Despite being the second book in the series, it works well as a standalone. The author is adept at interweaving back-story and previous character development into the narrative fairly seamlessly. It is a period Victorian cozy with a young wealthy brilliant protagonist who flouts social convention throughout the book and never seems to suffer any repercussions for her one woman campaign to recreate the social fabric of England and solve crime at the same time.
I never felt one time during reading that there was any actual danger to Felicity, the plot wouldn't dare not go her way in all things, all the time. She's never thwarted and never corrected for what would have been completely scandalous behavior (for the time). The subject material (Jack the Ripper) is quite dark for a period cozy, but it is admittedly well written (apart from some clunky and anachronistic dialogue). The book simply didn't feel like a historical cozy (except for the Jack the Ripper plotline).
General thoughts: the author is adept and writes well and it's an entertaining read but it felt so smug and self satisfied most of the time.
Three and a half stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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