Lady Claire is back and rumours of her demise are greatly
exaggerated; though he reappearance causes quite a shock for Lord and Lady
Dunsmuirs, especially since this is the second time Claire has been presumed
dead. Reunited with her flock, Claire can return to her original plan, visiting
Edmonton with the Dunsmuirs, seeing their holdings and making plans for the
future – especially since she no longer has the threat of forced marriage being
held over her.
Of course, things can’t be that easy. Alice is joining
them, severely out of place among the nobility and desperately looking for her
father who may be involved in nefarious schemes. And when they arrive at the
Dunsmuirs’ most remote mine they find a whole crew of people ready to join
them, from Britain, from the colonies and even the famous Baron Zeplin himself.
Of course, not all of these people can be gathered without nefarious schemes
afoot – and soon sabotage follows kidnapping follows lots of adventure and
excitement as Claire and her flock must again try to avert disaster – this time
on an international scale.
I have a big grin on my face which is my Magnificent
Devices grin – it’s impossible not to smile your way through this book. It’s
such swashbucklingly, good fun. The tone has that wonderful lightness of humour
and joy that keeps up in even the direst of situations. At the same time it
wonderfully maintains the sense of time and place – the Victorian feel, the
language, the class, the clothing, the attitudes are all extremely vivid,
carefully maintained and, at times, gloriously lampooned.
The story didn’t let up for a moment and was full of
twists and new developments. For a long time I had no idea what the focus was
going to be or what the main plot line was – partly because all the characters
have their own lives and their own agendas – but it didn’t matter because these
characters and their interactions are so much fun and so truly excellent that
it was worthy reading even without the main plot of the book being present.
And when it did develop it was wonderful – intricate with new revelations and surprises, I didn’t predict it, didn’t know where we were going and was surprised every step. The action kept flowing and the story kept up – it was an extremely quick and fun read.
I have to say I feel minorly cheated by the ending. Not
because of a cliffhanger or anything like that – no the story was brought to a
close and in a wonderfully concise and clear manner, the bad guys vanquished,
the good guys triumphant – but it was summed up in a latter. The letter covered
everything and we knew how it was going to end before that letter because Claire
& Co had, through daring and intelligence and each of their useful skills,
come up with a plan that was rapidly reaching its forgone conclusion. We didn’t
need to see the bad guys humbled and defeated to know they were. We didn’t need
to see the glorious victory that had
become inevitable. We didn’t need to see
Claire and the Dunsmirs and Zeplin proud and triumphant. But I wanted to – after
a book of wrangling and struggling and ducking and weaving, I wanted the pay
off of a glorious victories, the enemies shamed and cast down, smugness all
round. This letter did not have my smugness pay off nor nearly enough villains
having their noses pushed into the mud. I am disappointed.
One things I love about this book – and this series – is how
capable all of the characters are. Claire, obviously, is truly excellent. She’s
skilled, she’s fiercely intelligent, she’s determined, she has a mature and
caring devotion to her flock, she has a strong sense of duty and doing what is
right. She’s practical and recognises when things won’t go her way even when
she is right, she has a strong sense of who she is and what she wants but
recognises that what she wants doesn’t mean other people are to be forgotten or
duties cast aside. But at the same time she is young and given to becoming
confused and befuddled when inexperienced, awed by famous people and, at times,
overwhelmed. She is not a weapon, though she carries one she can use and she is
not capable of bringing down entire regiments with her awesome skills – and she’s
still one of the strongest characters we’ve come across.
