Superb third volume in this extraordinary series. Miranda and Peter are in the clutches of the increasingly depraved Baroness. Andromeda is free, but poisoned by radiation and drift in her trip;e identity, Political forces are in motion as German power in Roumania wanes, but what will take its place? Miranda, in captivity, but courted by the German ambassador, rejects her role as a Princess and struggles to understand the lessons and plans of her Aunt Aegypta. The Baroness plots murder and celebrates her twisted art which mirrors her profoundly perverse mentality. Peter is imprisoned in appalling conditions and the streets are filled with revolutionary fervour.

This is a dark, strange book, with our heroes sidelined or forced into inactivity as danger grows around them and the Baroness is at her pinnacle of power. Terrible things are loose in the world of Greater Roumania, war is brewing in the East and a suspiciously fascist power is on the rise. The Princess of Roumania notably fails to ascend to her rightful place and set everything to rights in fairy-tale fashion. Straight into the final volume to see how all of this is resolved.