Reviewing The Clockwork Scarab

The Clockwork Scarab: A Stoker & Holmes Novel
[The Stoker & Holmes Novels — Book 1]

By Colleen Gleason

Reviewed by Jeff Salter

When I saw the teaser for this book – featuring the names Holmes and Stoker in Victorian England – I knew I had to check it out. But Sherlock only appears in a couple of cameos and there are no actual vampires herein. Mina is Sherlock’s very independent 17-year-old niece and has many of his stills of detection. Evaline (about that same age) is the younger sister of author Bram Stoker, who (in this story) is focused on his work with a local London theater. The girls are hired by Irene Adler (working on special assignment for one of the Royal Family), who holds a special place in Sherlock’s mind / heart.

This was my first foray into the universe of Steampunk Stories… so I didn’t really know what to expect. I assume this author ties-in with already-established steampunk tropes, but it’s also possible that she invented some of the machines and conveyances which appear herein. For example, Mina uses a Steam-Stream gun and occasionally rides on a Steamcycle.

In this “universe,” electricity has been effectively outlawed… so everything mechanical runs on steam and most of the lighting comes from gas lamps. In this universe, therefore, almost everything has gears and levers — like the mechanized “Brolly-Keeper” (which holds umbrellas when not in use). Lovers of steampunk stories will likely enjoy all these gadgets, but to me they were mostly a distracting contrivance. [Sorry].

In steampunk London, the city has three [ ? ] levels above ground… and some sort of balloon / blimp construction that has a fourth level in the air. Try to picture “fly-bridges” and “sky-anchors.” [Sorry I can’t describe this better… but I can’t even picture it myself.] All this is in addition to the actual “underground” (i.e., subway system), of course.

Evaline Stoker is a hereditary vampire-hunter — but despite her super-human strength, she’s not yet actually killed a vampire. But her numerous skills in that regard are quite handy when combating villains of London’s criminal underworld. She develops a romantic interest in Pix — a wily, street-smart petty thief with a heart of gold.

Mina is attracted to a young, handsome Inspector Grayling (of Scotland Yard) who continues to issue stern reproofs (about her dangerous behavior) which she promptly ignores.

So the reader would logically assume each young lady has a potential love interest… and we can proceed with those developing threads. Oops… into this story drops Dylan — an accidental time-traveler from some hundred years in the future. He has his cell phone with him, but no way to charge it and no signal (of course). As you’ve likely guessed, Mina finds herself almost equally attracted to Dylan. Will Dylan stick around in Victorian England to develop this attraction to Mina? Or will they succeed – over the course of five novels – to find a way to zap him back to the future?

There are some humorous moments, especially in the middle of this story (after time-traveler Dylan has more time on stage) with his 21^st century cultural references and passing allusions to products and equipment familiar to present day readers… but totally alien to these Victorian Londoners.

Dialog

As writers, we are repeatedly warned to limit our use of dialect. This author ignores that advice with the character Pix… whose cockney speech is difficult to read and understand.

Summary:

I think it’s a terrific concept to team up members of the Holmes and Stoker families… but readers may not be expecting those individuals to be teenagers. This is the first of five titles in this series and I can see where these characters have plenty of room to develop new cases. If you’re “into” steampunk stories, you’ll probably love this novel. But if your primary interest is in Sherlock Holmes, you may be disappointed. The grand man – Uncle to Mina – appears only in a couple of walk-ons.

Amazon Blurb

The sister of Bram Stoker and the niece of Sherlock Holmes investigate missing girls and murder in this steampunk fantasy mystery series opener.
Evaline Stoker and Mina Holmes never meant to get into the family business. But when you’re the sister of Bram and the niece of Sherlock, vampire hunting and mystery solving are in your blood. And when two society girls go missing, there’s no one more qualified to investigate. Now fierce Evaline and logical Mina must resolve their rivalry, navigate the advances of not just one but three mysterious gentlemen, and solve murder with only one clue: a strange Egyptian scarab.
The stakes are high. If Stoker and Holmes don’t unravel why the belles of London society are in such danger, they’ll become the next victims.

[JLS # 568]

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