Review – Flight of the Scarab (Elemental Web Tales, Book 7) by Anne Renwick (4/5 stars)
Reading Level:Adult
Genre: Steampunk
Length: 250 pages
Publisher: Anne Renwick
Release Date: April 9, 2024
ASIN: B0C6J7PF8H
Stand Alone or Series: 7th book in the Elemental Web Tales
Source: Bought ebook from Kindle
Rating: 4/5 stars
“When Julia Marston stumbles upon her estranged husband’s lifeless body in a cemetery at dawn, she trips and falls into a fairy ring of softly glowing mushrooms. In the eerie silence, a glinting clockwork scarab takes flight. Has her husband’s dark past as an antiquities smuggler finally caught up to him? Will it shatter her present?
Enter Graham Leyton, a man on a mission to retrieve stolen technology. Equally shocked at her husband’s death, he can’t help but ponder the possibility of a second chance with the woman he never stopped loving. But the crime scene presents a grim revelation. A once mutual friend, now consumed by his obsession with Julia, has reprogrammed the clockwork creature for a sinister purpose: murder.
As the race to capture the clockwork scarab unfolds, the past and present collide in a whirlwind of deceit and longing, hurtling toward a confrontation that will define their future.”
Series Info/Source: This is the 7th book in the Elemental Web Tales. I bought a copy of this book on ebook.
Thoughts: Strangely I read this right after reading Kelley Armstrong’s “Disturbing the Dead” which also deals with Egyptian mummies and mythology and is set in a Victorian-like period. Anyway, I enjoyed this book in the Elemental Web Tales. I always love the detailed dive into medical and technical aspects that Renwick includes in her stories.
This story alternates POV between Julia and Graham. The two have previously had a brief romantic history together, but Julia opted to marry an older man for the money to save her family from ruin. Julie studies mycology (study of mushrooms, fungus and yeast) and is trying to run her family’s pub, while also studying at University in an effort to develop new yeasts for her unique alcohol brews. Graham has been in Egypt studying archaeological sites but is secretly also working for the King as a spy. They get sucked together to work on a mystery when Julia’s husband turns up dead under mysterious circumstances and a clockwork creature is on the loose murdering people.
I enjoyed this book. It deals with some Egyptian mythology as well as having steampunk/clockwork elements. I liked learning about mycology and enjoyed the mystery here. I also enjoyed that Julia and Graham already have history together, which makes their romance more believable.
This was an entertaining read that I enjoyed. I struggle a bit to remember how this ties in to previous books. I know Graham’s superior, Black, has been in previous books but I can’t quite remember his story.
My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this and would recommend if you enjoy steampunk reads with a technical aspect, some romance, and a good mystery. I look forward to Renwick’s future books in this series and always enjoy them.
