A clever, intriguing and very well-written novel about the moral landscape of late-Victorian London

Edric mixes a potent brew... The ending is a masterstroke of the ironic and macabre

Sharply written, wholly engrossing... not just an Edric novel, but the Edric novel

Place, time and atmosphere are conjured with impeccable lightness of touch

Gripping and entertaining read... well told and absorbing

Edric writes with fluency and authority... this book is a masterly evocation of London in the last decade of the nineteenth century

Such double happiness! Marilyn Chin in new, top form. What fun!

Effervescent

Wickedly fizzing dialogue... delightful prose

Clever, well paced and structured

Intriguing first novel... The narrative voice floes with wit and vigour...his debut ties author and reader in engaging knots that echo the tangled webs connecting the gossipers and photographers and their privileged fodder

It's uncommonly well written, with a bountiful supply of manic energy... Would Paul Auster kill to write a book as playful, fast-paced and unashamedly populist as this? Doubtful, but somewhere there's a "Paul Auster" who might

Sparky debut

Benedictus takes us on a trail of the contentious highs and lows of the rich and famous in a mixture of dark humour and sharp dialogue. For Benedictus, and his valiant debut novel, more of the same please

The story of the ultimate celeb after-party, it's a knowing wink at publishing and celebrity culture - a high-concept first novel sitting just the right side of salacious

The Afterparty avoids smugness partly because it has more affection that vitriol for the culture that it mocks... It's very funny, but sad, too... Well-drawn characters, smart dialogue and a canny plot