This was my 56th book fished in 2025.

I wasn't sure what I'd think of this book initially, but I grew to find it very charming and likeable. I enjoyed a lot of the characters and their near-constant use of slang. The idea of a heist novel set in Victorian London was very original and fun.

It was a great insight into Victorian London - far more interesting and engaging than anything Dickens could write! Crichton clearly did a lot of research, but he tripped up on a couple occasions: 
He begins by saying people only travelled by horse before 1830, and seems to entirely forget about the canal boom. Canals and railways were so closely tied in those early days, but he doesn't mention a canal once.

Crichton uses Pounds and Guineas interchangeably, but  they are not the same (pound = 20 shillings, guinea = 21 shillings aka £1.05). 

I was surprised that an American could focus so accurately on this British story, but it slipped on two occasions:
The one time it is mentioned, he says "pants" instead of "trousers". And throughout, which irked me, he refers to it as a railroad; we call it a railway. And he uses it accurately when referring to the company SER (South Eastern Railway), so it surprised me that he cocked it up on every other occasion.

The book is unfortunately bogged down by occasional sexism; uncomfortable sexual passages and unnecessary racist words. I understand the historical context behind this, but the narrator is clearly speaking directly to a modern audience; therefore it seems very strange to talk about these things as a matter of fact, without acknowledging how these things are not suitable to a modern audience.