Review: Delightful, Delicious Daggerman
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 6, 2014
The Damsel and the Daggerman is the last novella in the Blud series. It is also probably the sexiest. The main characters tease and frustrate each other in a battle for dominance that builds to a steamy crescendo. Meanwhile, there's the Mystery of the Missing Assistant with a twisty little ending.Despite his dangerous reputation, all the girls in Criminy's Clockwork Caravan lust after knife thrower Marco Taresque. He shows no interest in anyone until widowed adventurer/journalist Jacinda Harville arrives to do a story on the Caravan. She's determined to get to the truth behind the rumors about his past. He agrees to answer her questions if she'll let him tie her up for target practice, but her plan to seduce the information out of him is quickly derailed by his masterful teasing. Eventually, he starts to open up both his past and his heart, but Jacinda knows he's holding something back. Even though I knew there was a "twist on a romance trope" at work here, I didn't guess his secret until the end. (But I did figure out what happened to his missing assistant.)The Damsel and the Daggerman is also a love letter to Criminy's Clockwork Caravan. Jacinda wanders the grounds, taking in the sights with her journalist's eye, finding the wonder in her surroundings and the story behind each of the performers. She interviews Torno, the strongman,"and realized she now saw him as the hero of his own story, one she hoped would have a happy ending that included the love he deserved and would cherish." I can't help but hear in that sentence Dawson's regret for all the stories left untold in the world of the Bludmen.Before we leave the Caravan behind for good, we get to check in with some of our favorite characters from the series. Criminy Stain steals a scene early on and Lady Leticia tells Jacinda's fortune. Imogen and Henry from The Mysterious Madame Morpho also make an appearance. We get to watch Lizard Boy lazing in the sun and see Demi struggling with the decision to leave the Caravan, which is the starting point for Wicked After Midnight, the final book in the series. I've always loved the way little things in the novellas connected to the main books in the Blud trilogy.  It's less subtle this time, but it's also bittersweet. I'm going to miss Criminy and his carnivalleros, but I plan to revisit them often.