Review: The Chess Queen Enigma

I love this series and the third installment, The Chess Queen Enigma, was just as much fun as the first two.  For those of you who haven't read any of them, the Stoker and Holmes series is steampunk mystery and the main characters are two young ladies, Mina and Evaline, who are the descendants of Bram Stoker and Sherlock Holmes.  So, that being said, we also have vampires, dirigibles, Scotland Yard, and the one and only Sherlock Holmes himself making an appearance on several occasions throughout the books.

This particular story revolves around a lost chess queen that was meant to be used as a peace offering between two countries.  The girls must find out why it is so important and where it has gone. Coincidentally, there have been strange attacks in the city, leaving the victims either dead or dying from loss of blood.  With the help of Dylan (who traveled back in time from 2016 in the first book), Inspector Grayling, and Pix, they try to solve the mysteries at hand.  

The pacing in the story is good but the familiar Holmesian attention to detail can be a bit long on one or two occasions.  There are several action scenes and just a scant amount of romance that may be a predictor for what is to come in the next story.  I find this series to be a lot of fun and I have come to really enjoy all of the characters.  It is definitely worth picking up if you like the steampunk setting and mystery genre.