Imprudence (The Custard Protocol)

I found this book a little disappointing compared to the Soulless .

All the wonderful Carringer things like tea and corsets. But the brilliant humor is totally missing.
Where is the Oscar wild dry wit?

This book was better than Prudence, but still not up to the standards I generally expect from Carrier. In all, the world is so amazing & interesting, I felt disappointed that the majority of the plot took place on the airship. Boring.

Of all Carriger's work, I find the main characters in this particular series to be just plain boring. They are exactly what you would expect the rich, spoiled children of the most powerful aristocrats & supernaturals in the world to be. Shallow, dull & self-centered. To me, Rue comes off as quite amorphous & a flip-flopper. For someone raised by three eccentric, interesting personalities, she doesn't bring much to the table herself.

I spent most of the book looking forward to discovering a certain group of supernaturals and was incredibly disappointed that we barely got to see them at all. I would have rather seen less of Rue's bedroom & more of the interesting world OFF the airship.

If we see more of Rue & Co, I hope we also see more of the world & not more of their bickering on the Spotted Custard.

Miss Gail has done it again with another spell binding story that had me throw up into the air. There were moments where I was screaming inside my head. Other moment had me sad. I will dearly miss my Alexia and Conall. New faces and old appear in this story. Be prepared for a fireball at the last 100 pages.

Miss Gail has done it again with another spell binding story that had me throw up into the air. There were moments where I was screaming inside my head. Other moment had me sad. I will dearly miss my Alexia and Conall. New faces and old appear in this story. Be prepared for a fireball at the last 100 pages.

Second in The Custard Protocol New Adult steampunk series (and seventh in the Parasol Protectorate series) revolving around Prudence Maccon, the biological daughter of Lord and Lady Maccon and the "daughter" of Lord Akeldama.

My Take
Carriger seems to be using third person subjective point-of-view, from Rue's perspective, and she does crack me up with her steampunk series (this is the third in this ongoing universe). She incorporates the culture, mores, and manners of Victorian England with the supernatural world — the vampires are obsessed with fashion while the wolves are growly fighters who do try to maintain some decorum — and Carriger infuses it all with a great deal of humor.

Although, I must say I was rather taken aback by Rue's openness about wanting Quesnel to teach her about lovemaking. Carriger mentioned that Quesnel wasn't socially acceptable to Rue's supposed class status, but that was a tossaway. Rue isn't actually considered all that eligible by anyone due to her state, so I don't understand where Carriger was coming from, even if Lord and Lady Maccon do have a few issues.

I mostly like Quesnel, but I'm with Percy about that paper Quesnel published. What a jerk! And it does NOT negate what that prat, Percy, does later! And what's with Rue no longer being welcome amongst the Pack?? That doesn't seem fair. Lol, then there's Percy with his own information cloud...*snigger*...

It's a nice segue with Conall easing out and providing Rue an excuse to head to Egypt. After all, it's a bit ripe, stripping Rue of her protections when two of the representatives on the queen's Shadow Council are Rue's parents!! Not that Egypt appears to be any safer for Rue when she commented on her classification, as "a national asset with permitted autonomy, not necessarily a British citizen with all the privileges thereof". Whoaa. This promises some exciting times in the future.

I'm not sure if there's actually a theme in here, as Imprudence is primarily an excuse to send Rue off on her adventures with her ship and crew.

Kids... What'cha gonna do?

The Story
Rue's actions in India in Prudence , 1, have come back to bite her when Queen Victoria strips her of all protections. It's open season on Rue for anyone who wants to take her down. But greater enticements aboard the Spotted Custard find the ship and her crew attacked again and again with speculation running rife.

It doesn't help that Percy's actions have made it imperative that they fly south faster than possible to rescue an endangered people.

The Characters
Prudence "Rue" Maccon, a.k.a., Lady Captain and Puggle, is a metanatural, a skin-stalker — by simply touching a vampire or werewolf, Rue turns them mortal and steals their shape. Until she's a certain distance from them when the tether breaks, and then she turns back. Her code name will be "Agent Hot Cross Bun". The Honourable Primrose "Tiddles" Tunstell is Rue's best friend and accomplice with a desperate "desire" to be engaged...and always to the wrong type. She'll also become "The Ledger". The Right Honourable Professor Percival "Percy" Tunstall is Prim's intellectual brother, always putting his valet, Virgil, to shame.

The Spotted Custard is...
...the dirigible Lord Akeldama gave Rue, which she has moored off Worple Road in Wimbledon. Percy is the navigator; Footnote is his cat. Quesnel Lefoux, Madame Genevieve Lefoux's adopted son (his real mother was the traitorous Angelique), is the ship's engineer, one of the biggest flirts in London, and an inventor while Aggie Phinkerlington (a rabid member of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers) is the head greaser and Quesnel's second-in-command. She hates and despises Rue! The crew includes Tasherit Sekhmet, a female werelion who provides the crew with militia training and who has a passion for Prim; the eleven-year-old Spoo is the head deckling (Virgil is her best friend); Willard and Bork (Willard's second) are deckhands; Cook; and, Nips.

Lord Conall "Paw" Maccon, Rue's Alpha werewolf father, is married to Rue's battle-axe of a mother, Lady Alexia Maccon, the preternatural muhjah on the Shadow Council, also known as "Agent Ruffled Parasol" as part of her cover with her secret club. Alessandro Tarabotti is Alexia's now-deceased father, himself a preternatural — with a very bad reputation. Floote had been Grandmother Loontwill's butler and previous to that had been Mr Tarabotti's valet for years. Evelyn and Felicity are the too-silly-for-words half-sisters to Alexia.

The Maccons live next door to Lord "Dama" Akeldama, who is Rue's legal "father" ( Heartless , 4), a rove vampire, and the potentate on the Shadow Council. He's also a fashion icon and the nobbiest of the nobs with the handle, "Goldenrod". Winkle is one of Dama's drones and his current favorite.

The London Pack is...
...led by Lord Maccon, the Alpha, whose Beta is Sandalio de Rabiffano, a former favorite drone of Dama's (Biffy, a.k.a., "Agent Wingtip Spectator") who became a werewolf and now runs Drone Lefoux's hat shop, Chapeau de Poupe ( Blameless , 3). There are only eleven werewolves these days and includes Major Channing Channing of the Chesterfield Channings, who is the London Pack's toffee-nosed very white Gamma. He and Alexia don't quite get on. Rafe, Hemming, Bluebutton, Ulric, and Quinn are also part of the pack.

The London Hive is...
...ruled by Queen Ivy Hisselpenny Tunstell, a.k.a., the Baroness Tunstell...and "Agent Puff Bonnet", who is Percy's and Prim's mother who had been/is best friends with Alexia, although Ivy is now the London queen of the Egyptian vampire hive ( Timeless , 5) — who still has terrible taste in hats. Mr Tunstell, Ivy's beloved husband, had perished when Prim was quite young. Gahijiis one of Ivy's Egyptian vampires.

The Woolsey Hive is...
...where Countess Nadasdy rules, and Drone Lefoux fulfills her punishment.

Bombay, India, is...
...where the Kingair Pack was sent. Their Alpha is Lady Kingair while Uncle Lyall is now their Beta.

Lady Featherstonehaugh (one of Dama's) was/is the wife of Brigadier Featherstonehaugh.

Egypt has been...
...Conall's choice of a retirement base, as he and Alexia have hopes that the God-Breaker Plague will help his condition.

Drifters are nomadic desert tribes, cousins to the Bedouin, who took to the skies long ago, who look to the sacred war cats of their ancestors. Grandfather Panettone and Miss Anitra "Panettone ( Prudence , 1) represent some of the Drifters. Baddu is her older brother. Other leaders include Ay.

The Daughters of Sekhmet once...
...ruled the Two Lands as gods, the hot breath of the desert winds. The Chosen Ones are equivalent to drones or clavigers. Mios is their only male. Tasherit's fur sisters include the unwelcoming Queen Henuttawy and Miw-Sher "Lost Pride of the Desert Wind".

Victorian England is...
...of course, ruled by Queen Victoria. Few people realize she had a secret Shadow Council made up of a potentate (vampire rep), a preternatural (soulless rep), and the dewan (werewolf rep) charged with maintaining civil relations amongst and between the supernatural groups and reporting to the Queen.

The Bureau of Unnatural Registry (BUR) is…
…a division of Her Majesty's Civil Service and charged with enforcement of supernatural laws and has been headed up by Lord Maccon. The Alpha's curse is the beginning of the end. Anubis form can only be achieved by an Alpha and involves shapeshifting only one's head. Ghost holders preserve dead bodies and maintain the ghost's tether to their body. Drones are vampire companions, servants, caretakers, serve as food, and hope to be turned.

Mr Bapp is a builder who is refurbishing the Spotted Custard. Lieutenant Norman Plonks is but one of Prim's fiancés. Baedeker's is a travel guide. Enemies to metanaturals and preternaturals include the Templars, the Order of the Brass Octopus (a society of scientists), the British Royal Society, any collectors, sportsmen after exotic game, etc.

The Cover and Title
The cover is quite bright in its golden background, a montage of events from the story, as a dirigible flies through the sun setting behind a pyramid that places us in Egypt, with ruins to the right of a pale Rue, her back to us and her face in profile as she looks to the left, her hands a'cock. She's quite the fashionable young lady in her red satin dress with its beaded yoke and the black riding hat with matching veil trailing down her back along with her reddish brown hair. An info blurb at the top is in a black-outlined yellow below which is the author's name in a gray-outlined yellow. Centered behind Rue's back is another info blurb "warning" us of the story's contents. The title in a black-outlined bright yellow, also a'cock with the series information in white immediately below it, both set in a white silhouette of angled pencils, gears, and slim tools.

The title is all about the Imprudence of Lady Prudence Maccon.

This review was first published on Kurt's Frontier.

Synopsis:

Rue (Prudence Alessandra Maccon Akeldama) and the crew of the Spotted Custard are back from India. The revelations of weremonkeys have shaken the scientific community of the steampunk alternative world of Victorian London to its core. Queen Victoria is not amused that Rue has made a treaty with them. Worse, it cost the empire a source of tea. But, Rue has other problems. Her father is suffering from the Alpha Curse and will have to be replaced as pack Alpha. Rue’s best friend Primrose keeps getting engaged to unsuitable men. Prim’s brother Percy is angry that Rue’s engineer, Quesnel, published a paper on the weremonkeys before him.

Rue decides to take her parents to Egypt where a plague—oddly enough—may keep her father sane for what’s left of his life. However, someone attacks the Custard. Since Percy published a paper on werelions, the Custard’s security officer, Miss Sekhmet, may be in danger. Rue’s skill as an airship captain will be put to the test as will the skill and dedication of her crew. She needs a cup of tea.

Review:

The second book of the Custard Protocol picks up on Rue’s return to London. She has upset the queen by making a treaty with the weremonkeys she found in India. As a result, she is stripped of the queen’s protection. She must fend for herself, and there are people who wish her harm. Her family is in turmoil due to her father’s illness. She’s having an affair with her chief engineer, which isn’t going well. Now her werelion security officer is being hunted.

This was another fun story. Character development is witty. The science of steam and airship travel is interesting. The characters are engaging, from the various supernatural and metanatural creatures to the young deckhands. Like the original book, much of the adventure is tongue-in-cheek. It is a little less episodic than Prudence. I’m looking forward to the third book.

Loved this novel!!!! Highly recommended!!!! A strong heroine is always the best, but to have one that stays connected with herself & those around her not fall prey to alpha male types or woe is me half way though is always so rewarding when an author makes a worthy well rounded heroine!!!! This includes no pedestal mentality either she has her faults just like anyone, but how she learns from & that’s the point to recognise & grow from it!!!! Which, I believe Rue is such the heroine in this novel!!!!

The Victorian Era mixed in with the supernatural world is an amazing idea!!!!!! Loved the fact that shapeshifters, vampires, meta-natural, pretra-natural all in together fighting a battle and then the author adds in with perfection of that era we can’t loose your cravat or go out in a sundress while company is about friendlies or enemies its simply unheard of we have decorum after all ???

Awww I’m a sucker for good romance subplots especially of the forlorn & love struck type!!!! Rue & Quesnel along with Prim & Ms.Sekmet! Gail did a brilliant job with Rue & Quesnel in their “sex scenes”, but with so much decorum & word play that it was so wickedly innocent that it was height of the Victorian Era to playfully hint at what is occurring yet never having to bluntly go into indecent explanations is a mark of a truly gifted writer!!! Speaking of which her names and titles she gave everyone is so unique and truly make the Spotted Custard one of a kind that I will not easily forgot!!!!

She carries her readers with her though the eyes of her leading lady!! Even with her minor characters they are not flat,but very well rounded & fleshed out! That was a pleasure to feel & predict what they might do while turning the page or new disc and finding out right along with them the outcomes of each of their thoughts & adventures!!!!!!!

The audiobook to add so much to the story with how the voice over artist Mora Quirk was flawless in every voice that gave each character main or minor a distinctive style that was all their own & gave it a 3D dimension feel that I personally never wanted to leave this amazing world that Gail Carriger crafted in this series!!!! I absolutely adored her Finishing School Series & this series is just as entertaining!!!!!!!!

Can’t wait for the third book Competence!!!!!!!!

Okay, these books are pretty much a sequel to Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series, so if you haven’t read those books, you probably aren’t going to get a lot out of them. However, you really should read that series, it is one of the best examples of paranormal-steampunk out there. But for now, if you keep reading, there’s going to be spoilers for the Parasol Protectorate series.

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So I was a huge fan of the previous books featuring Alexia Tarabotti and Lord Conall Maccon. Carriger manages to give us stuffy Victorians, steampunk gadgets, werewolves, vampires, and tea fanatics, and make the entire thing funny, entertaining, and (most astonishingly) not ridiculous.

Prudence and Imprudence continue the story two decades later, featuring (naturally) Alexia and Conall’s metanatural daughter, Prudence (though she prefers to go by Rue). Having been raised by a combination of her werewolf father, preternatural mother, and vampire spy master Lord Akeldama, Rue has had anything but the typical Victorian childhood. Fortunately, Rue is her mother’s daughter and thrives in the atypical. When Lord Akeldama presents Rue with her very own Dirigible for her birthday, she naturally takes to the skies with her best friends Percy and Primrose Tunstell, and Quesnel leFoux. Through the two books, she travels to first India and then Egypt, her time heavy with the style of adventures Alexia Tarabotti would have dived into in her day.

It is always hard to continue a series in the same world, but with new characters. People inevitably long for the good old days with the characters they know and love. Carriger does a great job of modernizing her story (to the 1890s, let’s not get crazy), and keeping enough of the old guard about to make the entry into Rue’s world both novel and satisfying (it doesn’t hurt that there are so many ageless characters to choose from). It is gratifying to see what became of some of our favorites in the intervening two decades, but Carriger keeps the focus on the newest generation, and does a wonderful job of it. Rue is definitely her mother’s daughter, though she would never admit it. Seeing Ivy’s twins grown up and rebellious in their own ways is fun. And of course, we have our requisite bad boy in Quesnel leFoux.

What I especially like in this series is Carriger’s willingness to tackle the dark sides of the Victorian era. She deals frankly (though in a steampunk fantasy way) with the violence the British wrought in India and their other colonies, and with the Victorian tendency to see people other than themselves as less than human. Rue marches straight into the teeth of these issues, and the books are the better for it. So many Victorian-era books glide over the problems with the era. I’m not opposed to romanticism on the face of it, but these books came through like a breath of fresh air.

If you were a fan of the Parasol Protectorate series, you should definitely check these books out. If you haven’t read the first series of books, this review is probably highly confusing. Go read ’em!

As we start IMPRUDENCE, the second book in The Custard Protocol, we find Prudence has reached her majority and is now a full grown "ish" adult ready to taste some independence. Unfortunately she now has no outside protection against people who want to kill her and as a result of her actions in the previous book she's on the bad side of the Queen. We get to see the full impact of just what life will be like for Prudence as an independent 'supernatural' woman when she takes The Spotted Custard and her crew on a high adventure to Egypt. There she and her friends and family are met with danger, new fascinating characters, and tricky situations. I always the enjoy the quirkiness of this world and the fun adventures and hijinks of dirgible travel. It's fun to see how all of Gail Carriger's series link together since they follow the same characters or group of characters.

On the characters, we get favorites from THE PARASOL PROTECTORATE including Alexia, Lord Maccon, Akeldama, Floote, Quesnel. It was fun to see how they are as parents and simply as more mature adults. I love how deftly the old and newer characters blend together into a cohesive narrative. Everyone has their place and importance in the overall story. Prudence is definitely more courageous and prone to bouts of adventure than her mother. She's a fun character to follow as she's willing to go head first into a situation and she what she can do about it.

IMPRUDENCE is very entertaining and even sweet in some moments. It's a wonderful continuation of the series and I am looking forward to seeing Prudence go on yet another adventure.

This was a wonderful continuation of the Custard Protocol. There are at least two more books scheduled for this series; although Carriger said on her blog that the next Custard Protocol book will not be released until 2018...sadness :-( All the books in this series have been incredibly entertaining and just a ton of fun.

I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was excellent. The narrator does an absolutely wonderful job narrating and it was a joy to listen to. I kept finding myself creating reasons to listen to the audiobook so that I could listen to more. I would definitely recommend listening to on audiobook if you enjoy audiobooks.

I pretty much love everything about this series and think that it is Carriger’s best series yet. I love the quirky, yet lovable, characters and the amazing world. I love the adventure and magic as well. This is an absolutely fantastic steampunk world.

This book had a bit more romance than the first. Quite a large portion of the story is dedicated to Rue and Quesnel dealing with their personal issues. I don’t usually like romance taking over the story; but I love Quesnel and Rue so much that I ended up thoroughly enjoying these parts of the story just as much as the adventures in Egypt.

I love that we have immortal characters from previous series that pop up in the story, yet we also have new fresh characters that are incredibly interesting and entertaining as well. I love that there are tidbits that we learn that expand on the history of the older characters as well as the new ones.

The story wraps up very nicely and could have wrapped up the whole series. However, I was thrilled to hear there will be more stories and adventures in this series. This is one of those books that I was incredibly eager to read and sad when it ended.

Overall I adore this series. This story is just so much darn fun and I love the world and characters. I just absolutely loved everything about this series. I would highly recommend to those who enjoy humorous steampunk reads with some adventure and romance. I absolutely am dying to read the next book in the series.

Imprudence did improve in several areas where I found Prudence lacking, but still had its own flaws: the ending was unsatisfying and one part of the plot that seemed like it would be important and impactful was handled very carelessly and barely got any attention, which disappointed me as I was looking forward to it.

A thing that did improve was the romance subplot - I still think that the love interest is a super boring character who makes very little sense to me, but at least the dynamic between them was entertaining, mostly because Rue's take on "learning french" is refreshing and made me smile a lot. I generally enjoy her (and her friends) approach to sexuality, in both identity and activity ways.

As always I enjoyed the side characters a background happenings a lot as they affect many other books before and after this one, which makes Imprudence another great addition to the Parasolverse as we learn more about the universe in general and some important dynamics shift.

AudioBook Review:
Stars: Overall 4 Narration 4 Story 4

It’s been a while since I last dove into Carriger’s world, so I did a mix of audio and reading to catch up and be ready… and let me say: if you enjoy the twists, turns, occasionally ridiculous moments from any of her earlier works in the worlds of Finishing School or the Parasol Protectorate, you will enjoy this. And if you are unfamiliar and want a steampunky-paranormal world with language and characters that evoke emotions- start with either – although I’d recommend Finishing School to get a solid sense of them.

In Imprudence, the story picks up almost exactly where Prudence left off, and we are travelling in the Spotted Custard airship with Lady Prudence and her crew. She’s encountered a spot of trouble with the Queen herself (yes, Victoria) for her part in protecting weremonkeys, and has been stripped of her title and protections, including those provided by her parents. But, she’s not truly the one most endangered here: with lion shifters in danger, her best friend Primrose unable to resist a finely turned leg and a trek to Egypt – the action is non-stop.

As with all of the series thus far: the dialogue is clever, fast-paced and often hilarious. While I didn’t always believe in her romance with Quesnel, their interactions do bring several laughs – they are adorable friends. Of Course, Primrose is great comic relief, she just can’t seem to stay focused on any one thing, until the chips are down.

Fast paced, full of adventures that expand the world for the crew of the Spotted Custard, the story has reached a solid stopping point as we await the next.

Narration for this story is provided by Moira Quirk, and she does manage to present both sides of every conversation with clarity and style: each character is distinct, the rapid-fire moments of dialogue don’t impede her forward progress, and there are appropriate pauses for breath, laughter and tension (when required). Quirk’s presentation is a wonderful adjunct to the books, and she keeps listeners interested without losing their place or thread of the story.

A wonderful last-for-now (2018 for the next) book in the series, leaving you plenty of time to catch up or simply enjoy the other books from this world.

I received an Audiobook copy of the title from Hachette Audio for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Imprudence continues the adventures started in Prudence with Rue and her friends in their dirigible The Spotted Custard. I have been a fan of all of Gail Carriger's series, and one of the things I love the most is how her characters from each series are tied to each other. Rue is the daughter of Alexia Tarabotti and her werewolf husband Connoll. In an unexpectedly serious note, in a truly hilarious book, Rue realizes the mortality of her parents. A fact that has her growing up more quickly than expected, dealing with a solution to the problem of what to do with her father who can no longer rule his pack. That seriousness aside, this book is a fun, energetic frolic filled with fripperies and frills.

One of the fun side plots-Rue, now 21, and in her majority, has decided to learn "French" from her suitor Quesnel Lafoux (pronounced Con-nel). A charming flirt who seems to have deeper feelings for her than she gives him credit for. I think Rue, with the exception of her best friend Primrose, has trouble viewing anyone seriously because she doesn't view herself very seriously. Life has been a bit of a lark for Rue, and only the combination of her parents departure from England and Quesnel getting seriously hurt that she allows herself deeper feelings, creating a more well rounded character, although still jolly good fun.

As the book ended I couldn't tell if there would be another book in the Custard Protocol series. The plot seemed to wrap up most of the characters sub plots, with the exception of Primrose and Tasherit, (a possible lesbian love story?). I hope Gail Carriger does write another novel in this series because these books are a joy to read. As colorful as a red spotted dirigible flying into a golden sunset.

Imprudence picks up after Rue and friends return to London. She discovers that her Paw has been deteriorating for a while and finds himself in need of an emergency trip to Egypt and the god-breaker plague. From there they find themselves heading further south into Africa to find the rest of the werelion pride after they find out some disturbing information. The whole way they're chased by people clearly after them, though they can't figure out why.

A lot of the book focuses on Rue and Quisnel's relationship. Things get more heated than I'm used to in a Carriger book, but I enjoyed it greatly. It's still not very explicit, in my opinion.

The ending gets muddled. Carriger's action scenes often feel muddled and confused to me. They are typically the weakest parts of the book. Despite that everything wraps up well and leaves me looking forward to the next book.

This is book two of the “Custard Protocol” series by Gail Carriger. The book is set in the same universe as the “Parasol Protectorate” series and the “Finishing School” series. You don’t need to have read any of those books to enjoy this one, though the PP series is pretty much the foundation for all the other series, and if you’ve read it, you will get a bit more out of the other series. You will want to have read the first book in the series (Prudence), however, as events in that first book lead directly to events in this one.

As with all books set in this universe, there is lots of steampunk technology, plenty of detailed descriptions of attire and food (oh, the food!!), and vampires and werewolves and ghosts. And tea, One cannot forget the tea! And lots of light-hearted humor. I found the dialog in this book to be particularly sparkling, laughing out loud at several points. The action moves along quite well, and there is just enough romance to keep it interesting.

This book continues the adventure of Prudence Alessandra Maccon Akeldama (AKA “Rue”), the daughter of a werewolf, a soulless human, and a vampire. (It’s complicated.) She is the proud “Lady Captain” of The Spotted Custard, a dirigible painted like a lady bug. She and her intrepid crew have just returned from a harrowing trip to India, and events in this book send them off to Egypt and points south.

The character development continues in this book, and we learn much more about many of the other crew members. Even the secondary characters are not given short shrift - Spoo, the former sootie and now deckie, is my favorite, and I suspect I’m not alone. Even Percy, the prissy brother of Rue’s best friend, manages to develop a spine. And, of course, the romance between Rue and Quesnel, is finally acknowledged and acted upon. Oh my! (Still quite PG-13.)

For me, this book is even better than Prudence. This is Carriger at her best: witty and fun, with crisp dialog, a smattering of action, and a bit of romance. And tea. Always, tea. :-)

Audiobook

I liked everything about this book but the ending. The author's book are cliffhanger-ish but this was a HEA (happy ever after) with the journey being extended. Is one of her fathers going to pay for all of this gallivanting? What about her cousin? Are the bad guys going to give up going after her? If not, then why put everybody at risk? Too many questions left unanswered.

HOWEVER, that won't stop me from reading the rest of the series. 4 out of 5 stars.

Excellent pacing. Great dramatic tension. I was drawn in deeply from page one. This is not a book suitable for younger readers, but otherwise I highly recommend this book, especially to fans of The Parasol Protectorate.