Dr. Marvello's Travelling Circus brings a touch of magic and wonder each time it comes to town, but when a series of gruesome murders coincides with their arrival the performers find themselves caught up in some rather sinister goings on. It falls to ringmaster and master conjuror Cornelius Quaint, ably assisted by his Eskimo valet Butter, to investigate the killings and to clear the name of the circus strongman who is being held on suspicion of murder. But Quaint soon finds that these seemingly random killings are inextricably linked and, what is more, that they all point back to a dark secret in his own past.
The Equivoque Principle (Cornelius Quaint Chronicles)
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/ 'Boisterous comedy and hairpin plot twists' - The Times
About the Author
This is Darren Craske's first novel and the start of the Cornelius Quaint adventures.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Unique,
By Jessss "Euchella" (Mountain) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Equivoque Principle (Cornelius Quaint Chronicles) (Kindle Edition)
This book starts out with a good opening of a betrayal and pious rich paying others to do their dirty work. However, after the opening, things get confusing. The storyline is there, but it is rather difficult to follow. It's set back in old London and so the language and setting are obviously more difficult to see. In some cases of description and explanations, the writer takes you through fluidly so that you can see and sense the plot. In others, he is choppy at best. I found myself rubbing my head from the headache of just trying to understand what was happening. However, by the end I was rewarded with a great tale of adventure, mystery, thriller, murder, and a good ending.
The characters are good. You find those you love and those you hate. Others, you understand and some you don't. Quaint, being the main character, is a good kind of guy you love to laugh at. His straightforwardness is what gets him into more trouble than most is worth and you definitely feel the connection to his fortune teller, Destine. With those two characters, you can not only visualize but even see through their eyes. Parm has had some bad luck but it hopefully changes, while Butter is a constant and reliable chracter. Sometimes it was difficult to visualize the chracters, but for the main ones you got. There is a funny fight scene where Quaint and Butter have to take on a mob of guys, and mystery and enough action to keep you occupied. Overall, the story is good but could be better written. Maybe the next one will be better with a setting in Egypt. I know I liked this one enough to give it a try.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
None Too Magical,
By Cathytg "cathytg" (California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Equivoque Principle (Cornelius Quaint Chronicles) (Kindle Edition)
I had high hopes for The Equivoque Principle: a picaresque, pulpy adventure novel set in Victorian London, centered on a traveling circus? Yes, please! But, sadly, to this one I should have said "No, thanks."
This book is almost comically badly written, festooned with dangling participles and packed with cliches, clumsy exposition, and poorly chosen words. It is also full of "Victorian" characters who say thing like "Yeah" and "Feet, don't fail me now." Granted, when you're going for a pulp feel you don't expect finely wrought prose -- but minimal competence would be nice. The plotting is equally slipshod -- characters behave in unlikely ways (if a mob is out to kill two people, is it really likely to beat them up a bit and then lock them in a freezer compartment instead of just ... KILLING them?), and the story is a tissue of cliches. Craske clearly had a good idea for a series here -- the circus elements, the conjuring, the period setting. With experience, he may eventually write an enjoyable novel. His editor on this one, however, should be horsewhipped for letting it see the light of day in such an amateurish condition.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Lots of Action,
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This review is from: The Equivoque Principle (Cornelius Quaint Chronicles) (Kindle Edition)
Part of what I enjoyed most was the timing and pace. There are lots of short, fast, action-oriented chapters with clever titles that add to the fun. I'll certainly check out the next book in the series.
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