Aberwick city, home to automatons, airships, assassins, secret societies, mad maths and inventions that could save the world or break it. That is the backdrop for the thief and escape artist extraordinaire, Miss Arcadia Snips, and the constrained mathematician William Daffodil, who are thrown together in an explosive murder investigation with ties to both Snips’ and William’s past.
The main part of the book follows Arcadia and William’s adventures, while a smaller part, set twenty years earlier, tells the story of the three scientists Abigail, Jeremiah and Nigel. In the beginning the changing story lines may be a bit confusing, but as the book progresses, the link between the two becomes clear.
Fans of the humor in the Discworld books should feel right at home in Aberwick city. Filled with incredulous characters, mad machines and devious plotting, Snip’s and William’s investigation is a rip-roaring rollercoaster ride through a city of madness and brilliance, from the lowest of slums to the highest of offices.
What happens when pigs fly? What did William’s parents do? Just how dangerous is mad science? And what exactly is the Steamwork? The answers to all these questions await in Arcadia Snips and the Steamwork Consortium.
The plot, the characters and the descriptions are all tremendously entertaining, witty and crazy. But behind all the fun, there is method to the madness. Seemingly random and separate events are effortlessly joined into a coherent tale that makes perfect sense in the crazy universe of Arcadia Snips and the Steamwork Consortium.
Steampunk – Mystery – Comedy
Mostly Murders 
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