Sausages, Steam, And The Bad Thing

Sausages, Steam, And The Bad Thing: A Penny Dreadful Review

            The queen of intriguing titles has done it again. Rachael Acks, author of the delightful Marta Ramos mysteries, released a collected compendium of her novellas with Musa Publishing. But Miss Merriweather, you say, I already have all her books. Why should I buy them again? For the extras, my readers, the extras. This is so much more than a simple collection.

            Sausages, Steam, and the Bad Thing features bonus material to accompany each of the novellas, in addition to brand new stories. Fans will get an exclusive look into the world of Captain Ramos and Colonel Douglas through newspaper clippings, recipes, and more. Much of the bonus material focuses on secondary characters and What Happened Next after Captain Ramos waltzed out of their lives, mysteries solved. I especially adore the brief interlude from the point of view of Chippy the Exceedingly Tiny Dog entitled “Sniff, Sniff. Adventure!”

            A new story, “The Jade Tiger,” involves a daring train robbery and the liberation of a young girl. It offers a quick glimpse into Captain Ramos’s past, a subject on which she is all but mute. It also introduces us to a new character, the fierce, clever mother Madam Xing, who I hope we will see again.

            I give this compilation five gears out of five, and highly recommend it to any fan of intrigue and swashbuckling. I am madly in love with Captain Ramos and her strange world, and I delight in her quirky adventures.

Your Correspondent From The Bookstore,

Penny J. Merriweather

Do Shut Up Mr. Simms

Do Shut Up Mister Simms: A Penny Dreadful Review

            In this delightful novella by Rachael Acks, Mister Simms, long relegated to the position of Adventure Assistant and Dog Walker, has an adventure of his own while the captain is away.

            An innocent shopping trip goes terribly awry when one of the pirate crew is nicked by security forces. If only Lucius had the patience to wait whilst the others perused teapots! Instead, Meriwether Octavian Simms, on strict instructions to avoid any “silly” courses of action, must accept help from the devious Deliah Nimowitz to break his crewman out of gaol. It goes about as well as he expects, and the price he must pay is embarrassing in the extreme. It involves dancing.

            It is marvelous to see a story from the point of view of Captain Marta Ramos’s long-suffering sidekick, and it is just the sort of lighthearted fun the series needs after the exceedingly bloody Blood In Elk Creek. It gives a detailed look into the psyches of a couple rather important secondary characters.

            I give Do Shut Up Mister Simms four gears out of five. It is a delightful addition to this series of adventures.

Your Correspondent From The Bookstore,

Penny J. Merriweather

The Ugly Tin Orrery

The Ugly Tin Orrery: A Penny Dreadful Review

            Even the railways are not safe from pirates in The Ugly Tin Orrery, another delightful novella about the pirate Marta Ramos. I enjoyed this almost as much as the other works I’ve read by the brilliant author Rachael Acks.

            The first thing that struck me about this novella was the Diabola – truly the Engine that Could. It is a delightful mechanism which allows pirates to travel from one rail line to a nearby rail line with the assistance of pistons, steam, and very precise math. It is an ingenious device, really, and I do enjoy that Rachael Acks thought to equip her pirates with it.

            As usual, Captain Ramos and her man Simms wind up investigating a murder, but this time it ends up being a much larger conspiracy than simple revenge or money. No, this murder leads them to treachery and espionage at the highest levels of this world’s government.

            Rachael Acks paints this adventure with deft strokes. She wastes no words, but I feel the Captain’s final decision was a bit too pat and conveniently made. A few more words here would not have been amiss. I would have liked to see a bit more fallout from the death of a character I rather liked as well, but on the whole this is a great little adventure.

            The plot is quite thrilling, describing a dashing robbery, a violent bar brawl, and a cheeky prison break. It is a week in the life of the daring, enchanting – and possibly mad – Captain Marta Ramos. I think I will never tire of reading these adventures. Captain Ramos may be one of the most delightful characters ever penned.

            I give The Ugly Tin Orrery four gears out of five. It is an excellent read in a series of excellent reads from Musa Publishing.

Your Correspondent From The Bookstore,

Penny J. Merriweather

Blood In Elk Creek

Blood In Elk Creek: A Penny Dreadful Review

Danger! Aeroplanes! Zombies! Indians! In another adventure novella from Rachael Acks, Captain Marta Ramos and her nemesis Colonel Geoff Douglas are thrown together in the investigation of mysterious military manoevers and a plot that is larger than their rivalry. Witness Blood In Elk Creek, an exciting and frightening installment of the adventures of Captain Ramos.
The Infected, the zombies that for so many stories have lurked on the outskirts of this world, take center stage as the action moves from the civilized Grand Duchies to the wild lands of the Dead Plains, where zombies roam. But the Dead Plains don’t just belong to the undead, they belong to the native tribes that live there. Yes, thanks to zombies, the Native Americans still inhabit their traditional lands… for now.
This is an exciting and well-written adventure. Dark in places, amusing in others, it is an action-packed read and you will cling to every word of it. My favorite part of this harrowing tale is that we get to learn of one of Captain Ramos’s weaknesses: horses. She’s useless with the animals. With every adventure, the characters grow more rounded and fascinating, and I just love it.
I give Blood In Elk Creek four and a half gears out of five. I adore this series. I look forward to the next adventure with ever-increasing eagerness.


Your Correspondent From The Bookstore,
Penny J. Merriweather