5.24.2023

The Clockwork City ~ Review

The Clockwork City
Lady Georgia Brunel Mysteries#1
By Shelley Adina

Lady Georgia Brunel has been in mourning for a year, following the death of her husband. With Society's expectations met, she is venturing out, taking a painting holiday in Venice. Along with her late husband's aunt, Millicent Brunel, she expects to enjoy the sights and paint. All too soon, her plans are upended when Lord Somersby is found dead on the water steps of the villa at which Georgia and Millie are staying.

With Georgia ordered to stay in Venice while the police investigate her possible ties to the murder, the two do a little sleuthing of their own. With Lord Somersby's young daughter in their care, they are quickly caught up in something more than they were expecting. With political forces they don't understand, danger is closer than they know.

I always love a well-written Steampunk mystery that is clean, and The Clockwork City definitely fits all these criteria. The story is engaging, and the cast of characters play well together even if they aren't playing nice. The mystery is a subtle thread that weaves its way throughout the story so that my attention, once captured, was held throughout my reading. I can easily say I'm looking forward to what happens next.

I was provided a complimentary copy of this book with no expectations but that I give my honest opinion. All thoughts expressed are my own.


About the Book:

April 1895. A painting holiday in Venice. A villa on the canal. A body in the water?

Lady Georgia Brunel, widowed a year, has been looking forward to her holiday in the Duchy of Venice with her companion, Millicent Brunel. The clockwork city’s annual art exhibition is in full swing, and old friends and new acquaintances make for an exciting social whirl. The married Lord Somersby would pursue her if he dared. Several members of the nobility, including those with connections to Lord and Lady Dunsmuir, make entertaining companions. And Georgia will never admit that Dustin Seacombe, the disheveled and irritating Texican Ranger who steps on one’s gown and will not confide his business in Venice, is the most interesting of all.

And then early one morning, the body of Lord Somersby washes up on the water stairs at the Brunel villa. An empty gondola floats nearby. Many assume it is an accident. The Duchy police assume a lover’s quarrel, with Georgia as their suspect. For there are powerful factions in the city who want this case solved and submerged as soon as possible. Georgia and Millie must act quickly to clear her name and discover the real murderer before Georgia finds herself dancing with death instead.

First in a new series of adventurous mysteries set in the Magnificent Devices steampunk world!

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