Thursday, December 18, 2014

CBB Tour ~ Nero's Fiddle


*Book source ~ A review copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.
Title ~ Nero's Fiddle
Author ~ A.W. Exley
Published ~ 9 October 2014
Genre ~ Steampunk | Sci-Fi
Pages ~ 254


My Rating ~ 5 bites

Spontaneous human combustion is so rare it’s not even considered as an option even when a person has obviously burned to death. Until Inspector Fraser is called in on one that fits the profile where the body has burned to ash and yet the surroundings have not. However, one death, two deaths, three deaths, oh, boy…this is stretching the bounds of believability by quite a bit.

Cara and Nate are settling into married life and the Queen’s new position for them as Artifact Hunters quite nicely. And then Inspector Fraser comes along asking for Cara’s help in solving these strange deaths, deaths he believes are murders. Fraser and Nate’s hatred for each other will not stop Cara from finding Nero’s Fiddle which she believes is the instrument of the deaths. Follow the fiddle, find the killer, hopefully before there’s a victim #4.

Oh, sweet, sweet steampunk! I love this series! Murder, mystery, intrigue, humor, romance, steaminess (without being graphic), mythology, fantasy and spine tingling creepiness, I love it all. This story picks up not long after Hatshepsut’s Collar and the layers keep on building. Told from several POVs, I learned more about Fraser and his reason for hating Nate and when Cara visits with Nan I learned more about her mom & dad. Then Nan gets her own POV and I learned a lot about her and Nessy’s younger life and got to meet Cara’s grandfather, Gideon. The mystery surrounding the murders is sufficiently twisty to have kept me guessing and that ending? Wowzers. Secrets are tricksy things. Oh, must not forget the Curator. Holy shit! That guy is totally creeptastic, so, of course, I can’t wait to see more of him in the next book. And Cara gets a new bodyguard, Brick, who is quite the character and a new friend, Skittles, the famous courtesan. Jackson, Amy and Loki don’t get a lot of page time, but what they get is memorable and there are appearances by Helene and Malachi, the bookseller.

I am totally looking forward to Moseh’s Staff though the blurb fills me with dread. *shudders*

About the Author
 Books and writing have always been an enormous part of A.W. Exley’s life. She survived school by hiding out in the library, with several thousand fictional characters for company. At university, she overcame the boredom of studying accountancy by squeezing in Egyptology papers and learning to read hieroglyphics. Today, Anita writes steampunk novels with a sexy edge and an Egyptian twist. She lives in rural New Zealand surrounded by an assortment of weird and wonderful equines, felines, canine and homicidal chickens.

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6 comments:

  1. YAY! I'm so glad you loved it too! This one didn't have as much action and travel and stuff but I was okay with that. It gave some time for some good character development and stuff. I loved it too! Thanks so much for hosting a tour stop and fitting this one in for review!

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    1. I agree completely! I didn't miss all the running around because there was so much more going on and stuff about the characters. It was awesome! :)

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  2. I can't wait for the fourth book, because that character was creepy! I love the chapters with Nan and Nessy, those two woman are fantastic and I live for the moments they start bothering Loki. Great review!

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    1. Thank you! I'm dreading book 4, but I also can't wait! LOL

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  3. I'm just discovering steampunk. This series is going on my 'to-read' list.

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    1. I haven't read very many steampunk yet, but I do enjoy the genre. This is definitely a series I recommend. :D

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