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corymouse's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
krisrid's review against another edition
4.0
Book 3 and I am still loving this series!
This series combines lots of things almost guaranteed to draw me in: magical/dangerous artifacts, spunky strong female characters, Victorian-era England, dramatic, dangerous heroes, plenty of action and plenty of humour. This book has, as have the first two, all those things and I loved every moment I spent reading it.
This story gives Cara's grandmother, Nan and her dear friend Nessy an opportunity to get into the drama that characterizes Cara and Nate's life. As they investigate a new series of suspicious deaths that may involve an artifact, everyone involved in their lives - including Cara's best friend Amy - get in on the act and it is tons of fun!
This series is just light, fun, funny entertaining stories with a little bit of magic and a little bit of romance to go along with the drama and the action. I have enjoyed all the books so far and look forward to reading book 4 next.
This series combines lots of things almost guaranteed to draw me in: magical/dangerous artifacts, spunky strong female characters, Victorian-era England, dramatic, dangerous heroes, plenty of action and plenty of humour. This book has, as have the first two, all those things and I loved every moment I spent reading it.
This story gives Cara's grandmother, Nan and her dear friend Nessy an opportunity to get into the drama that characterizes Cara and Nate's life. As they investigate a new series of suspicious deaths that may involve an artifact, everyone involved in their lives - including Cara's best friend Amy - get in on the act and it is tons of fun!
This series is just light, fun, funny entertaining stories with a little bit of magic and a little bit of romance to go along with the drama and the action. I have enjoyed all the books so far and look forward to reading book 4 next.
libra17's review against another edition
3.0
This is, admittedly, a somewhat better book than Hatshepsut's Collar. We return mystery as a plot, the romance gets toned down just a tad, and the story itself is more interesting than the entire train wreck of events that made up the prior book. However, it's still not good enough to compel me to read more. I gave the Artifact Hunters series more time to get good than I give the vast majority of the books I read - most books I drop after about three chapters if it doesn't catch my interest; no point in trying to make myself finish a book that will be a trial - but even free doesn't Trump bad. Onto the next series.
laoklin's review against another edition
4.0
Book was chosen for my 2017 Reading Challenge - "a steampunk novel".
avoraciousreader68's review against another edition
5.0
*Book source ~ A review copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.
Spontaneous human combustion is so rare it’s not even considered as an option even when a person has obviously burned to death. Until Inspector Fraser is called in on one that fits the profile where the body has burned to ash and yet the surroundings have not. However, one death, two deaths, three deaths, oh, boy…this is stretching the bounds of believability by quite a bit.
Cara and Nate are settling into married life and the Queen’s new position for them as Artifact Hunters quite nicely. And then Inspector Fraser comes along asking for Cara’s help in solving these strange deaths, deaths he believes are murders. Fraser and Nate’s hatred for each other will not stop Cara from finding Nero’s Fiddle which she believes is the instrument of the deaths. Follow the fiddle, find the killer, hopefully before there’s a victim #4.
Oh, sweet, sweet steampunk! I love this series! Murder, mystery, intrigue, humor, romance, steaminess (without being graphic), mythology, fantasy and spine tingling creepiness, I love it all. This story picks up not long after Hatshepsut’s Collar and the layers keep on building. Told from several POVs, I learned more about Fraser and his reason for hating Nate and when Cara visits with Nan I learned more about her mom & dad. Then Nan gets her own POV and I learned a lot about her and Nessy’s younger life and got to meet Cara’s grandfather, Gideon. The mystery surrounding the murders is sufficiently twisty to have kept me guessing and that ending? Wowzers. Secrets are tricksy things. Oh, must not forget the Curator. Holy shit! That guy is totally creeptastic, so, of course, I can’t wait to see more of him in the next book. And Cara gets a new bodyguard, Brick, who is quite the character and a new friend, Skittles, the famous courtesan. Jackson, Amy and Loki don’t get a lot of page time, but what they get is memorable and there are appearances by Helene and Malachi, the bookseller.
I am totally looking forward to Moseh’s Staff though the blurb fills me with dread. *shudders*
Spontaneous human combustion is so rare it’s not even considered as an option even when a person has obviously burned to death. Until Inspector Fraser is called in on one that fits the profile where the body has burned to ash and yet the surroundings have not. However, one death, two deaths, three deaths, oh, boy…this is stretching the bounds of believability by quite a bit.
Cara and Nate are settling into married life and the Queen’s new position for them as Artifact Hunters quite nicely. And then Inspector Fraser comes along asking for Cara’s help in solving these strange deaths, deaths he believes are murders. Fraser and Nate’s hatred for each other will not stop Cara from finding Nero’s Fiddle which she believes is the instrument of the deaths. Follow the fiddle, find the killer, hopefully before there’s a victim #4.
Oh, sweet, sweet steampunk! I love this series! Murder, mystery, intrigue, humor, romance, steaminess (without being graphic), mythology, fantasy and spine tingling creepiness, I love it all. This story picks up not long after Hatshepsut’s Collar and the layers keep on building. Told from several POVs, I learned more about Fraser and his reason for hating Nate and when Cara visits with Nan I learned more about her mom & dad. Then Nan gets her own POV and I learned a lot about her and Nessy’s younger life and got to meet Cara’s grandfather, Gideon. The mystery surrounding the murders is sufficiently twisty to have kept me guessing and that ending? Wowzers. Secrets are tricksy things. Oh, must not forget the Curator. Holy shit! That guy is totally creeptastic, so, of course, I can’t wait to see more of him in the next book. And Cara gets a new bodyguard, Brick, who is quite the character and a new friend, Skittles, the famous courtesan. Jackson, Amy and Loki don’t get a lot of page time, but what they get is memorable and there are appearances by Helene and Malachi, the bookseller.
I am totally looking forward to Moseh’s Staff though the blurb fills me with dread. *shudders*
nexusgoblin's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 Stars
Nero’s Fiddle picks up shortly after the event’s of Hatshepsut’s Collar, and after some rather odd albeit fiery deaths Cara and Nate find themselves looking for a new artifact.
Nero’s Fiddle gives us a new and extremely dangerous that causes people to spontaneously combust and even helps shed some light on the past of a few of my favorite characters. This one has a bit of a different flow to it from Nefertiti and Hatshepsut. The first book is mostly mystery based, while the second is a thrill ride, but this one is more of an in depth look at several of the characters. We do get some more of Cara’s past, but we are mostly treated to the pasts of Nan, Nessy, and Inspector Frasier. Nan & Nessy are given their own chapters which give us a look at their past and their incredibly enviable friendship over the years. I love these two women. Nessy keeps Loki on his toes and I loved seeing what she was like as a young woman, as well as seeing Cara’s grandfather and learning more about her mother.
We also get some new characters in this one! My favorite being Brick, who is by far the coolest most stylish body guard ever. Jackson of course is still around but he doesn’t have much page time in this one, so if you’re interested in finding out why go read The Unicorn’s Tail! You’ll enjoy it, I promise! We also get to met the mysterious Curator, who is….chilling to say the least, but I do look forward to seeing what his full role will be.
Overall I definitely think that Exley is going strong with this series and I can’t wait to read the next book, Moseh’s Staff which sounds amazing! I’m going to miss Cara and Nate, but I know it will be well worth the wait.
Nero’s Fiddle picks up shortly after the event’s of Hatshepsut’s Collar, and after some rather odd albeit fiery deaths Cara and Nate find themselves looking for a new artifact.
Nero’s Fiddle gives us a new and extremely dangerous that causes people to spontaneously combust and even helps shed some light on the past of a few of my favorite characters. This one has a bit of a different flow to it from Nefertiti and Hatshepsut. The first book is mostly mystery based, while the second is a thrill ride, but this one is more of an in depth look at several of the characters. We do get some more of Cara’s past, but we are mostly treated to the pasts of Nan, Nessy, and Inspector Frasier. Nan & Nessy are given their own chapters which give us a look at their past and their incredibly enviable friendship over the years. I love these two women. Nessy keeps Loki on his toes and I loved seeing what she was like as a young woman, as well as seeing Cara’s grandfather and learning more about her mother.
We also get some new characters in this one! My favorite being Brick, who is by far the coolest most stylish body guard ever. Jackson of course is still around but he doesn’t have much page time in this one, so if you’re interested in finding out why go read The Unicorn’s Tail! You’ll enjoy it, I promise! We also get to met the mysterious Curator, who is….chilling to say the least, but I do look forward to seeing what his full role will be.
Overall I definitely think that Exley is going strong with this series and I can’t wait to read the next book, Moseh’s Staff which sounds amazing! I’m going to miss Cara and Nate, but I know it will be well worth the wait.
imzadirose's review against another edition
2.0
Meh. 2.5 stars maybe. These books are only about 10% about the actual artifact, and the rest is about their petty lives. I didn't like the back and forth nature of this one, I didn't like the story lines. The deaths were about the only good thing about the book.
The last book of 2016, and ending a CRAZY insanity year of books, this being book number 470. I don't plan to top that next year!!
The last book of 2016, and ending a CRAZY insanity year of books, this being book number 470. I don't plan to top that next year!!