The Whispering Muse is a Victorian Gothic and it delivers in spades. I love an eeire tale and this one is full of uncanny details.

The theatrical setting is just perfect, and Purcell really captures the spirit of the stage. The Mercury is as much a character as Jenny or Lilith and the theatre world comes with such a delicious collection of myths and superstitions that it is the perfect subject for a creepy gothic tale.

It started a little slow for me, and initially Jenny annoyed the hell out of me - but her development from naive and judgemental, to the bargains and deals that she has to navigate, and her final dawning realisations are a fun journey to travel. As the story progressed I became more and more invested and intrigued with just how this was all going to turn out.

The use of the plays and quotes to foreshadow were good fun to pick out and were a nice device within which to stage everything.

I loved Lilith, and I enjoyed the developing relationship between her and Jenny, and how their relationship changed Jenny and brought out the better side of her. I enjoyed the gradual friendship between them and some of their scenes together were my favourite parts to read.

There is a strong cast of supporting characters - Mr and Mrs Dyer each winning prizes for their destructive self obsessive drives, and Anthony, Silas and Felix provide solid theatre folk fodder. Oscar is perhaps a little limp for my tastes but perfect for Jenny.

All in all, a solid creepy gothic story. I've enjoyed my first novel by Laura Purcell and I think I will look up some more.