The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter

Today’s post is on The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss. It is 400 pages long and is published by Saga Press. It is the first in her The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club #1. The cover is dark green with different images like a pen a key, a woman with a gun and other things from the book itself. There is mild foul language, no sex, and mild violence in this book. The story is told from third person of the main characters. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book - Mary Jekyll, alone and penniless following her parents’ death, is curious about the secrets of her father’s mysterious past. One clue in particular hints that Edward Hyde, her father’s former friend and a murderer, may be nearby, and there is a reward for information leading to his capture…a reward that would solve all of her immediate financial woes.
But her hunt leads her to Hyde’s daughter, Diana, a feral child left to be raised by nuns. With the assistance of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, Mary continues her search for the elusive Hyde, and soon befriends more women, all of whom have been created through terrifying experimentation: Beatrice Rappaccini, Catherine Moreau, and Justine Frankenstein.
When their investigations lead them to the discovery of a secret society of immoral and power-crazed scientists, the horrors of their past return. Now it is up to the monsters to finally triumph over the monstrous.

Review – An interesting and inventive retelling of classic horror novels. We start with Mary Jekyll trying to discover what she is going to do to survive now that her mother is dead. As she goes through her mother’s things she discovers that her mother had a secret bankbook. Mary begins to investigate her mother and then her father’s past. We get to see lots of classic characters but see them in a very different light like Henry Jekyll, Sherlock Holmes, and others. The writing is good with one mild thing that just takes some getting used it, over the course of the chapters the narrative is interrupted with asides from the characters in real time. It can be jarring when first reading it but I got used to it as I read the novel. I really had fun with this novel, I liked the characters, the plot was interesting and fun, and the setting was good. If you are looking for an inventive retelling with classic stories and characters then you should give this novel a look.

I give this novel a Four of out Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I was given this book as a gift.