An outbreak of supernatural events in late Victorian London is comedic and lightly creepy in The Peculiarities by David Liss (The Twelth Enchantment).
Thomas Thresher has enough mundane problems to worry about. His brother may be sabotaging the family bank, at which Thomas is only a junior clerk, and is also pressuring him to get married for unexplained business reasons to a woman in whom he has no interest. More absurdly, he has also started sprouting leaves. The London Fog was always dangerous, but lately it brings "Peculiarities" in the form of transformations, women giving birth to rabbits, and attackers who seem not of this world. When Thomas discovers a curious letter in the bank's records relating to the death of a childhood friend, he realizes the strange operations of the bank and the peculiarities may be related. To find out, he will have to make surprising allies and become a student in one of London's occult societies.
In spite of the disturbing and at times violent threats both to the characters and the world as we know it, the tone of The Peculiarities throughout can be best described as charming. It bears a stronger resemblance to the Regency-set fantasy The Twelfth Enchantment than to Liss's rougher-edged Benjamin Weaver series and other connected thrillers. It is the Halloween equivalent of a beach read, leaving readers more delighted than horrified, even in the face of horrific events along the way. Any fan of both light historical adventure and weird fiction will be delighted by the combination. --Kristen Allen-Vogel, information services librarian at Dayton Metro Library