Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

First, this is something that I should have loved. I love Victorian mysteries and Dickens. In fact, I read Bleak House every year at Christmastime. I was hoping that reading this would be fun and interesting and lead straight into my annual Bleak House read. Dickens could weave a multifaceted tale with ease. Shepherd doesn't have that same gift. It's just a big mess with characters that we don't want to know or care about. Shepherd tried too hard to emulate Dickens and Collins with her own writing style. She could have done much better by keeping it simple and not going for a word count. This book was just long and boring.