#62 Iron & Blood by Gail Z. Martin, Larry Martin

The setting of New Pittsburgh makes use of the history of the Gilded age and mixes some steampunk elements along with some magic to set the stage for this new series.  Jake and Rick are friends and heirs to their fathers’ shipping company.  Most of the business is above boards but sometimes they retrieve items for their customers that need a delicate and discreet touch.   The book opens with one of these assignments ending in a hail of bullets and an airship battle on the way back to America.  Jake’s father has been murdered by magic and it quickly comes to light that the killer was looking for a shipment that has gone missing.

The rest of the story is fast paced and introduces lots of characters that have interesting back stories as well. The story does work in as it goes on how all the different players know one another and the authors also make use of many tidbits of interesting history to flesh out the story as well.

A good fun read and a nice start to a new series.

Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley