This just made me grind my cogs.

I was excited about the Holmes/Stoker generational introduction and pairing. A very cool idea. The steampunk slant also piqued my interest. However, this book just didn't hit the mark for me for several reasons:

Holmes as a super-sleuth, I get. There's sleuthing involved.
Stoker as a vampire-slayer, I don't get. She never slew anything and vampires are extinct.
Holmes and Stoker never jelled for me as partners, being always at odds by brains vs. beauty.

The story's premise pertains to female superiority (I think). The villain, thought to be a woman (we're not sure), was trying to resurrect an Egyptian goddess, to defeat male dominance and rule the world. Except in 1889 England, the period and place the story was set in, the land was already ruled by Queen Victoria, so...?
Also, why then would the villain be targeting and killing other women? The female villain recruited women as "chosen ones" making them compliant with drugs and seducing them with the promise that if they helped resurrect the goddess, they would finally be able to.... wait for it.... attract the man of their dreams. Umm, really? (My teeth-cogs are nubs now)
The way the book ended was so disappointing. It just stopped. There was no wrap-up, no conclusion, no cliff-hanger, it just ran out of steam. I guess when time-traveller Dylan's apple iPhone battery died, the story died too. It's like Gleason decided she was too bored to continue. Book 2 might have shed some light on what happens next, but its dust cover refers to a "new case"... so, I guess not?

Despite the story's shortcomings, Jane Entwistle is still one of my favourite narrators and does a wonderful job here and was the reason I bought this book in the first place. Sadly, even she couldn't save this book from my first ever 1-star review.

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