She is at it again. Ms. Alexia Tarabotti is still her comical, sometimes ruthless and unforgiving self who enjoys arguing with her husband, getting into everybody’s business and rolling her eyes at her best friend’s antics, which only lends itself to some wonderful inner dialogue and witty rapport.
Ms. Tarabotti (now Lady Maccon) starts the second book in the Parasol Protectorate series, Changeless waking up to her husband, Lord Maccon, Earl of Woolsey, Alpha Werewolf and head of the BUR (Paranormal Police) disappearing to Scotland on some “business” (and me thinks would be very hot in real life if werewolves were real of course.)
More interesting characters join book two with people such as a French female inventor by the name of Madame Lafoux who dresses like a man and who we question throughout the book of her loyalties to Alexia and a whole cast of Scottish rugged and primal werewolves. Some of my favorites are still around such as Lord Akeldama an incredibly old, fashion forward vampire and Miss Ivy Hisslepenny with her ugly hats.
Without ruining the plot, this book focuses on what is making all of the supernaturals across the country to turn into humans. Is it a virus, a person or something darker? Of course Alexia being a preternatural and having the ability to do this with a simple touch is an immediate suspect.
Armed with her lethal parasol, Alexia tries to understand more about what is happening to the supernaturals. This leads her to follow her husband to Scotland by dirigible (a floating airship) along with Miss Hisslepenny and her crazy hats, her mean mouthed sister and Lord Maccon’s claviger to name a few. Of course, trouble ensues as it always does around Alexia and often with farcical results.
While in Scotland, Alexia starts to learn about her husband’s past and why he left his pack in Scotland Alphaless years earlier. It also unearths the dark and mysterious secret to the blight that is affecting the supernatural beings.
There are also a number of other story lines such as Miss Hisslepenny’s “love” for the claviger who is so beneath her status, she is torn and prone to dramatic and brilliantly funny outbursts of her plight.
The end of the book did annoy me as of course I had to buy the third installment immediately to find out what on earth just happened. These books are absolutely a story in one so you must read Soulless before Changeless and now as I have just discovered Changeless before Blameless.
I did love this book, although not as much as Soulless. I still found it light-hearted fun and sometimes saucy romp through Victorian England only with vampires, werewolves and ghosts. What is more fun that that?
I was trying to think of a series of books that truly made me laugh out loud. The only one I could come up with was Lamb, The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore. These books do that and that cannot be bad thing – laughter is one the essences of life after all.
As with Soulless, Gail Carriger has an incredibly sharp and intelligent wit that makes you want to reread lines over and over again just for the giggle.
Blameless here I come.
