An interesting start to a new series. I had been looking for something more steam punk, less fantasy and this fills that hole quite well. Eliza Braun is a tough heroine with a slight obsession with dynamite and blowing things up - which consequently describes her personality quite well. She is if anything explosive. Her reluctant partner is our bookish genius Wellington Brooks. He clearly needs some excitement in his life and Braun is more than willing to provide it as they are assigned as partners at the the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences where they work. Dead bodies are turning up around London and as Eliza discovers a connection to her past, the two are embroiled in the hunt for a mysterious brotherhood.
I enjoyed their budding relationship. For once, the female protagonist is the aggressive one. Brooks, her brilliant and reclusive partner is kept on his toes because of her forwardness and her unpredictability. She challenges him and his preconceptions at every turn and he is a very changed man at the end of the novel. This was a fast read with many explosions, with our heroine at the center of it, and many hilarious conversations between the two. Braun nloves to tease and Brooks is such an easy mark. What I enjoyed the most was the development of the two main characters. They are very different yet similar and as the story goes on we discover many of their secrets and their insecurities.
The end of the book left me wanting and the way the story is paced there much to be learned about these two. Hoping the next Brooks and Braun book is out sooner rather than later.
