This is another great installment in the series I really expected to hate. The only complaint I could have logged about the last book was that the mystery was rather slight, but even that wasn't really a huge problem as the plot and characters still drove the story along quite nicely. Here we have a much more fleshed out mystery which is exciting, but again it doesn't matter much because I'm still so intrigued by the characters - the most fascinating of which isn't the great Sherlock or even Enola herself, but Victorian era London with its contrasts and contradictions. I am pleased that Springer continues to surprise me and (so far) hasn't taken the easy route with regards to plot or character. Sherlock still plays a rather peripheral and ambiguous role in Enola's life. Although Enola feels respect and some affection for him, it doesn't change the fact that his deeply held prejudices about gender and class are a great threat to her freedom and happiness. I could say I wasn't wild about the resolution of the mystery or how the story itself ended, but on the other hand it was all oh-so Victorian and, therefore, kind of delightful in its own way. I believe it says something that I ordered the third installment directly after I closed the page on this one.
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