A review by wealhtheow
A Broken Vessel by Kate Ross

4.0

Julian Kestral is such a dandy that his style is copied everywhere, but his true gift is in sleuthing. When his valet's sister stumbles upon a chilling letter, he takes the case. The mystery is twisty and dark, and solved through a combination of legwork, wit and courage. I love the dialog in these books, which is snappy but always feels natural. The relationships between characters are my favorite part. Dipper and his master, Kestral, live together in a wonderfully symbiotic way, and his sister's cocky, forthright addition to their dynamic is adorable to read. Rare among mystery series, the characters from the first book's mystery (Dr.MacGregor, Philipa) pop up again in this book, which makes everything feel more realistic. (After sharing such intense emotions and experiences, it seems unlikely that they would all fall out of touch, just in time for another mystery to pop up, as generally happens.)