Her Dark Curiosity by Megan Shepherd

I have been waiting for this book. It's a bummer that it did not come in to my library until this month.  I could have used it for my pick for the Monthly Key Word Challenge!

Juliet Moreau has made it back to London after leaving the island from the first book, The Madman's Daughter. She is taken in by a family friend. London is being terrorized by a murderer named The Wolf of Whitechapel. Juliet realizes that the victims are all people that have done her wrong. Who is this? She meets a suitor of her best friend, Lucy Radcliffe,  and is surprised.  It is Edward. Is his Beast killing these people? Lucy tells Juliet she was found some letters belonging to her father that implicate him in Juliet's father's nasty business. In case you don't know, Juliet's father is Dr. Moreau. The girls investigate Mr. Radcliffe's involvement with Dr. Moreau and find out something horrible. How will this story end?

From the author:

Months have passed since Juliet Moreau returned to civilization after escaping her father's island—and the secrets she left behind. Now, back in London once more, she is rebuilding the life she once knew and trying to forget Dr. Moreau’s horrific legacy—though someone, or something, hasn’t forgotten her.

As people close to Juliet fall victim one by one to a murderer who leaves a macabre calling card of three clawlike slashes, Juliet fears one of her father’s creations may have also escaped the island. She is determined to find the killer before Scotland Yard does, though it means awakening sides of herself she had thought long banished, and facing loves from her past she never expected to see again.

As Juliet strives to stop a killer while searching for a serum to cure her own worsening illness, she finds herself once more in the midst of a world of scandal and danger. Her heart torn in two, past bubbling to the surface, life threatened by an obsessive killer—Juliet will be lucky to escape alive.

With inspiration from Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, this is a tantalizing mystery about the hidden natures of those we love and how far we’ll go to save them from themselves.

Excerpt:

The masquerade was in full swing as Mr. Radcliffe led Lucy and me down the sprawling spiral staircase. The music swelled to meet us, bringing with it delicate notes of laughter and the smell of cinnamon and fir boughs. I stepped carefully, squinting through my mask's small eyeholes, trying not to step on my hem.

Halfway down the staircase, the full view of the ballroom swept out like a colorful sea. Masked couples in glittering gowns danced to the string quartet's waltz beside tiny glowing candles on the Christmas tree. The swarm of partygoers was so dense that my head spun.

Mr. Radcliffe turned to me, his unmasked eyes like to microscopes on my thoughts. At the base of the stairs he kissed Lucy on her cheek and gave me a gentlemanly nod. The moment I could take my fingers away from his, I grabbed Lucy's hand and dragged her into the chaos.

"Juliet, what will we do?" she hissed.

"Stay close to Inspector Newcastle. I know you don't care for him, but he's an officer, and you'll be safe with him."

She nodded, and we plunged into the deep of the partygoers. Couples swept together in their waltzes, separating us. I tried to ignore the vertigo creeping into my head and spun around, looking for Lucy, but all I saw were masks. My too-tight shoes slipped on the polished floor, and I had to catch myself against a window.

I heard footsteps behind me. I turned to find a tall man in a golden mask and instinctively stepped back, afraid my thoughts had manifested into reality.

"Hello, Miss Moreau," he said, stepping closer.

Pages: 422
Published: 2014