London, 1868. The streets are haunted by thieves, murderers... and demons from beyond the Aether.

Spencer and Bart are the city's most incompetent crooks, and they are in deep trouble. Hunted by both police and their fellow criminals, they are forced to consider the unthinkable -going straight.

Forming The Great Big Demon Hunting Agency, they think their troubles are behind them, but they soon find themselves caught up in a web far more dangerous than they could ever imagine, pitched against demons, criminals and evil magicians.

Why are there so many demons roaming the London streets, and can Spencer and Bart stop them before it's too late?

Who are the mysterious Tappers, and what are they doing with the women they abduct from the streets?

Can Spencer and Bart change the habits of a lifetime and not only stay on the right side of the law, but also save the day?

The Great Big Demon Hunting Agency is the new novel from Peter Oxley, the author of the Infernal Aether series. If you like dark gothic adventures with a light-hearted twist, then you'll love The Great Big Demon Hunting Agency.

This book was provided for free by NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book!

Content Warnings:

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Based on the synopsis, The Great Big Demon Detective Agency by Peter Oxley appeared to have the potential to be an interesting read. Unfortunately, it ended up being a fun, quick read, and that was one of the few positive things I have to say about it. Normally, I would have stopped reading a book like this; however, despite the warning signs, the storyline seemed as though it was going somewhere promising. Instead of building up to something interesting, the conclusion was poorly executed and very unsatisfying.

The biggest issue I had with The Great Big Demon Detective Agency was the poor quality of characters. Other than one side character, they were all badly written. The two main characters are written as stereotypes, although it’s evident that Oxley has done this on purpose, and the satirical nature of them is one of the few redeeming qualities of this book. The villain’s identities were obvious from their first introduction, and I wasn’t impressed that Oxley used the particularly harmful stereotype of villains being identified by canes.

Then there’s the issue of the main female character, Tessie, who essentially is the stereotypical damsel in distress dressed up to be an intellectual woman of science. You know the type; the very clever woman who still needs saving by the big, strong men because, well, all women need saving, right? Tessie is also stuck in an emotionally and financially abusive relationship, which, of course, our two unconventional heroes have to save her from. As an abuse survivor, the way the storyline was handled felt like a complete mockery, as it was simply a plot hook to make the male characters look good. Getting an abuse victim out of a horrible situation was only a secondary consideration.

Other than the poor storyline and world-building, there are mistakes and sloppy errors throughout the book. It’s off-putting to read a Victorian novel where the language is all over the place. Characters were using slang like “totally” and “really” as though they had just stepped out of the 1980s and 1990s, not the 1860s. There’s also a whole chapter dedicated to Tessie sitting doing needlepoint with other noble women, which seems to have no point other than to introduce one character. I’m not quite sure why an entire chapter needed to be dedicated to that. Oxley’s writing style also grated on my nerves. He has an awful habit of trying to use overly descriptive analogies, such as describing houses as people.

If you’re bored and looking for something quick and fun to read, then The Great Big Demon Detective Agency will keep you busy for a bit. But if you’re looking for something with a bit of depth, then I would give this one a pass. Personally, for me, an entertaining and humorous read shouldn’t mean cutting corners when it comes to good writing, and in that regard, The Great Big Demon Detective Agency just didn’t work for me.

Thanks for reading my review for The Great Big Demon Detective Agency by Peter Oxley. If you’re interested in reading The Great Big Demon Detective Agency for yourself, it’s available on Kindle Unlimited!

Don’t forget to check out the rest of my reviews if you’re looking for some more book recommendations 🙂 You can also now sign up for my newsletter to get an email each month with a list of my new reviews!

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