LynneC’s review of Her Ladyship’s Curse & His Lordship Possessed (Disenchanted & Co., Books 1 & 2) by Lynn Viehl
Steampunk published by Pocket Star 11 Aug 13
Lynn Veihl’s new work is set in the steampunk world of pseudo-Victoriana and magic. It’s a complete departure from her previous work and is less dark in tone. The characters are three-dimensional and fascinating and could easily sustain a series. It’s written in the first person.
Kit is living in an America that didn’t win the War of Independence and is still a British colony. It’s a city very much like San Francisco with trolley cars and the nobs living on the Hill. She stubbornly refuses to believe in magic and specializes in taking cases that prove that the seemingly paranormal phenomena have a rational, mundane explanation. In a world where snobbish Victorian values rule, a woman living and working independently is not approved of.
She’s part of a romantic triangle. A detective, Doyle, who tries to help her without losing his job, and Lord Lucien Dredmore (yes, okay, I know!). Lucien is a deathmage, a man who can cause death to anyone and is licensed to do it—a kind of 007 of this world. He’s mysterious, sexy, and powerful. Doyle is competent, clever, and sweet.
The story is labyrinthine, and, to be honest, I find it difficult to follow all the twists and turns, but since I don’t usually read this genre, I don’t know if this is usual. So I did my best. It’s a detective story, a mystery unraveling through the two books of Her Ladyship’s Curse and His Lordship Possessed, and while it cannot be said to be a romance, there’s a strong romantic element to it. Most of it is concerned with the Big Bad wanting to take over the world, but exactly who the Big Bad is can get a bit confusing. However, by the end of the second story, I think I got it.
Kit is called in to help a lady on the Hill, who is finding words carved into her skin overnight and then removed the next night, but in doing so, Kit uncovers a whole mess of trouble.
Kit begins to annoy me a little when she refuses to accept what is in front of her eyes and she keeps running away from the people who could help her most. Her stubborn refusal to accept anyone who can help her is somewhat understandable, but her refusal to accept that magic is real is a little harder to accept. It works better later, when the reader discovers why she feels like that. She is a resourceful woman who knows how to look after herself, and she’s probably so used to that that it takes her time to come to terms with the revelations slowly revealed in the book.
The language is delightful, with charming alternative names for conventions that we know and understand, in words that we can easily follow, because they are similar to ours. However, Britain seems to have been invaded by the Conservative right, with all the reformist zeal of Gladstone and his ilk removed, much less Robert Tressell. However, the vision works with the story and helps to establish some of the more esoteric rules by which this society is governed. The world building is masterly and so solid that the reader can easily imagine herself there, experiencing it along with Kit. It’s almost an extra character. There’s a glossary at the end, but I find I could follow the story very well without it.
The couple in this book remind me very much of the first couple in the Darkyn series (not telling you which of the two men are The One, though I think it’s pretty obvious from the outset). Alexandra refuses to believe in the Kyn and then wants nothing to do with them, despite the fact that she is falling fast for Michael. Like Alex, Kit refuses to accept her attraction until it’s nearly too late. Then it kind of is, then it isn’t, but to explain more would be a spoiler, so I won’t go into details.
The end is a little bit deus ex machina. Even though the clues are carefully planted through the books, it’s something that happens out of the blue, but nothing as outrageous as the Scribe Virgin. So while it’s a “Wha!” moment, it is acceptable within the rules of the world. I could deal.
While first books set in new worlds have to have a certain amount of explanation, Lynn Veihl incorporates the details nicely into the narrative—someone attempting to write a book set in a different world to ours would do well to look at this one to see how it’s done. I’ll be looking forward to more books in this series.
Grade: B
Summary:
In a steampunk version of America that lost the Revolutionary War, Charmian (Kit) Kittredge makes her living investigating magic crimes and exposing the frauds behind them. While Kit tries to avoid the nobs of high society, as the proprietor of Disenchanted & Co. she follows mysteries wherever they lead.
Lady Diana Walsh calls on Kit to investigate and dispel the curse she believes responsible for carving hateful words into her own flesh as she sleeps. While Kit doesn’t believe in magic herself, she can’t refuse to help a woman subjected nightly to such vicious assaults. As Kit investigates the Walsh family, she becomes convinced that the attacks on Diana are part of a larger, more ominous plot—one that may involve the lady’s obnoxious husband.
Sleuthing in the city of Rumsen is difficult enough, but soon Kit must also skirt the unwanted attentions of nefarious deathmage Lucien Dredmore and the unwelcome scrutiny of police Chief Inspector Thomas Doyle. Unwilling to surrender to either man’s passion for her, Kit struggles to remain independent as she draws closer to the heart of the mystery. Yet as she learns the truth behind her ladyship’s curse, Kit also uncovers a massive conspiracy that promises to ruin her life—and turn Rumsen into a s supernatural battleground from which no one will escape alive.
No excerpt available.
Other books in this series:
Disenchanted & Co. – January 2014
The Clockwork Wolf – February 2014
