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When you tell a story about Mr. Glass and Miss Steele, and it’s the first in the Glass and Steele series, I don’t really think it’s a spoiler to say that they get together by the end of the book. But it’s not really the end result that’s the key. Any surprises there would be a betrayal, and this book does not betray the reader, but it does make some mistakes.
India Steele tells us in first person how her fiancé got her father to leave him everything, and—as soon as her father died—Eddie Hardacre broke off the engagement but kept the shop. Admittedly, this throws me out of the story because a male breaking an engagement at that time was a breach of contract, and he’d have to pay her. Also, why would her father leave the shop to him? Once they were married, all of her property would become his property anyway.
Still, when India confronts Hardacre in the shop, she happens across another customer who is tall, dark, and handsome. This is Matthew Glass, an American. He figures out that she knows a lot about watches and watchmakers—and, since he’s looking for one watchmaker in particular, he’s willing to hire her and allow her to stay in his well-appointed house.
So, despite a worrying kick starting up, the plot engine is running smoothly. India thinks that Matthew might be an American criminal who was known to have shown up in London recently. Also, it turns out that her father was more pressed than she’d known, since the president of the guild of the clockmakers was dead set against India joining them.
Closer to home are the people who live with Matthew Glass, including his aggressive, slightly bonkers cousin, Willie, his house servant, Duke, and his driver, Cyclops—none of whom follow a British sense of propriety. Then again, neither does his aunt, who lives in London. Mr. Glass is an heir to a title that the family wants to keep him from having, and if he cared it might be an issue.
This is largely a story of detection set with a backdrop of getting to know the characters. Glass and Steele search for the mysterious Mr. Chronus, who can perhaps fix Mr. Glass’s watch, which is more than a watch in some way he doesn’t describe until near the end.
Basically, this is a romance but with a touch of magical realism. I found it enjoyable, and though I had been looking for a steampunk title, it still held my attention. I found the character of India engaging as she went from ingénue to a woman engaged with the issues of this book and no doubt the next one in the series. Glass and Steele make a good chalk and cheese team. Worth a look.
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