Review: A Very Singular Guild (City of Orphans #3)

This is the final book in this meticulously researched trilogy set in 1870. The machine age has brought changes to London and new beginnings to Ned Roach, who is now employed full time by Alfred Bunce the bogler. The Metropolitan Board of works has created the new Committee for the Regulation of Subterranean Anomalies and Alfred now works for the Sewers Office. The Committee is seeking a scientific way to kill the monsters and remove the need for child bait making Ned and Alfred question their future.

A new type of bogle emerges; one that can be killed by anyone.  As Alfred contemplates his limited options, Ned acknowledges he is luckier. Although illiterate, he is bright, daring and resourceful enough to reshape his life. But there are mysteries to be solved, and journeys to be undertaken through a trail of magic and folklore.

This brilliant series brings to life the London of orphaned children and lives consisting of poverty, squalor and hardship, starvation and brutality. The outstanding descriptions and Catherine Jinks’ skilful artistry with words and construction easily draws the reader into every imaginative setting. It heightened all my senses and I journeyed through old London’s contrasting social levels and the pathos of survival in an almost interactive way.

Click on the links to read our KBR reviews of the first two books in the trilogy, A Very Unusual Pursuit and A Very Peculiar Plague.

Title: A Very Singular Guild (City of Orphans #3)
Author: Catherine Jinks
Publisher: Allen & Unwin, $14.99 RRP
Publication Date: January 2014
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781743313091
For ages: 12+
Type:Middle Fiction, Young Adult Fiction