Mission: Improper by Bec McMaster

Narrated by Sienna Frances

Note: There will be spoilers for the London Steampunk series in this review.

In Bec McMaster’s London Steampunk, an alternative (though recognizable) Victorian London was ruled by the ruthless, merciless Echelon, a group of aristocratic blue bloods (quasi-vampires) whom everyone else – humans, mechanoids, verwulfen – served. At the end of that series, a tenuous alliance of these groups (along with sympathetic blue bloods) joined together to overthrow the corrupt Echelon and its leaders (including the prince-consort), and installed the newly widowed Queen on the throne. Mission: Improper, which the author likens to James Bond meets Dracula, opens three years later and deals with the aftermath of events in the first series; humans, verwulfen, mechs and blue bloods are equal under the law, but a new, secretive group of disgruntled aristocratic blue bloods are unhappy with the new order.

Caleb Byrnes, an investigator for the Guild of Nighthawks (a security/law enforcement organization composed of rogue blue bloods and allied with the Queen) isn’t amused when he discovers a mysterious envelope lying on a pillow in his bedroom. The invitation is intriguing – who sent it, and why? – but it’s the lingering scent on the envelope that commands his attention. It smells like Ingrid Miller, a beautiful and talented verwulfen who bested him when they were partnered on an investigation a year earlier. Caleb can’t get her out of his thoughts, and despite his best efforts to find her after the investigation ended, she vanished without a trace. Until now.

Arriving for the meeting, Caleb learns he’s been summoned by the Duke of Malloryn, one of the Queen’s confidants and a member of the Ruling Council of Dukes. Ingrid is also present, along with three other blue bloods, and a mech. Malloryn informs them he’s putting together a new, elite team to investigate recent riots and mass disappearances in London. His Company of Rogues (CoR), as they eventually call themselves, will be tasked with uncovering the identity of the mastermind behind the disappearances and chaos, and stopping him/her. He partners his two best hunters to spearhead the investigation, Caleb and Ingrid, despite the obvious tension between them.

When Ingrid Miller was partnered with Caleb Byrnes a year ago, he proved to be a talented investigator but a terrible partner – prone to leaving her behind and pursuing leads on his own. (Also, extremely sexy.) When she confronted him about his behavior, an arrogant, unapologetic Caleb bet Ingrid he could solve the case on his own, and intimated he wanted sex with Ingrid as his prize. Ingrid accepted the challenge, never doubting she could win it or put her overconfident partner in his place. She claimed her prize – tying a naked and aroused Caleb to his bed and then disappearing – knowing he would be furious. But she didn’t have time for regrets. Instead she set out to find her birth family.

Kidnapped from Scandinavia as a young girl/verwulfen, Ingrid was caged and abused by her evil blue blood captor, Lord Balfour. She’s spent the last few years chasing down leads, hoping to find any trace of her parents, despite her fading memories and knowledge she’s just one of many verwulfen children stolen from their homes. The opportunity with CoR will finance further investigations and allow her to apologize to Caleb. Despite her doubts about his ability to work successfully with her as a team, she can’t help but admire him – or ignore the frisson of attraction she feels whenever he’s around.

Mission: Improper benefits from the groundwork laid in London Steampunk, and McMaster quickly introduces the CoR and their purpose, setting the suspense narrative in motion. Before long, Caleb and Ingrid are following clues and chasing down members of the Rising Sons, a shadowy organization of former Echelon members determined to stir up anarchy and bring down the Queen. Meanwhile, there are also vampires and dhampir – faster, stronger, and more lethal blue bloods somehow linked to the Rising Sons – terrorizing London, and the possibility is raised that an evil mastermind is linked to both groups. It’s a lot! Mission: Improper is thrilling and exciting, and McMaster does a marvelous job teasing out the different ways the CoR members – especially Malloryn – are tied to the overarching plot. I was invested in the story and the characters, and the promise of bigger revelations about our heroes and villains in future novels. Unfortunately, because the suspense plot is such a BIG part of this story, the romance suffers.

McMaster writes compelling characters and pairings, and this one (and this pair) are no different. Caleb and Ingrid are both well-realized characters with intriguing family dynamics, challenging backstories, and horrifying childhood trauma. It makes sense that they’re drawn to each other; a bastard who watched his blue blood father mercilessly abuse his mother until she no longer knew herself or him, Caleb prefers to work and live alone, remaining at a remove from those around him. Ingrid craves companionship – from friends, her found family, and Caleb. They are the ying to each other’s yang and perfectly fit the other’s missing pieces, and it soon becomes clear to both of them that resistance is futile. Mission: Improper details the biggest struggle to their union (aside from the villains trying to kill them both): trust. Caleb has never trusted anyone enough to let them into his life, and Ingrid is afraid to trust Caleb not to break her heart. The case – and its inherent dangers – both builds their trust in each other and tests it. Theirs is a sexy, passionate partnership, and the author vividly brings to life these two opposites attract characters. I loved this romance and this first partnership of the series; I just wish there was more of the love story in this book.

Sienna Frances is a new to me narrator, and while her voice appealed to me from the get-go – and seemed well-suited to the material (although I am no expert at regional British accents), I worried she wouldn’t be able to pull off the variety of male characters in this story. She surprised me! I very much liked her performance of this large cast of characters, including the CoR, friends and family associated with Ingrid and Caleb, and the villains (there are lots!), and she does a wonderful job interpreting the different facets of the relationship between Ingrid and Caleb. Adversarial, teasing, passionate, friendly, and eventually loving, Caleb and Ingrid go the distance in Mission: Improper. Ms. Frances takes each interaction in stride, and her narration captures all the different nuances and tones inherent in these different experiences and emotions. I particularly enjoyed her portrayal of the female villain in this story and her narration eerily captures the crazy/lucid, gleefully bad personae of this evil character.

Mission: Improper is a compelling start to the series, but the romance is sometimes sidelined in favor of the suspense elements. Sienna Frances is well-matched to the material, and I look forward to listening to her narrate the remaining books in the series. Recommended.

Em

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