Book three of the Parasol Protectorate, Blameless, is Bustlepunk at its best!

The intrepid Alexia has her hands full – sadly not with her delectable, stubborn, idiotic husband – but with vampires trying to kill her, mechanical ladybirds trying to inject her and a mystery to solve that is as personal as it gets.

Once again Gail Carriger has delivered a book that will sweep you away into an amazing Victoriana Urban Fantasy Paranormal thriller romance! And she has done so with great writing and wit that is a joy to read.

It is incredibly hard to select examples of the delightful bon-mots throughout this book, because almost every page is a delight.

Alexia sighed.”It is at times like this I wish I could talk to my mother.”
“Good gracious, what good would that do, madam?” Floote was moved to speak by the outrageousness of Alexia’s statement.
“Well, whatever she said, I could simply take the opposite point of view.”

I love prosaic Alexia’s reaction to being pregnant. After all, her ‘infant-inconvenience’ has led to her estrangement from her husband, ostracism from society and, above all, an interruption to her appetite.

There’s the wonderful: “Today the infant-inconvenience wasn’t objecting to food. Buggery thing couldn’t make up its mind.”

Or the delightfully maternal side of Alexia:
Another thing had become apparent. As driven as she might be to prove Conall wrong, the fate of the infant-inconvenience was now at stake. Alexia might be frustrated with the tiny parasite, but she decided, after contemplation, that she did not, exactly, wish it dead. They’d been through a lot together so far. Just you allow me to eat regularly, she told it silently, and I’ll think about trying to grow a mothering instinct. Won’t be easy mind you, I wasn’t ever expecting to have one. But I’ll try.”

The steampunk elements shine through with eclectic inventions, wonderfully creative weaponry (such as the ‘ruddy great gun’, the Nordenfelt) and of course a parasol loaded with more accoutrements than Steede could have dreamed of – let alone James Bond!

The book is a grand adventure with journeys, escapes, battles, politics … basically it’s action packed! The ensemble is again as wonderful as ever: Lyall, Madam LeFoux, Lord Akeldama, the indomitable Floote, Ivy ….these all add a terrific depth to the series with their charmingly diverse personalities.

But the absolute cucumber in the sandwich is the story of Conall and Alexia and how deeply their estrangement affects them. I mean, really, who would have imagined Conall seeking hedgehogs for comfort! Definitely a man on the edge! Oh, oh, oh and his drinking himself into a stupor – with crunchy bits in the drink. Oh please – go and read this! You’ll understand why I am beside myself with laughter!

What genius Gail Carriger displays. This is an amazingly clever book with a well developed plot, a diverse cast of characters, wonderfully inventive steampunk machines, civil service shenanigans and delectable wit! It is also a book with a great heart.

I do have a warning though. It is absolutely essential that you have read Soulless and Changeless before you read book three of the Parasol Protectorate! Essential! I swear if I head of one more person reading this series out of order and then not ‘getting it’ I shall commit ‘parassault’ such as would put Alexia to shame!