The detective team of John Sinister and the mechanical cat, Dexter, are back in a new mystery.

While John is still trying to find someone to deal with the day-to-day operations of Chaud Mechanicals after Dexter inherits the company, they are hired by the Airship Courier Guild to discover who is leaking information about airships and their cargo to airship pirates. Wanting to keep Dexter’s ability to talk a secret, John asks Agnes to accompany him. They hire on as crew to the courier airship, The DragonFly, and quickly realize they are caught in a complex world of familial and personal relationships that are veering out of control.

Solid and well-written, I was glad to see Agnes back, as I loved her character in the first novel. The main characters continue to be charming and silly, but not stupid, which is an important distinction. The descriptions of the Lake District are gorgeous, and I can’t wait to visit. Using its stunning and dramatic scenery, the author has terrific action scenes as airship couriers and pirates battle it out. I love that once again Mr. Dickinson keeps his focus on the characters and not the gadgets. My only quibbles have to do with the formatting, which might be due to this being an ARC. In several places, there was an abrupt change of scene and POV that confused me a bit. Also, it was unclear as to the ages of a number of the characters and their relationship. At one point, someone was referred to as the father of a character, then later referred to as an older brother who was supposed to have retired. This also could be because it was an ARC, and the author planned another pass.

All in all, it was a delightful and incredibly fun book. I loved the characters and seeing John and Dexter work together. The ending is also cute and gives a nod to a certain character from a famous movie that I don’t want to give away. But (SPOILER ALERT) the real question is: Os Agnes going back to Hammersmyth?

Creative Team: Keith W. Dickinson (writer)
Publisher: Hammersmyth Press
Click here to purchase.

The reviewer was given an ARC of this book for an honest review.