Soulless. The Parasol Protectorate is an exuberant novel. Its setting, Victorian London, is people with werewolves and vampires and includes a nod to the steampunk subgenre. The writing is vivid and humurous, the rules of this alternative universe well-developed, and the heroine engaging. The book’s opening scene is one of the best I’ve read recently. I won’t spoil it for you, but here’s a snippet from a bit later in the book. The style makes me smile 🙂

“But, Alexia, really, it simply is not the done thing to hit a vampire, with a parasol or otherwise!”

Miss Tarabotti sighed but secretly agreed with her friend. There weren’t many vampires skulking around London society, never had been, but the few hives that were in residence included politicians, landholders, and some very important noblemen among their membership. To indiscriminately whack about with one’s parasol among such luminaries was social suicide.