The second book of the Athena Club involves the main female characters traveling far from their London home to stop a fiendish scheme. The Athena Club consists of the daughters of Dr. Jekyll (Mary Jekyll) and Mr. Hyde (Diana Hyde). Also, the poisonous daughter of mad biologist named Beatrice, the puma woman of H. G. Wells’ Island of Dr. Moreau named Catherine, and Justine, Frankenstein’s female creation. The five members have received a note asking them to help an imprisoned girl, Lucinda Van Helsing in Vienna. And if that wasn’t enough, they are to proceed to Budapest to break up a convention of the evil Alchemical Society. This society is the one that made them all monsters through various branches of science (e.g. Moreau created Catherina from vivisecting a puma).
Mary and Justine decide to travel to Vienna to investigate, receiving help from an acquaintance of Sherlock Homes. Travels by train and carriage ensue along with several adventures for all the club members. Spies for the Alchemical Society, prison breaks, kidnappings, and more exciting action occurs throughout the book. A handful of famous characters in this genre: Abraham Van Helsing, Dr. Seward, and Edward Prendick are the villains. The Athena Club meets other interesting adversaries en route.
I enjoyed the first book in this series, The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter. The assembly of the Athena Club and the mystery that surrounded them was captivating and worthy of the term “gaslamp horror.” This time around, we have a longer novel, so long it can’t be finished if you were really traveling between London and Budapest. This book should have been exciting with a chase across Europe, multiple secret enclaves, and (in case you haven’t guessed it) vampirism. Instead the ordinary elements overwhelm the extraordinary.
European Travels for the Monstrous Gentlewoman has its moments. The story takes great pains to make readers feel they’re in London, on the Orient Express, in Vienna, or in Budapest. The character interactions, especially those with Diana, are often funny. Each woman has her own personality, and they form an interesting group. And for the uninitiated, the previous book is summarized near the beginning.
On the other hand, the book goes on far too long. Lengthy passages describe nothing relevant to the story. And for some reason, all the heroes are flipped to villains. This reviewer has no idea why given the outcome of the story. The villains are completely flat, not even aspiring to mustache twirling. Last, the male characters in this novel are either evil, inert, or exist purely to have a monstrous gentlewoman fall in love with them. They have no personality of their own. And the owner of the residence the women lodge in in Budapest should have been a real stunner. But as far as I can tell, the reason he’s in the story is to provide money for the Athena Club.
This novel should be entitled The Strange Case of the Writer Who Fell in Love with Her Own Story and Couldn’t Stop. The book has, at its center, a good story, but it needs a development editor to pull it out. Some reviewers noted they didn’t want to continue the series after this one, and I understand why.
European Travels for the Monstrous Gentlewoman is humorous, has delightful characters, and presents some surprising cameos. Yet, it loses its story somewhere along the way of this journey.