The Conviction of Cora Burns by Carolyn Kirby
I was attracted to this by the fact that it's set in Victorian Birmingham, was cheap on Kindle, and contains a sinister scientist and a couple of mad women, as well as a workhouse, a prison, and several more tropes one would expect in one's Victorian-esque reads.
It was okay - served me well through a horrible bout of insomnia over the last couple of nights. You can tell it's a debut novel, and it definitely has, "Creative Writing Class" vibes, but its central character is interesting and there's enough to keep you wondering where things will end up.
I struggled with the fact that the central character had done something terrible, but that our sympathies were still with her throughout. And to be honest, the story would have been none the worse for not bothering with the terrible thing, as there lots of other things being considered anyway.
I liked it better than the one a few of us read a while back that I've completely forgotten the name of. Was it Franny something? The one with the truly appalling metaphors and the mad Victor Frankenstein figure experimenting on slaves? In any case, it reminded me a bit of that, whatever it was, because it was trying to pack too much it, and because it lacked polish - but I think she's a better writer than whoever wrote the one that I can't remember!
Congratulations if you reached the end of that wibbling without throwing your laptop across the room.