[Arc Review] Nefertiti's Heart by A.W. Exley

 Nefertiti's HeartA.W. Exley
February 14th, 2013
Curiosity Quills Press
280 pages

Amazon/Book Depository/B&N

Cara Devon has always suffered curiosity and impetuousness, but tangling with a serial killer might cure that. Permanently. London, 1861. Impoverished noble Cara has a simple mission after the strange death of her father - sell off his damned collection of priceless artifacts. Her plan goes awry when aristocratic beauties start dying of broken hearts, an eight inch long brass key hammered through their chests. A killer hunts amongst the nobility, searching for a regal beauty and an ancient Egyptian relic rumored to hold the key to immortality. Her Majesty's Enforcers are in pursuit of the murderer and they see a connection between the gruesome deaths and Cara. So does she, somewhere in London her father hid Nefertiti's Heart, a fist sized diamond with strange mechanical workings. Adding further complication to her life, notorious crime lord, Viscount Nathaniel Lyons is relentless in his desire to lay his hands on Cara and the priceless artifact. If only she could figure out his motive. Self-preservation fuels Cara's search for the gem. In a society where everyone wears a mask to hide their true intent, she needs to figure out who to trust, before she makes a fatal mistake.

Steampunk is always refreshing to read. There is so much people can do with it if they want to. Most of the time it is very hit or miss. This one was well entrenched in the middle. It was neither here nor there.

There is so much packed into one book. There are murders to solve, murderer's to avoid, priceless artifacts to recover, a romance to bloom, society standards to shun, and odd jobs to accomplish. For the page count, it seemed like the book was jam packed with things to do every turn. In fact, what ever happened to that woman's wedding ring they were hired to find?

The heroine is broken, flighty. She trusts no one and distractingly slides down bannisters. Her love interest isn't the standard Prince Charming, but he woos her despite her lack of trust and her history of sexual abuse.

The mystery and the love story twine together nicely, culminate well. It's really the small loose ends that bothered me. With everything tied up in a nice, neat bow, having a loose thread is irksome.