The Martian Ambassador by Alan K Baker

A Blackwood and Harrington mystery.

LONDON, 1899 It has been six years since the discovery of intelligent life on Mars, and relations between the two worlds are rapidly developing. Three-legged Martian omnibuses stride through the streets and across the landscape, while Queen Victoria has been returned to the vigour of youth by Martian rejuvenation drugs. Victorian computer technology is proceeding apace, thanks to the faeries who power the ‘cogitators’, while the first Æther zeppelins are nearing completion, with a British expedition to the Moon being planned for the following year.

Everything seems to be going swimmingly, until Lunan R’ondd, Martian Ambassador to the Court of Saint James’s, dies while attending a banquet at Buckingham Palace. The discovery of strange, microscopic larvae in his breathing apparatus leads Queen Victoria to suspect that he may have been the victim of a bizarre assassination.

If you love War of the Worlds, Sherlock Holmes, steampunk and sci-fi you will enjoy this read very much.

Paperback 2011 published by Snowbooks, 339 pages. Condition - brand new and unread but 1 or 2 tiny foxing spots.