The Chess Queen Enigma: A Stoker & Holmes Novel

Gr 7 Up—A mere three weeks have passed since Evaline Stoker and Mina Holmes solved The Case of the Spiritglass Charade (Chronicle, 2014). When a letter revealing the location of missing royal chess piece is stolen, it is up to the plucky teens to find it before their lethal nemesis, the Ankh, does. The chess piece is the key to a royal chessboard, one that holds jewels and invaluable secrets. In the wrong hands, the secrets could turn deadly. The teens' forays are complicated by the fact that Princess Alix expects them to chaperone the demure Princess Lurelia of Betrovia, who is visiting Britain on a goodwill trip. As in the previous titles, the narrative alternates between the viewpoints of the distinctly different Evaline and Mina. The variations in their observations give insight into their characters and the time period. Evaline, for instance, cherishes her role as an undercover kick-arse vampire hunter. She loves her "Angel in the House" sister-in-law but chafes at that relative's efforts to see her courted and married off. Mina longs to satisfy her sleuthing instincts but worries about what society will think of her. Red herrings whiz back and forth like steam-powered bullets as the friends work their way through fancy dress balls, dusty museums, and creepy laboratories to solve the mystery.