Tag: victorian

Review: The Laws of Murder

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Laws of Murder, TheCharles Finch, The Laws of Murder

Victorian gentleman Charles Lenox has given up his seat in Parliament to return to his true vocation as a detective. He’s even started a detective agency with his friend John Dallington, former rival Polly Buchanan, and a talented Frenchman called LeMaire. Though the business is new, Lenox is confident that it will succeed; but a streak of bad publicity in the London newspapers causes trouble for the fledgling enterprise. Just when Lenox is considering throwing in the towel, however, an unexpected murder forces the police to seek out his services — for the victim is none other than Inspector Jenkins of Scotland Yard. Moreover, Jenkins’ body was found outside the town house of the Marquess of Wakefield, one of London’s most hardened (yet so far uncatchable) criminals. Was Jenkins investigating Wakefield when he met his death? Was Wakefield himself the killer? Lenox and his fellow detectives are on the case, but the conspiracy they uncover is more shocking than they ever could have imagined.

I like this series a lot, and this book is another good installment; but I have to confess, one month later, it’s hard for me to remember much about it! I do recall thinking that the mystery was a little predictable, but there were certainly enough twists and turns to keep me interested. The book also takes time to check in with the various secondary characters who comprise Lenox’s world, which I appreciated — although I would have liked to see even more of McConnell, Lady Jane, and the others! I also think it was a smart move to make Lenox part of a detective agency, as this introduces some new characters and relationships into the mix. The agency also illustrates some interesting areas of blindness in Lenox, especially regarding class. When the business begins to fail, Lenox is upset, but he is never in danger of experiencing real financial hardship. Some of his colleagues, however, depend on the agency for their livelihood, and this doesn’t occur to Lenox initially. So I appreciate that we got a little character growth in this installment, and I look forward to the next book!

Review: The Iron Wyrm Affair

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The Iron Wyrm AffairLilith Saintcrow, The Iron Wyrm Affair

In an alternate-universe Victorian London, sorcery is common (though frowned upon), and incredible geniuses known as mentaths are capable of being literally bored to death. Archibald Clare, an unregistered mentath, is in this precarious state when he suddenly learns that his life may be in danger: someone has been killing and mutilating mentaths throughout the city. To investigate, Archibald teams up with Emma Bannon, a powerful sorceress with a dangerous gift and a mysterious past. Their mission takes them throughout the dirty streets of Londinium, where they tangle with foreign assassins, murderous automatons, and very black magic.

Since I enjoy Victorian-era steampunk, I was excited to win this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program. It certainly delivers a fast-paced plot packed with action; it was easy to keep turning the pages, and I never felt like the book dragged. There were also enough steampunk elements to please fans of the genre, including mechanical limbs and giant, spider-like automatons. However, the world-building in general didn’t work for me. Saintcrow avoids lengthy exposition, which is a good thing, except that as a result I constantly felt like I was missing something. For example, we learn that Archibald is an unregistered mentath, but we don’t know why he’s unregistered, or even what being unregistered actually means. Similarly, we know that Emma is a sorceress, but we never learn the basic rules of the magical system; Emma can seemingly do whatever she wants with a few simple chants. I found it difficult to become invested in the story because I kept getting distracted by the underdeveloped world of the novel.

This is book one in a projected series, so presumably everything will start to make more sense in future installments. However, I don’t think I’m invested enough in the characters to continue with this series.