The second book of the Parasol Protectorate Series finds Alexia, now Lady Maccon, happily married and settling into the routine of a wife to a man who is a Scots, a Lord, and a werewolf.

Naturally it isn’t long before things start happened to up end Alexia’s new life. After a secretive conversation with a ghost, her husband vanishes after a secretive conversation with a ghost, Ivy’s romantic life becomes disastrously complicated, a new inventor has arrived upon the scene, Madame Lefoux, who dresses in men’s clothing, has a mysterious connection to the dreaded Hypocras club, the cause of so much strife for Alexia,  and is French. While trying to untangle the mystery of LeFoux and her intentions, (friendly? scientific? gasp, romantic?)Alexia must also learn to deal not only with Conall’s current werewolf pack, but the barely civilized Scottish pack he abandoned years ago. Add in spies and an unknown force robbing werewolves of the wolf-form and you have a mystery suitable for a Lady.

It is said that in publishing there is a second book curse. It is common that the first published book from an author represents years of works and polishing, until every scene, every sentence shines with the writer’s best effort, while the second book, usually produced under contract with agents and editors hovering around like hungry specters, suffers from rushed writing and a lack of polish. This is not the case with Changeless.  Ms. Carriger has produced another novel that is tightly plotted, witty in its dialog, and sparking in its characters. She cracks open a bit of her world-building, revealing for us how this world is so familiar and yet so different from our own history. While whimsical is still the best word to describe her work, this has not prevented Ms. Carriger from allowing her characters a bit of pathos and growth, expanding without violating the characters introduced to us in Soulless

One aspect of the story that slipped past me, and is in all likelihood a function of my tendency to dash through books, is that the werewolves of this series are among the undead. This turns out to be vital in understanding what looks like simple thick-headedness on Alexia’s part. I kept mumbling to Alexia to put the clues together when it was I on the wrong path the entire time because of this simple fact eluding me.

For myself, the ending is a bit problematic, but I recognize this is primarily due my own intense dislike to cliff-hangers, though they seem to have become the norm in nearly all forms of entertainment.

All in all this was a very enjoyable read, and one that made me anxious for the next in the series.