THE CURSE OF THE BRIMSTONE CONTRACT by Corrina Lawson

Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Date published: 4-22-14
ISBN: 978-1-61922-067-6
Romance/Alternate Worlds Steampunk
E-book
Reviewed by Helen
Weblink: http://store.samhainpublishing.com/curse-brimstone-contract-p-73392.html
Obtained via publisher
Rating: 5

Joan Krieger’s family owns a thriving combined tailoring and seamstress business in London. Despite her father’s illness they were managing well until two of their customers died suddenly and a much older aristocrat decides to marry Joan for her assumed magical sensitivities.

Joan calls on a half-Indian detective to help her solve the murders before she can be married to a man she doesn’t trust. She hopes he’ll prove the deaths were caused by magic and not associated with her family business. But nothing is ever that simple.


The Steampunk Detectives, Book 1

This is a fast-paced and exciting story set in a London steampunk environment. While it has several similarities to many other similar steampunk worlds, it contains a couple of rather neat twists and a slightly different hero and heroine, which make the drama and magic just different enough to give the story a great edge.  The world is familiar enough that the reader continues racing along, yet with enough unique features to provide color and excitement.

I also really enjoyed the way the secondary characters weren’t one-dimensional or placeholders. Each has a multifaceted personality and moves backwards and forwards along the line from good to bad. Although I guessed who the bad person was, the manner in which the crimes were revealed left plenty of excitement and revelation to hold my interest.

I also loved the cover. It’s eyecatching and appropriate. The book was very cleanly produced. It is very rare indeed when I find a full-length novel that doesn’t have at least some typos, grammatical errors or plot points that come out and slap me in the face. Kudos to the author and editor here for their excellent work.
A great story. I loved it.


This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.