The Strange Case of Finley Jayne is the delightful, engaging and slightly creepy prequel novella to The Girl in the Steel Corset. This short story, which reads like a standalone tale, introduces readers to Finley Jayne, the main character in the full-length novel.

In this story, which takes place just before the full-length novel begins, readers follow along with Finley as she takes a job as the companion to Phoebe, who is engaged to the much older, wealthy and slightly eccentric inventor, Lord Vincent. As her companion, Finley grows to care for and befriend Phoebe and begins to worry about Lord Vincent’s true intentions.

The Strange Case of Finley Jayne offers up a few surprises about the main character and takes a few twists and turns as readers learn about just what Lord Vincent is up to.

Author Kady Cross does a remarkable job in setting up this world filled with automatons and a wide assortment of steampunk inventions. Readers will get a feel for her characters and writing style, as she gradually reveals tidbits about Finley over the course of this story.

The writing is elegant and has a great flow, and the author casually but so cleverly manages to drop in each new piece of the puzzle about Finley, while still teasing readers for the soon-to-be-released novel.

This prequel novella is a great introduction to the author and The Girl in the Steel Corset and it is recommended to be read prior to reading the novel.

On a personal note:

I just loved this short story. This was my first taste of steampunk and I have to say I’m really intrigued and completely excited about starting The Girl in the Steel Corset. I can’t wait to know more about steampunk and delve deeper into Finley’s world.

I was completely surprised the first time the author mentioned one of the inventions, as I was so caught up in the story that I forgot that there even was this aspect to it.

And I absolutely loved that as time went on there were these casual mentions about Finley’s unique attributes that really made me wonder what more there is to know.

All I can say about Lord Vincent is, “Ew, creepy!”

I hope to see more about a certain character only briefly talked about, and although I’m sure things won’t get easier for Finley, I hope things end up okay in the end.

I really got to like Finley over the course of this short story. She has a practical but caring nature and has both a good side and a bad side which appear depending on the situation. She is definitely a heroine I really want to know more about over the course of this new series.