Medium – Book
About the Book – Marion Lane is an Apprentice Investigator at Miss Brickett’s Investigations and Inquiries, a detective agency which is located in a huge underground complex located under the City of London. One night, a murder is committed inside the complex, meaning that one of Marion’s co-workers must be a murderer. To her dismay, her mentor and father-figure, Frank Stone, is arrested and threatened with being placed in ‘The Holding Cells’ for the rest of his life (a fate worse than death). Marion determines to find the real murderer and clear Frank’s name, alongside her best friend Bill and a dashing American detective. Danger is all around Marion, and she must be careful to avoid her own death…
My Rating – 2.5/5
My Thoughts – This was another book that I have got as part of the Book Box Club, and another where I feel just a bit let down. The book reminds me of Harry Potter and Hogwarts, with the same world building of a world that is within our own, which is a mystery to the people outside of it. It is a more grown-up version of Hogwarts, with a bar, adult protagonists and some rather gory murders. I enjoyed the memories of reading Harry Potter, especially in terms of the new world that the author had created. I also really enjoyed the steampunk elements of the story, with the amazing inventions that were created by Professor Bal, the ‘Q’ of this world. It also had a really diverse range of characters, with people from a range of races represented within the agency.
I found the main character more difficult to enjoy, which is a shame seeing as the story is based around her. Sometimes through the story I just wanted to shout at her to do something (or not do something). She was a bit annoying, and generally seemed to struggle with a sense of humour. I know that we want realistic characters in books (i.e., not all powerful people who never make mistakes), but it almost seemed as though the author was trying so desperately hard not to follow this trope, that it sucked all the life and personality out of the character.
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