This is a hugely enjoyable story. Fast paced, gripping, packed with original characters (and a couple of old favourites), it held my attention from the very start until the last word, and left me eager to read more.

Your prose is tight and efficient, perfect for this sort of story, but with occassional, restrained flashes of poetry. The dialogue is also very well-handled, with individual and authentic voices for each character.

The characters themselves were great. Fascinating and original, they still managed to seem thoroughly natural and credible. I'm particularly intrigued by the nature of Mr Bliss. The introduction of the great detective was handled very well - he really did seem to slot quite naturally into the story. I'm guessing this won't be a single-pipe problem for him...

The setting and period were evoked expertly, whilst avoiding the descriptive cliches which often blight stories of this genre, and the story was powerfully atmospheric.

(there may some words on the end I have omitted, can't remember actually...whistle hum dum de dum)
"...the likes of NickP can rant on if they like"

I occasionally rant on at http://amonsterinthemirror.blogspot.com/