Glamourist Histories: Without a Summer, Mary Robinette Kowal

Glamourist Histories, Book 3
Without A Summer
Mary Robinette Kowal
ISBN: 9780765334152
Family plotting and the eruption of a faraway volcano create a frigid summer in London for our wedded duo.

Jane and Vincent are back in London after their eventful honeymoon, and they are both carrying scars both physical and mental from the traumatic experiences.  They hope for a relaxing and tedious summer of working glamourie for the moneyed elite, with the recommendation of the Prince Regent backing them.  In addition, this is the perfect time to host Melody's debut Season in town, since all of the eligible batchelors in their neighborhood were unfortunately made ineligible by the end of the first book.

Their hopes are in vain.  The frigid summer sparks a wave of unrest from the long-suffering and short-lived magical cold-mongers.  These specialized glamourists work with the dangerous and life-sapping magic of heat-moving, and are often poor, uneducated, and young.  The summer's chill means they have no work for this year, and many could starve.  Jane and Vincent are hurtled into a growing threat of riot, and Vincent begins to worry that his estranged family may be at the heart of this nest of rot at the core of the city.  He wants to make things right, but he fears for himself and for Jane - his vicious family, especially his ambitious and prideful father, will stop at nothing to succeed.

We've moved well on from lighthearted by this book, but the inclusion of Melody (and her budding romance, and her personal discoveries - I love Melody's character) makes a largely bitter pill go much easier.  Jane and Vincent are a treasure as always, and his family is a hydra-beast of a monstrous social and reputation-damaging enemy.  USA readers are accustomed to the rights of free speech, and so the legal implications of Vincent's actions are a harsher shock than perhaps they would be for the English.  Regardless, the stark contrast makes more than one character much more clearly defined, for good or ill.

Finally, this is the book where I realized that there is always a Doctor in the scene - I went back and scanned through the first two more carefully, and was delighted to see that my suspicions were correct.  Check the scenes with the Doctors, and think about time-travel and blue police boxes.  It'll come to you!