Emma Jane Holloway

What a perfect book for me. Steampunk and mystery with a touch of Sherlock Holmes are just what the doctor ordered!

This is a gritty world, one where the class divide is broad and enforced harshly. Evelina Cooper is a wonderful heroine, niece to Sherlock Holmes, and doing her best to be part of the best of Society despite her ... eclectic ... background. I loved the mystery, loved the heroine, and admired the world-building. The writer knows her craft, and it shows.

Highly recommended for fans of steampunk who enjoy a dose of mystery with a spunky main character.… (mehr)

A Study In Silks is so much more than a Holmes spinoff. The story blends the careful detail exposition that makes Arthur Conan Doyle fun to read, and references to Holmes canon that add depth for fans and don’t detract if readers miss them. (Halfway in, Uncle Sherlock returns from Bohemia, where there’s been something of a scandal.) The mystery involves artifacts from Heinrich Schliemann’s Troy dig, a crew of Chinese craftsmen working in secret, code-breaking, a gypsy knife-thrower, and all the mysterious notes and listening at doors that make Victorian novels so lovely.

I hesitate to call this steampunk, because that conjures images of watch parts glued to waistcoats, when what I mean is a Victorian London full of Jules Verne and Space 1888 science. Powerful steam barons run their districts by controlling access to essential energy, that lights and heats homes. Dozens of servants and clockwork appliances keep grand society homes running smoothly. Despite the scientific advances, Victorian mores reign. Evelina, and her heiress friend Imogen, are presented to the queen in preparation for their first London Season, and even while solving the murder, Evelina takes care not to be unchaperoned with any young gentlemen.

Read the long (Long!) review on my blog… (mehr)