Sir Maurice Newbury, investigator for the Crown and curator at the British Museum, is on the hunt for a ritualistic killer and answers in the thrilling sequel to The Affinity Bridge. Lord Winthorp’s corpse is found in the casket of a mummy he had just unveiled the night before to the Who’s Who of London society. Strangely, the mummy, when unwrapped was found to have been mummified alive, shown by the grotesque scream permanently preserved on his face. Why was Lord Winthrop murdered and why was the man from the past so vile that he was entombed like that?
On another hot trail is Sir Maurice’s assistant Veronica Hobbs. She is looking into the mystery of the disappearance of several women. Perhaps because of class differences and the fact that they are women, the crown and local constabulary don’t seem interested in their vanishings. Veronica will investigate them on her own if she has to.
Set in the foggy streets of 1902 London, The Osiris Ritual features something for everyone. Archeology, occult, murders, mystery and a wee touch of the emerging genre of steampunk with a few animated contraptions all converge into a well written book that I just couldn’t put down.
They called this steampunk, but I really felt that part of it was barely noticeable. After reading Android Karenina, I was ready for every aspect of London life to have changed like Russia had. I liked the lighter side of steampunk, it didn’t make me feel that I had stolen my little brother’s SciFy book.
One word of caution: Sir Maurice has an opium addiction. Besides being derivative of Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, I hate seeing any kind of drug use being heralded as a way to solve complex problems and mysteries. While it really adds little to the story, it bothered me and I just had to bring it up.
No matter, I liked The Osiris Ritual and now want to read the first one, The Affinity Bridge.
The Osiris Ritual by George Mann
· Hardcover: 336 pages
· Publisher: Tor Books (August 3, 2010)
· Language: English
· ISBN-10: 0765323214
· ISBN-13: 978-0765323217
