Book & Audio Review: A Scandal in Battersea by Mercedes Lackey

A Scandal in Battersea
Author: Mercedes Lackey
Narrator: Gemma Dawson
Series: Elemental Masters (Book 12)
Publication: Audible Studios (October 17, 2017); DAW (October 17, 2017)
Length: 11 hours and 40 minutes; 316 p.

Description: The twelfth novel in Mercedes Lackey's magical Elemental Masters series reimagines Sherlock Holmes in a richly-detailed alternate 20th-century England

Christmas is a very special time of year. It is special for Psychic Nan Killian and Medium Sarah Lyon-White and their ward Suki, who are determined to celebrate it properly. It is special for their friends, Doctor John Watson, and his wife Mary, both Elemental Masters, who have found great delight in the season seeing it through young Suki’s eyes.

It is also special to others...for very different reasons.

For Christmas Eve is also hallowed to dark forces, powers older than mankind, powers that come awake on this long, cold night. Powers best left alone. Powers that could shake the foundations of London and beyond.

It begins slowly.  Women disappearing in the dark of night, women only missed by those of their own kind. The whispers only begin when they start to reappear—because when they do, they are no longer sane. And when Nan and Sarah and the Watsons are called on to examine these victims, they discover that it was no ordinary horror of the streets that drove them mad.

But then, the shadows reach for other victims—girls of good, even exalted families, who vanish from concerts, lectures, and evening balls. And it will take the combined forces of Magic, Psychic Powers, and the world's greatest detective to stop the darkness before it can conquer all.

My Thoughts: The twelfth Elemental Masters books stars returning characters Nan Killian, Sarah Lyon-White, Sherlock Holmes, and Dr. John and Mary Watson. It is Christmas time and all are determined to make the occasion special for Nan and Sarah's ward Suki. But while they are attending the Panto and window shopping, Alexandre Harcourt is planning on calling on a dark power to get himself power.

Alexandre Harcourt hates the Christmas season but this year a new occult book he finds at his favorite bookstore gives him an idea for a way to increase his power and wealth. He is a resentful man who hates that his father left him under the supervision of his lawyers. He learns about an entity who will grant his wishes if he just follows the entity's instructions. The entity instructs him to find victims for him and sends Harcourt and his loyal man Alf out to find pure young people to feed to him. 

People go missing in London every day, but when a young woman from the prosperous middle class goes missing and is found wandering mindlessly, Sherlock Holmes is called in. Sherlock asks Nan to look at the young woman. Nan discovers that the girl is little more than an automaton. Her soul is missing!

When other girls go missing and are found in the same condition, and when a young women the Watsons, Nan and Sarah have rescued from an institution for the insane because of her visions sees a London in ruins, forces are gathered to try to find out what is happening and how the forces for good can stop it.

The story is richly detailed and filled with amazing images. It drifted a little bit more to horror than I am usually comfortable with, but the compelling storytelling kept me reading and listening. Gemma Dawson did a great job with the variety of accents and characters and also did an excellent job with the story's pacing. 

Favorite Quote:

"We can only do what's in our strenth, don't ye see? We just have to make sure we do what's in our stenth."

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

Book & Audio Review: The Case of the Spellbound Child by Mercedes Lackey

The Case of the Spellbound Child
Author: Mercedes Lackey
Narrator: Gemma Dawson
Series: Elemental Masters (Book 14)
Publication: Audible Studios (July 13, 2021); DAW (December 3, 2019)
Length: 11 hours and 28 minutes; 319 p.

Description: The fourteenth novel in the magical alternate history Elemental Masters series continues the reimagined adventures of Sherlock Holmes in a richly-detailed alternate 20th-century England.

While Sherlock is still officially dead, John and Mary Watson and Nan Killian and Sarah Lyon-White are taking up some of his case-load--and some for Lord Alderscroft, the Wizard of London.

Lord Alderscroft asks them to go to Dartmoor to track down a rumor of evil magic brewing there. Not more than four hours later, a poor cottager, also from Dartmoor, arrives seeking their help. His wife, in a fit of rage over the children spilling and spoiling their only food for dinner that night, sent them out on the moors to forage for something to eat. This is not the first time she has done this, and the children are moor-wise and unlikely to get into difficulties. But this time they did not come back, and in fact, their tracks abruptly stopped "as if them Pharisees took'd 'em." The man begs them to come help.

They would have said no, but there's the assignment for Alderscroft. Why not kill two birds with one stone?

But the deadly bogs are not the only mires on Dartmoor.

My Thoughts: The next case for Dr. John Watson, his wife Mary, and Nan, Sarah, and Suki starts with a letter sent to the deceased Sherlock Holmes begging for help in finding two children lost on the moors of Dartmoor. Since the letter bears traces of Earth magic, they are eager to help but not sure what they can actually do.

Lord Alderscroft sends the group to Dartmoor when it is learned that an unusual number of children have disappeared in the area of Yelverton over the preceding four years. They also learn that Sherlock Holmes is investigating a case of his own in the area. It seems the women are being raped and robbed under some sort of magical compulsion. 

A good part of the story is told from the viewpoint of the missing children who are captured by someone they call the Dark One who has imprisoned them and steals their magic from them. One of the two missing children mentioned in the letter - Helen Byerly - has no magical ability though her brother Simon does. Helen has the tip of her finger chopped off and buried under the hearthstone and finds herself as a servant for the evil magician unable to leave the grounds of his house. 

While working as his servant, she is able to better the lot of the other prisoners and is finally able to dig up her missing finger and escape during one of the evil magician's absences. However, she manages to get herself lost on the moors and almost dies of pneumonia despite being found by one of the local witches. 

Meanwhile, the Watson group is doing all they can to explore the area and locate the missing children by tracking down every possible rumor and checking every possible location using all of their various abilities. 

This was another excellent adventure in the Elemental Masters series. Gemma Doyle did a great job with all the various voices and the dialects. The worldbuilding was excellent and the characters interesting. 

Favorite Quote:

"You're uncommonly interested in the matters of mortals today, Robin," Nan observed.

Puck rubbed the side of his nose reflectively. "There's a change in the wind," was all he said. 

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

Book & Audio Review: The Bartered Brides by Mercedes Lackey

The Bartered Brides
Author: Mercedes Lackey
Narrator: Gemma Dawson
Series: Elemental Masters (Book 13)
Publication: Audible Studios (October 16, 2018); DAW (October 16, 2018)
Length: 11 hours and 13 minutes; 320 p.

Description: The thirteenth novel in the magical alternate history Elemental Masters series continues the reimagined adventures of Sherlock Holmes in a richly-detailed alternate Victorian England.

The threat of Moriarty is gone—but so is Sherlock Holmes.

Even as they mourn the loss of their colleague, psychic Nan Killian, medium Sarah Lyon-White, and Elemental Masters John and Mary Watson must be vigilant, for members of Moriarty’s network are still at large. And their troubles are far from over: in a matter of weeks, two headless bodies of young brides wash up in major waterways. A couple who fears for their own recently-wedded daughter hires the group to investigate, but with each new body, the mystery only deepens.

The more bodies emerge, the more the gang suspects that there is dangerous magic at work, and that Moriarty’s associates are somehow involved. But as they race against the clock to uncover the killer, it will take all their talents, Magic, and Psychic Powers—and perhaps some help from a dearly departed friend—to bring the murderer to justice.

My Thoughts: The newspapers are shouting that Sherlock Holmes is dead, and only those closest to him know the truth. But he needs to stay dead in order to track down and eliminate the remaining members of Moriarty's gang. That leaves only the Watsons, Nan, and Sarah to try to deal with Sherlock's usual cases. Right now they have a very difficult one. 

Someone is dumping the headless bodies of young women in the sewer. Each is dressed in what could be a wedding gown. Lestrade is baffled and none of the Watsons or Nan and Sarah's magical or psychical talents are giving them any help in finding out who or why this is happening.

Meanwhile, we know that a Spirit Master named Spencer is the killer. He is a high-up member of Moriarty's gang and has been trying to hold it together. He also managed to grab Moriarty's spirit and confine it in a talisman and now is working very hard to find a new body for him and transfer him from the spirit world back to the physical world.

Spencer is binding these young women to him in a sort of wedding ceremony and using their power to fill batteries he has developed. He needs the power if he is ever to reanimate Moriarty. Spencer is also trying to keep the Watsons out of the way. In fact, he sends a basket of poison fruit along with a compulsion spell in a Snow White attempt to kill Mary Watson after a physical attack on John is unsuccessful because of Nan and Sarah's intervention. Nan and Sarah's birds do manage to foil the attempt on Mary but they are pretending she is dead to give them more working room.

Nan and Sarah learn more about their abilities in this one as they use all their talents to locate Spencer and get rid of him. 

I like the worldbuilding in this story. It is a very well detailed Victorian world that surrounds the various adventures and magical elements. Even some commentary on woman's rights, or rather the lack of them is inserted into this story in a few places and in the person of a spirit named Caro. Gemma Dawson does a great job with the voices and the pacing.

Favorite Quote:

"It might not be a he," Watson reminded her. "Poison is a woman's weapon."

"Don't tell the Borgias that," Nan murmured, then spoke up. "Not true. Poison is the weapon of someone who has no intention of getting caught. And the only reason most poisoners get caught in the first place is because they murder someone close to them."

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

Book & Audio Review: The Wizard of London by Mercedes Lackey

The Wizard of London
Author: Mercedes Lackey
Narrator: Michelle Ford
Series: Elemental Masters Book 4
Publication: Audible Studios (October 16, 2009); DAW Hardcover (October 4, 2005)
Length: 11 hours and 40 minutes; 388 p.

Description: The fourth novel in Mercedes Lackey's magical Elemental Masters series reimagines the fairy tale The Snow Queen in a richly-detailed alternate Victorian England

The letter that introduced twelve-year-old Sarah Jane Lyon-White to Isabelle Harton, who ran the Harton School in central London, seemed quite simple and straightforward. But it was what was not written in the letter that resonated to Isabelle’s own finely tuned “extra” senses: “Sarah has gifts we cannot train,” the letter whispered to her, “nor can anyone we know. Those we trust tell us that you can….

And it was true, for the Harton School was far from ordinary. It was Isabelle’s job to train children who possessed the odd types of magic that could not be trained by London’s powerful Elemental Masters: clairvoyants, telepaths, those with the ability to sense hidden danger, the vision to see into the past, and even that rarest of all talents: the ability to see and communicate with the dead.

But Isabelle was uneasy, for though she knew that Sarah Jane had a touch of telepathy, there seemed to be something else about the girl—something that had not yet manifested.

And Isabelle was right to be worried, for as soon as Sarah’s full talents became evident, there was an attempt made on her life. For Sarah was that rarest of magicians: a true medium, and for some reason, a powerful Elemental Master wanted her dead.

Isabelle knew that to protect her ward she would have to seek help from the Elemental Masters of the city. That meant she would also see Lord David Alderscroft, the man she had once loved, but who had inexplicably chilled toward her and broken her heart long ago—for he was the leader of the city’s Elemental Masters, the man who was now called the Wizard of London.

My Thoughts: This episode in the Elemental Masters series moves away from the Elemental Masters themselves to another group of people who have various psychic powers. Isabelle Harton was a vicar's daughter raised around those of a higher social class than her own. When her upper class beau - David Alderscroft - dropped her with no warning, she travelled to India where she learned about her own unique powers, married a man with similar powers, gathered friends, and returned to London to open a school for ex-patriot children who have Talents and powers.

Sarah Lyon-White was nine when she came to the Harton School from Africa. Her parents, both Earth Masters, know they can't train Sarah in her different gifts. Sarah looks to be growing into a true medium. Sarah does have a guardian and protector in her African Gray parrot whom she names Gray.

Nan Killian is a street kid who comes to the door of the Harton School for the daily handouts. She has a way of knowing when someone presents a danger to her. When she is almost snatched by men her gin-soaked mother has sold her to, Nan and Sarah run and are rescued by some of Isobel Harton's friends who are guards at the school. Nan is taken in at the school and becomes Sarah's new best friend. Nan also wants a bird like Sarah has, and a trip to the Tower of London finds her bringing home one of the Queen's ravens who becomes her friend and guardian Neville.

Unmasking a fake medium brings the children to the attention of an Elemental Master who has gone to the dark side. A trip to a house inhabited by an ancient evil spirit is arranged by that Master, but intervention by the Hartons and their friends, and an early onset of Nan's Aspect, manages to save them from disaster.

The disaster does manage to result in the transfer of the school to a country home for the summer where Isabelle meets David again and finds him much changed. He has fallen under the influence of the dark master and it will take everyone's efforts to free him from that influence and save him. Isabelle isn't certain that she can forgive him for what he did to her as a girl, and isn't sure she wants to save him now. But the girls, especially Sarah, sees some good in him and knows that he must be saved if the future is not to turn very, very bad.

The story is lushly told and very vivid. The characters, including the Puck, add depth and richness to the tale. The setting in a pre-World War I England, but one infused with magic, is well-imagined and drawn. 

Fans of fantasy and alternate history and stories with fairy tale influences will really enjoy this book and this series. 

Favorite Quote:

Many of these occasions involved ice creams, a treat Nan had never before encountered, which left her wondering what possible reward could be in heaven if Earth as able to provide ice creams.

I bought and read the hardcover in 2005. I bought the Kindle and Audiobook for a reread in September. You can buy your copy here.