Earnestine, Georgina and Charlotte are the three Deering-Dolittle sisters, banished to a Swiss boarding school because of Charlotte's reprehensible contact with the cadets from the boys' school near their last boarding school.

Earnestine is the eldest, and determined to look after the other two, and keep them on the straight and narrow path of proper young Victorian ladies (no exploring!).

Georgina isn't keen on exploring, and wants to get married and do embroidery. I liked Georgina the best (it was really Georgina who made me want to read Book 1 after reading Book 3); when push comes to shove, Georgina is capable of working out just where she ought to shove. And she's the one who works out how to drive the steam engine. Go Georgina!

Charlotte is the youngest, and her interest in the young cadets at the boys' school turns out to be rather more useful than might be assumed, and not what the cadets themselves might have hoped.

The author is very careful to give each sister a viewpoint section in strict rotation, starting with Earnestine, which is proper because she's the eldest. This works well, because - as intended - it ensures that all three sisters are joint heroines, rather than one of them taking the lead.

The overall feel is steampunk-light, but this is possibly rather more to do with the writing style than the content, since the very first thing that happens is the murder of an entire boarding school of young ladies. Various other dangers happen (obviously, or it would be a short, boring book) - again, cementing Georgina as my favourite Deering-Dolittle. She might not be as 'flashy' as her sisters, but Georgina's determination to do the right thing (and, of all the things the sisters have to do, I think Georgina has the worst task of all - read the book to find out what it is) is all the more powerful because she's the quiet one who doesn't want adventures.

There are zombies, airships, a steam train, explosions, dastardly villains, etc, etc. There is, however, a distressing lack of embroidery. A pity. Georgina's not the only one who likes embroidery.

All in all, an excellent entertaining read. ( )