The final volume (#3)of The Baskerville Affair series, A Study in Ashes, opens about a year after the events of the previous volume A Study in Darkness. Volume 2 was awful. It was almost entirely angsty romance with slight paranormal and steampunk colorings. Blech. I hate it when a story sets me up with expecting adventure or mystery, but turns out to be a romance in the end. This even ruins the expanded roles for Sherlock and Mycroft, and explanation for Jack the Ripper. Jack the Ripper involved Magnus tying a twisted soul to a robot/doll named Seraphina that grew a mind of her own and had enough of a grudge to pull Imogen’s soul out of her body. Sherlock ends up being almost as emotional as Evelina, which does not suit the original character at all.
Anyways, the conclusion of the story has some redemptive moments. Evelina starts out in college just like she always wanted, but struggles against constraints of gender and society. While the problems she faces are real, Evelina comes off as bratty and unsympathetic. The best part about this section is how another Holmes staple is introduced, Professor Moriarty. He and Evelina have an uneasy understanding to help each other out, since he knows she has magic, and she knows he works for the Steam Council. She is still forced to serve the Gold King, and gets sent out on a mission, which of course Holmes et al use as a cover to help her escape, which then becomes a problem when Magnus reappears and kidnaps her. Magnus starts teaching her black magic, and Evelina finds out eventually that he is actually forcing her to become a tool for him to achieve immortality. This does not turn out well for Magnus, as Evelina turns out to be really good at literally sucking the life out of people (a talent she again makes use of in the final fight).
Tobias still works for Keating and now has a son with his wife Alice. Nicholas comes back from apparently being dead to work in the resistance against the Steam Council. Imogen spends most of the story stuck in a clock, fighting against the soul of her dead(?) evil twin, Anna. Somehow, she can reach her friends in their dreams and communicate. Bucky even manages to give her a weapon, but since this all happens in a dream, I don’t understand how the weapon stays with Imogen after the connection between her and Bucky breaks.
The strengths of this volume come from two characters who have gotten minimal attention in previous volumes: the Schoolmaster and Poppy (Imogen and Tobias’ youngest sister), and also the appearance of the Black Kingdom. Poppy has been described as socially awkward and bookish in previous volumes, but turns out to be plucky and resourceful in helping Alice and Tobias search for their son Jeremy when Keating kidnaps him. The Schoolmaster is a key figure in the resistance against the Steam Council which is nicknamed the Baskerville conspiracy. This label is explained, and yes, a hound makes an appearance. When I say hound, I mean science experiment gone wrong that escapes but turns out to be not so bad.
The final battle against the Steam Council has some good moments to it, but with all the shifting perspectives it can be hard to keep track of timelines. Tobias grows up and finally takes a stand against the bad guys, but ends up getting poisoned just before he kills one of said villains. He doesn’t die right away. In fact, he participates in the final battle and trip into the Black Kingdom, whose master turns out to be an ancient dragon. The dragon agrees to let everyone else (Evelina, Nick, Alice, Jeremy, etc) go if he can eat Tobias (who is already dying). Evelina tries to stop this, which has some interesting consequences that I think are supposed to be tragic, but after so much melodrama elsewhere in the story, ends up feeling forced.
The ending was pretty predictable otherwise. Evelina and Nick get married (inevitable since volume 2), the rightful heir to the throne takes his place (this was a good bit), Imogen and Bucky get permission to marry (eye roll inducing but still aww), and all villains are dead (no surprises here).