The overall premise is intriguing. The development left me wanting more. The story is presented in first-person narration by Evaline Stoker and Mina Holmes as they pass the storytelling narrative back and forth between one another from chapter to chapter. The alternating narrative does help with the sometimes uneven delivery of plot elements since jumping from one perspective to another (often within different locations and with different knowledge) explains why we get unsteady introductions of information and plot points.
We learn that the Stoker family is actually a bloodline of vampire hunters and that Miss Stoker is a sort of hunter in training, still working her way up to being a full Slayer. Interestingly, it seems that her brother, Bram Stoker, isn't quite as involved in the realm of the supernatural. He is merely writing what he considers to be fiction. Meanwhile, Miss Holmes is the niece of Sherlock Holmes, who is definitely a real character and not fiction. And although Miss Holmes has shown that she has intelligence and deductive skills, she is still relegated to being kept apart from all things Holmesian.
With that bit of character introduction, we now learn that a couple of London socialites have disappeared and that Miss Holmes and Miss Stoker are called in to investigate. Enlisting them to help solve the mystery makes some sense when you consider that the age and social circle of the two heroines match those of the women who disappeared. Apart from that, I felt that it was a bit of a stretch. Next, the mystery takes on a bit of a supernatural aspect. We learn that the missing girls seem to have gotten involved in some cult that's worshiping an ancient Egyptian deity and attempting to enact a mystical ritual.
To further stretch the plot, the supernatural ritual seems to have pulled a young man from the future (our future) into steampunk London and directly into the paths of Miss Holmes and Miss Stoker. The inclusion of this time-traveling character felt like a MacGuffin who existed for two reasons. First, so that our narrators had to explain that this steampunk London is an alternate history, and second, to allow for the introduction of a strange and strained bit of romantic tension.
As the story progressed, we were introduced to quite a few different characters and settings. Each of these could have provided great opportunities for major character or story development. While each character and scene did what it could to progress the plot, I didn't feel any compelling growth or development either from our heroines or the world they inhabited. In fact, I felt like Miss Holmes and Miss Stoker seemed to regress slightly. Admittedly, by the end of the book, they had helped solve the mystery. But from a character standpoint, rather than showcasing their strengths and allowing them to grow in any significant ways, there were a number of scenes where each character seemed to have their primary traits backslide.
I half expected Mina Holmes and Evaline Stoker to become feminist heroes ready to show London society that they shouldn't underestimate women, particularly women who come from such strong heritage. Instead, the story decided to play up the romantic interlude more than it needed to and, in so doing, it pushed our girls into the back seat and forced them to shift and wobble (both figuratively and literally) under the struggles of the mystery such that both girls had to be saved by male heroes.
The text still did what it could to laud the achievements of our two heroines and to praise them for what they did accomplish. But the book also made sure to set itself up for a sequel by leaving large aspects of the mystery unsolved and keeping numerous major plot elements untouched and incomplete.
So overall, the story had interesting points but I'm not compelled to seek out any follow-up books to find out if the two girls do actually evolve into something more. It's not an awful story. I just felt that it had so much more potential.
2.5 out of 5 stars
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