The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, Mori #1 by Natasha Pulley
A gold pocket-watch left in Thaniel Steepleton's apartment saves him from an explosion several months later. Investigation leads him to Japanese watchmaker Keita Mori. How could the watch predict when the bombing would occur? With threats of more bombings looming Thaniel agrees to help Scotland Yard investigate Mori.
As Thaniel gets to know Mori, he realizes these something deeper going on. In the meantime there's Grace Carrow, who is conducting experiments at Oxford and facing prejudice of her own.
A sequel being scheduled for the spring prompted me to read this. It was a fun historic romance set in Victorian London. I like how the author explores stereotypes and prejudice in this era, especially through the lens of the unlikeable Miss Carrow, but the plot could have used more tension. It felt like more of a character study, which is fine, but the book seemed to promise a lot more with all of the clairvoyance and terrorism and Gilbert & Sullivan.
Keita Mori
Next: 'The Lost Future of Pepperharrow'
