A thrilling new steampunk mystery from a unique voice in an increasingly popular subgenre
On the surface, life is going well for Victorian special agent Sir Maurice Newbury, who has brilliantly solved several nigh-impossible cases for
Queen Victoria with his indomitable assistant Miss Veronica Hobbes by
his side. But these facts haven’t stopped Newbury from succumbing
increasingly frequently to his dire flirtation with the lure of opium.
His addiction is fueled in part by his ill-gotten knowledge of
Veronica’s secret relationship with the queen, which Newbury fears must
be some kind of betrayal. Veronica, consumed by worry and care for her
prophetic but physically fragile sister Amelia, has no idea that she is a catalyst for Newbury’s steadily worsening condition.
Veronica and Newbury’s dear friend Bainbridge, the Chief Investigator at
Scotland Yard, tries to cover for him as much as possible, but when the
body of a well known criminal turns up, Bainbridge and Veronica track
Newbury down in an opium den and drag him out to help them with the
case. The body is clearly, irrefutably, that of the man in question, but shortly after his body is brought to the morgue, a crime is discovered
that bears all the dead man’s hallmarks. Bainbridge and Veronica fear
someone is committing copycat crimes, but Newbury is not sure. Somehow,
the details are too perfect for it to be the work of a copycat. But how
can a dead man commit a crime?
