Purchased
Evil is most assuredly afoot—and Britain’s fate rests in the hands of an alluring renegade . . . and a librarian.
These are dark days indeed in Victoria’s England. Londoners are vanishing, then reappearing, washing up as corpses on the banks of the Thames, drained of blood and bone. Yet the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences—the Crown’s clandestine organization whose bailiwick is the strange and unsettling—will not allow its agents to investigate. Fearless and exceedingly lovely Eliza D. Braun, however, with her bulletproof corset and a disturbing fondness for dynamite, refuses to let the matter rest . . . and she’s prepared to drag her timorous new partner, Wellington Books, along with her into the perilous fray.
For a malevolent brotherhood is operating in the deepening London shadows, intent upon the enslavement of all Britons. And Books and Braun—he with his encyclopedic brain and she with her remarkable devices—must get to the twisted roots of a most nefarious plot . . . or see England fall to the Phoenix!
I love the idea of steampunk, although I have not read that much of it. Mostly, I’m hooked on Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series.
In this book, which is the beginning of a new series, there is a division of England’s secret service that investigates “peculiar occurrences.” Welly is the Archivist, not librarian he is quick to remind you, and Eliza is a field agent. Due to a few less than quiet activities she has been involved in, she is reassigned to work in the archives with Welly.
I love the fact that a good bit of the book takes place in the archives cataloging the cases. I love that Eliza is the physically dangerous partner, although Welly has secret strengths. I love the fact that the villains are villains without any shades of gray.
As a matter of fact, I love this entire book.
And there is something about the Archives that reminds me of the television show Warehouse 13 which I also love.
Elaine Reads . . . constantly! 