Sad to say but this is probably my least favourite London Steampunk novel. It's written with McMaster's characteristic steam and action but I didn't like MY LADY QUICKSILVER nearly as much as KISS OF STEEL or HEART OF IRON. Don't get me wrong -- MY LADY QUICKSILVER is a good book but it didn't meet the admittedly high expectations I hold after reading the first two books in the series.
Here's the good: McMaster takes us to a different side of her world, with her heroine being a member of the human resistance rather than a member of the supernatural society. Rosalind got involved with the movement because her deceased husband Nathaniel was active. After he died, she took on the mantle of Mercury and leads one pocket of the resistance. (There is dissent within the ranks, which is a key part of the plot.) She's interesting because she lacks many of the physical advantages of her opponents but her upbringing has made her more than a match for Jasper Lynch, the leader of the Nighthawks. She's got great spycraft and it was a lot of fun getting to know her.
Jasper is also an interesting lead. He's the law and he's tasked with finding Mercury. I actually liked him a lot more than Rosalind, partially because he's been in other stories and I've been very curious about how he ended up as Master of the Nighthawks, and also because I loved his devotion to his team and justice. He has a much better sense of the political situation in the London Steampunk series than Rosalind, who I found frustrating sometimes.
I enjoyed their developing relationship but I thought the ending was overly tidy. I could predict how they were going to get their HEA and I think that's why the story lacked some punch for me.
There is a really neat subplot that involves the murders that Lynch has to solve. I thought this was a really smart part of MY LADY QUICKSILVER and it's probably one of my favourite things in the novel. I won't talk too much about it since spoilers aren't any fun but this plotline made me quite curious about what other folks are doing in the series universe.
There's nothing really bad about MY LADY QUICKSILVER but I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as the first two books in McMaster's series. I do hope that you enjoy MY LADY QUICKSILVER more than I did. Despite the fact I'm not as effusive about this one, I'd still recommend this series to people who are looking for sexy steampunk romance with a supernatural bent because McMaster has created an amazing world and has a captivating writing style.
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