The Cairndale Orphan
J.M. Miro
A dark London mystery
J.M. Miro‘s The Cairndale Orphan is the last of the seven stories that comprise the Amazon Original series Magic and Mystery. It is brilliant, easily the best of the seven. It is also listed by Goodreads as #2.5 in The Talents Trilogy, which is, I believe, more a trilogy in progress than a trilogy in actual fact, there being only two novels extant today, 27-Aug-2026. One presumes another is on the way. I have not read any of these novels but intend to now.
The story is told from the point of view of a man called Bromley. He is a detective in a dark, Dickensian London, a city that eats its children. (Not literally, s far as I know, but it wouldn’t surprise me.) A child, David Pye, comes to Bromley’s home and tells him of a monster loose in London.
The real strength of this story is the setting. Its dark London is brilliantly realized.