Heartless

Gail Carriger
Orbit

Lady Alexia Maccon, soulless, is at it again, only this time the trouble is not her fault. When a mad ghost threatens the queen, Alexia is on the case, following a trail that leads her deep into her husband's past. Top that off with a sister who has joined the suffragette movement (shocking!), Madame Lefoux's latest mechanical invention, and a plague of zombie porcupines and Alexia barely has time to remember she happens to be eight months pregnant.
Will Alexia manage to determine who is trying to kill Queen Victoria before it is too late? Is it the vampires again or is there a traitor lurking about in wolf's clothing? And what, exactly, has taken up residence in Lord Akeldama's second best closet?

The fourth in the Parasol Protectorate novels brings the pregnancy to an end with a riotous conclusion. Alexia receives a visit from a ghost on the verge of going poltergeist telling her of a plot against the Queen. Her investigations lead her into her husband’s past with his Scottish pack and also reveals dark secrets about the current pack and her own past.

Meanwhile the plot continues and she may need to look elsewhere for answers.

The first recruit to the protectorate is recruited here as Ivy proves herself a lot less vapid than previously implied.

This one is very much the action sequel to the series - although the last had its moments – with a concluding battle between vampires, werewolves and scientists featuring a giant mechanical octopus. It is there to set everything up for the next book which is blatantly going to deal with the results of the birth at the very end that reveals that Prudence has a number of unusual traits.

Another fun episode in Alexia’s travails that opens up all manner of fun avenues for the following novel to explore.