REVIEW - "The Mysterious Lady Law"

The Mysterious Lady Law by Robert Appleton

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



In a time of grand airships and steam-powered cars, the death of a penniless young maid will hardly make the front page. But part-time airship waitress and music hall dancer Julia Bairstow is shattered by her sister's murder. When Lady Law, the most notorious private detective in Britain, offers to investigate the case pro bono, Julia jumps at the chance—even against the advice of Constable Al Grant, who takes her protection surprisingly to heart.

Lady Law puts Scotland Yard to shame. She's apprehended Jack the Ripper and solved countless other cold-case crimes. No one knows how she does it, but it's brought her fortune, renown and even a title. But is she really what she claims to be—a genius at deducting? Or is Al right and she is not be trusted?

Julia is determined to find out the truth, even if it means turning sleuth herself—and turning the tables on Lady Law... Description from GoodReads.

My thoughts:
A steampunk version set in Victorian England.

This is a mystery of sorts. The question is: Who is really the detective?

Lady Law is a detective who has a 100% success rate and shames Scotland Yard.  As the dectectives are investigating, they are thinking of how Lady Law would do things. Lady Law comes to the aid of Julia. Julia's sister has just been murdered and Scotland Yard has come up with nothing. But, there is a cute detective who keeps Julia apprised of the investigation. So, Scotland Yard does have it's uses in this story. :)

Lady Law quickly comes to a conclusion and "solves" the case. But all is not as it should be. There is far more to the "whodunit.".


This is not a very long book. I wasn't overly impressed with the writing. It seemed a bit confusing at times, but not overly confusing. Now am I confusing you? You can scan through the confusing parts and keep up with the story.


Recommended if you don't have a lot of time and want a quick read.  Thanks to NetGalley and Carina Press for making this book available and approving my request.  This book was released on January 31, 2010.