I found this fair-condition softcover at a local Salvation Army thrift shop and nabbed it for another release copy. It's one of Hodder's "Burton & Swinburne" series, a kind of gaslamp/steampunk/alternate-history setup.

This one's quite fun, and more than a little mind-screw-ish {grin}. This is definitely alternate-history (in more ways than one), and yet is woven into actual history well enough that I was honestly surprised by which bits were true and which fictional. (There's a "meanwhile, in the Victorian Age" appendix with notes about the real-world equivalents of the main story elements.) The main character is Sir Richard Francis Burton, noted explorer and author (whose real-world tomb is constructed in the shape of a tent - and which has a window in the back so that visitors can peek in and see the grave goods from his travels, as well as the coffins of himself and his wife; talk about stranger-than-fiction!); here, the story opens with the suicide of a professional rival just before the planned debate that might have settled their quarrel as to who really discovered the source of the Nile. Distraught, Burton tries to settle back into his normal routine, but not long afterwards he has a very strange encounter in a dark alley - a bizarre, long-legged being with blue flames sprouting from its head, who screams curses at him and orders him by name to stay out of his affairs; "It's not what you're meant to be doing!" It batters him into a wall while telling him how his life is supposed to go, and then it leaps over the nearest building and vanishes in midair.

This baffling incident eventually leads Burton into a lengthy and confusing - and often hazardous - investigation, involving many reported sightings of the bizarre apparation over many years, most of which included his attacks on young women. The reasons behind all of this come out gradually, with an increasing sense of tragedy - but along the way there's a gritty-but-fun look at this version of the world, a London where the newspapers advertise specially-bred "broomcats" which dust the floors with their long, specially-designed coats and then lick themselves clean (I want one of those!), and with steam-powered "rotorchairs" flying above the smoggy streets.

Unusual characters turn up, such as the Beetle, the never-seen leader of the chimney sweeps; to meet with him, Burton has to scale the smokestack of an abandoned factory, drop some stones down the chimney as a signal - and to bring books as the price of the interview! [This was part of an investigation into missing chimney sweeps, many of whom had been carried off by what seemed to be wolflike humans; some of them eventually come home, but not all.] This investigation drives a good bit of the plot, though when the Springheeled Jack sightings occur again that takes the forefront.

Burton drafts the poet Algernon Swinburne to help track down the kidnappers, as the diminutive poet can - perhaps - pass for a chimney sweep, and he's very happy to give it a try. (It seems that he's a devotee of the Marquis de Sade, something that pays off when he's captured; apparently there is such a thing as "too kinky to torture"!)

There are many wonderful things in this book, from the unusual technology to the cameos by historical characters, but my favorite aspect was the story behind Springheeled Jack, memorable and scary. I'll be looking for more books in this series, but I can only hope that the other plots will be as affecting as this one was!

[There's a TV Tropes page on the series, with some entertaining tidbits.]

I left this book in the Little Free Library at around 4:15 or so; hope the finder enjoys it!

*** Released as part of the 2016 Tick Tock release challenge. ***

*** Released as part of the 2016 Spooktacular Halloween release challenge. ***