A good set-up of the Asylum for the Mechanically Insane series. Miranda Fielding has gone to a dinner at Harbury Hall where she goes missing. Her sister, Portia, decides to investigate to discover what happened to Miranda by going undercover as a maid. She is hired and learns there are 7 floors of laboratories beneath the Hall. Experiments are going on there of which no one outside the Hall are aware. Portia has a nasty feeling about it all and she wants answers but all she gets in more questions in need of answers. I like Portia. She is curious and will not accept that her sister eloped. As she works as a maid in the laboratory she learns of the experiments occurring. She also learns there are prisoners kept there upon whom the experiments are done. She is outraged but knows that to find her sister she must not jeopardize her position or her life. If she can free the prisoners she will but one prisoner affects her more than the others. The story drew me in and I wanted answers as much as Portia. I liked that Miranda's disappearance is not being overlooked and that the authorities have sent Inspector James Burke of Scotland Yard in to discover what is happening at Harbury Hall. I enjoyed the interactions between Portia and Inspector Burke. Between the two of them, Miranda will not be forgotten. Lord and Lady Harbury are creepy as are the scientists. These kinds of things could actually happen. You MUST read this series in order. These books are not standalones. Each builds on the previous one. I am as curious as Portia and cannot wait to find out what is going on. |