There’s also an eerie black dirigible that slinks over London at night, searching for something. But I will add that the scarab plays a continued role in the series. Strangers and unlikely partners, it soon becomes apparent that they don’t play well together.īecause it’s a mystery I’m being stingy with the plot elements. It’s London, 1889, and Mina and Evaline meet each other for the first time when Irene Adler on behalf of Princess Alix commissions them to solve the mystery of two missing society girls. Their alliance swings in wild directions as neither girl trusts the other, but by the end of the book, they gain a better understanding of the team they could become. Although they are opposites and seem incompatible, they occasionally manage to put their difference aside to solve the mystery. Mina is logical, methodical, and as annoying as her uncle, while Evaline is a loner, impulsive, and takes unnecessary risks.

Mina Holmes, as observant as her famous Uncle Sherlock, and Evaline Stoker, the vampire fighting sister of Bram Stoker, team up to solve the mystery of two missing socialite. If you are a Holmes fan and if you like vampires, or if you just like mysteries and vampires, this series drops the reader into a dangerous world of adventure, mystery, and romance. The series echoes a Sherlock Holmes style of mystery.

There's a scene of an opium party (the heroines do not partake) several young society girls come to a violent end, and the heroines, besides narrowly escaping death themselves, witness a girl being electrocuted.Colleen Gleason’s “The Clockwork Scarab” combines mystery, vampires, and Steampunk into a diverting romp. Parents need to know that The Clockwork Scarab is the first young adult novel by longtime vampire-fiction author Colleen Gleason, and includes a recurring, gory scene of a vampire attacking his prey, along with numerous references to 'the UnDead.' Besides the vampire world, the genre-mashup story includes characters and trappings from detective fiction, steampunk, Egyptology, time travel, and teen romance. There are numerous references to opium use, and one scene (which shocks the girls with its decadence) involves bare-chested young men offering opium pipes to lounging young ladies.ĭid you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide. One of the teen girl characters gets her first taste of ale from a charmingly dodgy male friend. Social drinking seems common, in pubs, parties and elsewhere.

The clockwork scarab series