Ahoy there me mateys! I received this fantasy eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. So here be me honest musings . . .

This is me sixth work by the author but not me last. This is set in the author’s early 1900s alternate Cairo where magic has returned to the world and Egypt is a major world power. First there was a short 40 page story about Agent Fatma el-Sha’arawi, then a longer novella about Senior Agent Hamed al-Nasr, and now this full-length novel set in the same world. Fatma stars but previous characters make appearances too.

A murder investigation drives the plot. The dead include a rich Englishman and his secret society dedicated to al-Jahiz. I have to admit that I knew early on who the murderer was but not how it all went down. Finding out was lots of fun.

I continued to love Agent Fatma. She rocks. I also really enjoyed the addition of new agent Hadia. The djinn, in all their variations, continue to be the highlight for me. I love the steampunk feel of Cairo and the lovely twisting of the historical elements. The world building rocks and I loved more insight into the city and its denizens.

The flaw of this novel was that the plot is quite scattered and Fatma doesn’t exhibit the brilliant intellect I expected of her. In addition there were just too many elements and I felt that most of them didn’t get the attention they were warranted. That said, I had fun with this and could read many more stories set in this world in whatever format the author chooses to write them in and starring lots of different folk. Arrr!

Side note: I found out there is another short story set in this world. I must track it down!