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The Vesuvius Club by Mark Gatiss is a delightful tour of the Edwardian London and of the cloak and dagger underworld in the British Secret Service. Our guide throughout the book is the flamboyant main character Lucifer Box, a dashing gentleman who is known to many as a humble painter, glorifying the features of the wealthier members of society - but only a selected few know his true identity as a secret agent. His duty towards King and Country presents him with a strange riddle: two British geologists with the strange names Verdigris and Sash have gone missing, and his only lead is a papir with a strange code. At the same time his dear friend Christopher Miracle is suspected of having murdered a young lady, and astonishingly enough, these events are linked. All the clues point in one direction: Naples and the fiery vulcano Vesuvius. Lucifer embarks on a journey which proves to be just as funny as it is entertaining. Mark Gatiss creates an enthralling and recommendable combination of satiric spy story and historical novel in The Vesuvius Club. The storyline is as odd as one expects knowing the author, but one cannot help being seduced by the dashing Lucifer Box. It is not in any way a difficult book to read and the narrative tone is occasionally spiced up with dashes of comments from Lucifer himself. It is important to emphasize that this is more a work of entertainment than of education, though. If you expect a loyal historical novel, then you would be sorry. But if you expect a historical novel with a few splashes of odd humour and spy elements, this book would be a treat. It also comes with occasional and pretty illustrations. I deliberately chose to buy the hardback edition, and I must say it is definitely worth the extra pounds. Not only is the splendid orange cover jacket very elegant and a feast for the eye, but it also comes with a deliberate patina, giving it a dash of antique and old times. Here the pages are slightly yellowish to give it an aura of history. It is of average length (256 pages), but it is printed in a smooth layout and is very reader-friendly. One does not strain to read it at all. A downside to the book is that it might easily disappoint you, if you do not know what you are signing up for. All in all, it is a worthwhile and easy read if one is looking for a humourous and alternative take on the classic Bond-character and the historical Edwardian times. A fine book with a stunning layout and more than worth the money and time.Read full review
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