The Aylesford Skull brings us another steampunky adventure in the life of Langdon St. Ives and his archnemesis Professor Ignacio Narbondo. This time, it's personal.

This is the first novel-length St. Ives story in 20-some years, but provides plenty of the same rip-roaringly implausible quasi-Victorian adventure. Nevertheless, it's certainly not my favorite of them. Arthur Conan Doyle shows up as a minor character for the purpose of... being Arthur Conan Doyle, I suppose. And the ending was not as carefully constructed as most of the solid material leading us there, which leaves the reader (me, at least) on a low note.