(The Athena Club Book 3)
The Athena Club is comprised of Mary Jekyll and Diana Hyde (daughters of the infamous Henry Jekyll), Catherine Moreau (a puma made human by Dr. Moreau), Beatrice Rappaccini (a poisonous lady from a Nathaniel Hawthorne short story), Justine Frankenstein (the created bride of the monster), and Mina Harker (of Dracula lore). Theodora Goss’ third book in her trilogy series, The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerized Girl, recounts how the parlor maid of the Athena Club is kidnapped and forced to use her mesmeric powers for evil purposes.
In Sinister, a group of men want to take over the British empire and plan to use mesmeric powers to do so. Three women—an Egyptologist named Margaret, Alice’s mother, and a subjugated Alice—are key to their plans. They have captured their largest nemesis, Sherlock Holmes, and have him drugged and sequestered. The Athena Group must race to the rescue.
This third novel feels like the author was contracted for three novels in this series and had only had ideas for two and a half novels. This may not be true, but the narrative fails to capture the zeitgeist of the first novel or the wonder of the second. The Athena Club books make the mistake of advertising themselves as a series, but they follow the conventions of a trilogy. In a series, novels don’t assume you’ve read the prior, even if you have. In contrast, a connected trilogy is meant to be read together. The first section of Sinister includes so many names and events of the prior two novels, this reviewer found it hard to follow.
In addition, Sinister plods along from sequence to sequence with a twist mid-novel that isn’t engaging. One Athenian member is absent for most of the book, and side characters like Inspector Hastings are mostly a distraction. I enjoyed the characters breaking the fourth wall in books one and two, but here it feels superfluous and gimmicky. The ending, in my opinion, doesn’t come together (see another post for major spoilers – Athena Club 3). The trilogy is completed. I’m happy to have finished it, but I wouldn’t read a fourth.
I recommend the first book and wish its spirit had continued to the next two. The second book is worth a read only if you were thrilled with the first one. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend the third.