyable.

The settings of London 1868 were gothic and easy to visualise, giving off a Sweeney Todd vibe, which was perfect.

Spencer and Bart were quite the bumbling, comedic duo weren't they and I can't wait to read more about their next venture.

The Great Big Demon Hunting Agency is a lighthearted, quick easy read to lose yourself in for a few hours.

Many thanks to Netgalley for my ARC in return for my honest review.

Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

And The Great Big Demon Hunting Agency by Peter Oxley is one of those things; it wasn’t the longest book - and felt very much like a prequel, telling us how the agency was formed.  It was interesting enough to leave me thinking that if there are more, and this is the start of a series, I will definitely read what ever comes next.I loved the Victorian setting, the dark and creepy tone.  Bart and Spencer are a funny pair too - seem like the sort who will always be getting into trouble and not often having things go their way.  But, despite being crooks, they do seem to be decent guys- mostly anyway.  The pace of the book was a little uneven with the first half being slower.  As a result, I was left feeling like I didn’t really have a great handle on how the world the story has placed the reader in came to be or what the rules of the world were.  Once the story picked up, a little more than half way through however, it didn’t seem to matter much anymore.  Although there are a number of lingering questions after the book ends (what about Milton? Who really are Thaddeus and Emerson?  How did one person survive the exercisom while the other didn’t?  Why was Tessie’s husband such an ass to begin with?  Why were all his friends ok with setting up Tessie to die?  And why did her friends turn against her?) it was still a quick and entertaining little read. I do hope to see more of the these demon hunters. 
One criticism though.  And I have said similar things when talking about books where there is a character that speaks another language too… Writing in the dialogue in the beginning in the dialect or phonetic way a person speaks gets old and tiring.  Plus, it is never fully sustainable throughout the entire book.  I wish writers wouldn’t try in the first place.  It just detracts from the story and frankly is annoying.  I think it is an attempt to put a voice of a character in my head, but I don’t need that assistance when the authori has done enough character development.

Thanks to NetGalley for the digital copy before the release date.
It was funny and thrilling throughout! I loved the setting and the characters
A really amazing book!

Thank you, Burning Chair, for allowing me to read The Great Big Demon Hunting Agency early.

This was a very fun read. I enjoyed it deeply.

The story started off suspenseful and then became a confusing, slow-burn. It was very detailed but I do wish there was a prelude to how the demons were unleashed. I feel that if prelude was giving it would’ve helped with the transitions between each individual character storyline. Also, I wish there were more supernatural elements involved. Later on in the story it did become fast pace with action which I enjoyed!

Exciting and engaging adventure/ mystery.
Follow a pair of crooks through a world full of demons and magic.
Keeps you on your toes throughout with plenty of twists and turns.
An engaging read with some unexpected adventures throughout

A surprisingly quick read, I speed through this book on the bus journey to Dublin the other week and found myself laughing out loud on numerous occasions (apologies to my fellow passengers for the guffaws of laughter).
Set in London of 1868, we met Spencer and Bart, our two protagonists. Two decidedly bumbling crooks who decide to "go straight". Well to a certain extent as they set up a new business to tackle the threat of demons in London. Yes, all manner of strange demonic creatures exist and they are making life very difficult for the humans of London so are intrepid duo are coming to the rescue.
Naturally, their plan does not go according to plan and mayhem quickly ensues. And it is only due to their own quick thinking (Spencer) and fighting skills (Bart) that Spencer and Bart are able to pay off one debt and scramble into another disaster, I found myself enjoying the mayhem and the regular hints of darkness to come as mentions of the Tappers and disappearances became more frequent.
And then we met Tessie, the wife of a London society man. Tessie is fearful of her husband and hires Spencer and Bart to investigate. They soon uncover some very dark activities and the trio end on fighting both demons and humans in a battle to survive.
The Great Big Demon Hunting Agency is a dark, gothic tale with plenty of humour and heart. One to read and enjoy.

254 pages

4 stars

This is a fun book.

Two rather bumbling miscreants named Spencer and Bart have hit bottom. None of their former pals will have anything to do with them any longer. Spencer gets a great idea. They should go straight. Bart can’t believe it.

They create the “The “Grate” (sic) Big Demon Hunting Agency. It seems London in 1868 is overrun by ill-meaning demons. Spencer plans to fight them off - for money - of course. They have success with their agency.

But things then get more serious.

I enjoyed this little novel. I actually liked Spencer and Bart. They were funny. More importantly, they actually stumbled onto honest work at last. Demons, evil people, damsels in distress. . What’s not to like?

Mr. Oxley has created two engaging antiheroes. His descriptions are colorful. I witnessed the demon hunting duo in first person. I felt like I was there.

I want to thank NetGalley and Burning Chair for forwarding to me this nice little book for me to read, enjoy and review. The opinions expressed here are solely my own.

3.75/5!
I ran through this book so fast for multiple reasons. First, it was a quick-paced read that made it easy to stay engaged. More importantly, however, is that I wanted to know what was next and really enjoyed the combination of humor and wit in the writing.

This book reminded me of the YA series "The Amulet of Samarkand" which I loved growing up. The demon interactions were interesting and exciting. I do think it could have been fun to make the demons a little more three-dimensional at times. But I felt for Spencer and Bart and I do believe that reformation takes place sometimes out of necessity, not just desire. Great book and it would be interesting to see this world continue. I think in the future having more structure to the switching POVs could be helpful as well.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

Two "reformed" crooks set up a demon-hunting agency in 19th-century London. Spencer and Bart are just trying to make some money, get out from under Milton, and not get caught by the police. In this version of London, they also have to contend with demons that have arrived and taken up residence, living among the people. And there's magic, too.

In their quest to drum up business, Spencer and Bart come to the notice of Tessie, a wife to a man that does not have her best interests at heart. Tessie hires them to find out what her husband is hiding. Along the way, they run into all sorts of trouble. Spencer tries hard to just live for himself, but Bart has a. bit more of a heart and takes a shine to Tessie and her plight beyond the opportunity for a payday.

The world and the story are interesting. Tying together demons and criminals and society and the aura of occult magic make for the basis of a fun romp. The pace in the back half of the story is quick, and there is a lot going on. However, the characters never gained traction. It felt as if they were placeholders, and their motivations and history were either glossed over or kept very superficial. Without a true lead and character to hold onto, it was hard to get invested in the outcome of this story or want to stay longer in this world.

I wanted more from this. The descriptions and the writing felt stiff and didn't allow for making attachments to any of the characters. If anything, Tessie felt more realized than either Spencer or Bart, but even her backstory was minimal and left a lot to be imagined on your own. There is the making of an entertaining series here, but this didn't quite nail the landing at creating an immersive world that I wanted to stay in and continue exploring.

#TheGreatBigDemonHuntingAgency #NetGalley Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this novel. I encourage you to check this one out! Really solid read.

This didn't turn out to be as good as the description. It was a struggle to get into....but I did finish it, I won't be reading more, but since I didn't DNF it, I will give it 3 solid stars.

A fun, exciting adventure of demons, monsters, and things that go bump in the night, I loved the characters, the world, and the story.