This debut novel is a steampunk fantasy story set in Egypt in the early part of an alternate 20th century. It is a mystery story filled with magical beings and objects following the author's previous two short works which plays with some of the conventions of the genres with plenty of humor throughout. I started this audiobook last spring but had to take two passes at getting through the entire convoluted tale. It is written with verve and a real love of invention. The alternate mystical Cairo here is packed with detail and the characters have been imagined with sympathy for their memorable idiosyncrasies. The center of the tale is a murder investigation which spins out into wider conspiracies among many side characters both human and non-human. The entire world is threatened at the end, naturally.

I liked how an anti imperialist jab would show up now and then to make fun of the colonial pattern more conventional steampunk stories would tend towards, along with feminist and queer aspects woven in. The action scenes work fairly well even if you could see them coming in advance, cinematic style. I felt this book was deserving of the attention it gained when it came out a few years ago and am interested to see what other kinds of worlds this author will be building.