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Original poster

Can you recommend a good Victorian Thriller?

54 replies

Matildathebrave · 30/11/2011 19:51

You know with lots of atmosphere and murders and fogy streets?

Trying to find the above with no luck!

OP posts:
boogiewoogie · 02/12/2011 20:39

Another vote for Woman in White. - Wilkie Collins
Also Woman in Black. - Susan Hill
The picture of Dorian Grey. - Oscar Wilde
The strange case of Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde.
The Hound of the Baskervilles - Arthur Conan Doyle

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 02/12/2011 19:56

'Alias Grace' is v good except for the silly ending imho. Much better than 'Fingersmith' though.

Sam100 · 02/12/2011 19:50

The Steet Philosopher by Matthew Plampin was an excellent read.

racingheart · 02/12/2011 19:47

There's also the gruesome true story The Suspicions of Mr Whicher. Gripping.
How about Little Dorrit? Rigaud is very creepy.

lipslave · 02/12/2011 19:43

Can I also recommend Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood? Not written by a Victorian, but (if I remember correctly) set in Victorian times. And a brilliant read.

lipslave · 02/12/2011 19:41

I agree with those who've recommended the woman in white by Wilkie Collins. I read it years ago and loved it. I have just downloaded The Moonstone (free) from iBooks on the strength of this thread.

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javo · 02/12/2011 19:21

I agree Remus, I was very disappointed with Lady Audley and struggled to get to the end- also the "big secret" was glaringly obvious. I would second Crimson Petal, Fingersmith and also Affinity. You could try Dr Jekell and Mr Hyde or some Dickens or Wilkie Collins.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 02/12/2011 19:13

I was disappointed by 'Lady Audley's Secret' as the writer kept interrupting her own plot to go on and on about stuff. It really annoyed me. Without that, the story itself is quite good fun.

IronOrchid · 01/12/2011 23:47

Urg, italics-fail.

IronOrchid · 01/12/2011 23:47

'Sleep Pale Sister' by Joanne Harris - not brilliant, but v. Victorian :)

^Sleep, Pale Sister, a powerful, atmospheric and blackly gothic evocation of Victorian artistic life, was originally published before Joanne Harris achieved worldwide recognition with Chocolat.

Henry Chester, a domineering and puritanical Victorian artist, is in search of the perfect model. In nine-year-old Effie he finds her.

Ten years later, lovely, childlike and sedated, Effie seems the ideal wife. But something inside her is about to awaken.

Drawn into a dangerous underworld of prostitution, murder and blackmail, she must finally plan her revenge.^

EdithWeston · 01/12/2011 23:15

Not quite what you're asking for, but you might want to try "Lady Audley's Secret" by Mary Elizabeth Braddon (has been in print again recently).

Katisha · 01/12/2011 23:12

The Moonstone is really good. And quite funny in places.
Must see if Woman in White is free on Kindle as well.

acsec · 01/12/2011 23:11

The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl

monkeyLFDTwench · 01/12/2011 23:10

Or The Turn of the Screw by Henry James more horror but very atmospheric.

monkeyLFDTwench · 01/12/2011 23:08

Was going to suggest Wilkie Collins or MR James. Or you can't beat a good Sherlock Holmes.

Not a thriller as such more a whodunnit but have you read The Suspicions of Mr Whicher?

carlajean · 01/12/2011 19:47

try any of the collected ghost stories of MR James. I know it's not strictly what you're asking for, but they do have heaps of Victorian atmosphere and spookiness.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 01/12/2011 17:15

Yes to, 'Dora Damage' - I thoroughly enjoyed it.

fishie · 01/12/2011 09:49

ooooh ooh you must read this dora damage

Original poster
Matildathebrave · 01/12/2011 09:46

Thanks all. Yes I did mean set in Victorian times, off to have a look at your recommendations on Amazon

OP posts:
DuchessofMalfi · 01/12/2011 08:13

I was going to suggest The Moonstone and The Woman in White also :).

coolragdoll · 30/11/2011 20:55

I like The Dead Secret by Wilkie Collins if you want something a bit more off the beaten track. Edgar Allen Poe?

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 30/11/2011 20:47

The Woman In White or The Moonstone - Wilkie Collins. Brilliant.

The American Boy - Andrew Taylor - not Victorian but nicely atmospheric.

Some Conan Doyle?

Frankenstein. Dracula. The Invisible Man.

Dorian Grey.

StopRainingPlease · 30/11/2011 20:42

Anne Perry's series about William Monk, of the Thames river police.

midnightexpress · 30/11/2011 20:19

White

midnightexpress · 30/11/2011 20:19

Written by a Victorian, or set in Victorian times?

If the former, The Woman in While by Wilkie Collins is fabulous.