Disenchanted & Co., Book 2
Synopsis: As the proprietor of Disenchanted & Co. in a steampunk version of America, Charmian “Kit” Kittredge makes her living solving magical crimes. But when a snobbish lady begs for help, saving her reputation might very well cost Kit her life.
Doing a favor for deathmage Lucien Dredmore, Kit agrees to interview a newly widowed lady as a potential client. Upon meeting, however, she learns that the woman in question is none other than Lady Eugenia Bestly, president of the Rumsen Ladies Decency Society—someone who once led a vicious campaign to ruin Kit’s life. Ironically Lady Bestly now lives in fear herself, for the press is about to unmask her husband as the savage “Wolfman” who died while terrorizing the city.
As monstrous rampages continue to occur, Kit soon determines there is more than one Wolfman, and that they may themselves be victims of evil players. While avoiding both mechanized assassins and attempts by Dredmore and Chief Inspector Tom Doyle to take her under their protection, Kit follows a tangled path that leads from a prestigious gentlemen’s club fronting a hellish secret to a vengeful native tribe and dangerous, ancient magics.
Review: I read the first book when it came out and I must say that I fell in love with the first part and I liked the second one, even if I thought it was perhaps be a little more complicated. When I saw the release of the second book, I was really excited to find out more about it, although I was a little afraid it would not be up to what I had read. I can now tell you that I had a great time and now I’m even more curious to read more.
Kit returned to a very quiet life or in any case to what it means for her. But the events happened have changed her feelings and habits in relation to the other characters, even if they do not understand the reasons sometimes. It is in this context that Dredmore goes to the young woman to offer her a deal she could only accept because the client wants to have a sister on that case. But it was a terrible mistake not to have asked about the identity of the client, because when Kit meets her, she immediately understands that it’s the woman who rolled her in the mud when she first arrived very early in this new city. Despite the rancor, I was quite impressed to see our heroine put things behind her to help the woman she has always hated and to try to save her from ruin. In fact, her husband is accused of being a Wolfman and of having terrorized and killed in the city before being killed himself. Yet Eugenia, his wife, is determined to prove that there is more and Kit will do everything to understand what really happened. But the more she sinks in the survey, the more hazards approach and she quickly realizes that there wasn’t one Wolfman, but several and they all seem determined to kill her at all costs.
I love Kit. She is a very different heroine from those we usually find in literature. In Victorian times when a woman has very little power and freedom, she dares to assert and stand up against those who try to destroy her life. She does not try to find a man to accompany her, and she even seeks the opposite, to get away from them to continue to live as she wants to, because she knows that marrying one of the two, require to change who she is, or what she wants in any case. Yet despite her determination and stubbornness, the Doyle and Dredmore attempts are hard to forget and while they both fight to protect her, she wants to be left alone and away from everyone. She does not want to be under the yoke of any person and is willing to do anything for this to be this way. But we know that deep down, she enjoys both men and I confess that I’m really curious to find out what will happen now! Oh yes very curious! It is, for me, very difficult to choose between everyone, as I said in my previous review, they both have something that attract us, between the black mage and enigmatic detective who always seems to be a knight. Two completely different characters and yet they both converge to Kit. And then of course, there’s always Harry, the ghost of the grandfather of our heroine who is more active than ever and we can only adore him!
I must say that I had many surprises throughout the story and I was eager enough to figure out who was behind the killing, the mutations and the reason behind this. And one thing is for sure, the culprit was a real surprise. But there are of course many more but I’ll let you discover that because the investigation was all fascinating and reveals many changes.
So I spent again a great time with this new novel, and I can only advise you to try this series. This is a beautiful blend of magic, plots and colorful characters, all this with a heroine we love. A great steampunk discovery.