The Pennington Perplexity

 About the Book: 

You wouldn't expect a detective with Sherlockian deductive skills to have amnesia, but Byron Constantine is hardly the detective you'd expect. London 1888

Aspiring artist Mira Blayse isn't concerned with upper-tier society or conforming to Victorian expectations-she has a murder to solve. At least, she thinks it was murder. Her parents' deaths in 1870 couldn't have been by accident, but the more she investigates, the less she seems to find. Sitting at a café, she sketches a mysterious stranger, not realizing that she's penciling in the features of the man who will help her solve the case once and for all.

Byron Constantine lives day-to-day, desperately trying to hold onto his memories, only for them to slip through his fingers. Some days, he doesn't even know that he's lost four years of his life. As he manages to continue his work as a private detective, he realizes that maybe he doesn't need his memory after all. That is until he wants to remember Mira Blayse. With her keen eye for detail and his remarkable deductive skills, the two become entangled in a criminal investigation. As they uncover the secrets of the past, they must work together to stop history from repeating itself again.

My Review: 

Mira Blayse is investigating her parents’ deaths and decides to employ detective Byron Constantine’s services after she has no more leads on what occurred. Byron is excellent at observing and reminds me of Sherlock Holmes. The only problem is, he has a type of amnesia where he doesn’t remember what happened the previous day. Without the help of a daily journal to record reminders and what he learned about cases, Byron would be lost.

Mira is a gutsy, determined, and fearless young lady. I loved how she aids Byron in his investigations. She is like Holmes’ Dr. Watson, only better! She has artistic talent so she can capture suspects’ faces, is inquisitive, and a quick learner when it comes to the cases.

Things to love in this story:
finding clues
airships
danger
mystery
cat-and-mouse
secret criminal organization

Ms. Brianne is a new-to-me author, and I’m so glad I read her first book in the Constantine Capers series. It is a fast paced, well-written story and one that had me completely engaged. I can.not. wait to read the next book!

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Book Sirens. All views are my opinion in which I was not required to write a review.