Steampunk? Check. Detectives? Check. Queen Victoria with cybernetic implants keeping her alive into the early 1900s? Check. A murderous villain trying to achieve immortality using an ancient Egyptian ritual? Check.

There is just no way George Mann’s The Osiris Ritual couldn’t be entertaining. It’s a fun quasi-Victorian penny dreadful with a dash of the supernatural and a good measure of steampunk. There’s plenty of action, mystery, some cliché tropes, and a good sense of adventure. If you don’t take it too seriously, it’s an enjoyable read.

Apparently The Osiris Ritual is a sequel to a prior Newbury & Hobbes book, The Affinity Bridge, which has zeppelins and zombies. A third book is also on the way.