Anybody read The Vesuvius Club?

Yup. And yes, it's a lot of fun, but I probably wouldn't read it more than once.

The Lucifer Box novels by Mark Gatiss...

...Anyone else heard of these? I don't know if they're just published here in England, or worldwide. I was actually looking for Elizabeth Gaskell's Cranford when I happened upon Gatiss's name and immediately picked up the book ("The Devil in Amber"), because I knew him better as the creepy butcher out of the League of Gentlemen. Turns out it's a pretty decent read, very entertaining pastiche of a between-the-wars adventure - he writes for Doctor Who as well, which I hadn't realised... a man of many dimensions, then.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=devil+in+amber&meta=

The first two, at least, have been published in the US. My husband and I loved them both. Very much in the vein of the "Flashman" series, which we also adore (we were sad when we heard Fraser had died).

Death Bean said:

...Anyone else heard of these? I don't know if they're just published here in England, or worldwide. I was actually looking for Elizabeth Gaskell's Cranford when I happened upon Gatiss's name and immediately picked up the book ("The Devil in Amber"), because I knew him better as the creepy butcher out of the League of Gentlemen. Turns out it's a pretty decent read, very entertaining pastiche of a between-the-wars adventure - he writes for Doctor Who as well, which I hadn't realised... a man of many dimensions, then.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=devil+in+amber&meta=

Click to expand...

They're published in Scotland as well as England. I have the first one but never finished it. Can't remember why but I think I was interrupted and never got around to finishing it. I do remember it was very entertaining reading, as in I could almost 'hear' Mark Gatiss reading the story aloud. (There's a bit on the extra features of the League of Gentlemen Christmas Special where he's reading aloud this pastiche of Victoriana, and it's a similar kind of 'feel' to it.) There's a graphic novel version as well, I believe.

'The Devil in Amber', I think.

ETA: yes, it is. I'm really glad this thread came up, as I'd completely forgotten about the first book. I have to figure out what I did with it and get back into it.

I've heard the third one's coming out this month - it's called 'Clawhammer', and it's jumped forward another few years to the 1950's when Lucifer's in his seventies!! Apparently Mark had the idea to follow Mr. Box through stages of his life like that in the bath. Maybe I should take more baths

I've got the graphic version of the Vesuvius Club - absolutely brilliant!! The style isn't what I expected, but it compliments the books perfectly. I'm waiting for a Devil in Amber one to be published...