Friday, July 11

The Clockwork Scarab

The Clockwork Scarab
Colleen Gleason
(Stoker & Holmes #1)

My rating: ★★

ISBN: 9781452110707
Publisher: Chronicle
Date of publication: September 17, 2013
Age: Grades 7 and up
Genre: Mystery, Steampunk

Themes: steampunk, time travel, murder mystery, Egyptian lore,

Mina Holmes is, in fact, Sherlock’s niece. And Evaline Stoker is, indeed, Bram’s sister. Detective and vampire hunter, the two must team up by request of Her Majesty to look into the mysterious deaths of several teen society girls. The one clue linking the deaths together is a strange Egyptian scarab. The two of them, however, are loath to work together. And the advances of certain gentlemen definitely do not seem to help the matter. But if Stoker & Holmes don’t pull it together quick, they just may be the next victims.

Sure, I liked it. But it was a lot of stuff to stuff into one book. A steampunk with a Holmes and a Stoker is a cool idea. Bringing in a time traveler from modern day America just didn’t make any sense (can you even do that?). And the romance…three guys, and two girls… The math doesn’t add up. Who am I supposed to root for? The characters were a tad shallow with some attempts to bring in depth, but I just couldn’t connect. I was lost with some of the descriptions. Overall, sure, pick it up if you like mysterious steampunk novels. I’m just not won over.

If you really want to, find it at your library or on Amazon

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