The Upstream Writer: Reader's Review: "Ace of Clubs" by Patricia Loofbourrow

Synopsis from Amazon:
The one secret which could destroy everything ...
After financial disaster and the zeppelin bombing, the far future domed neo-Victorian city of Bridges is reeling. Three of the four Families are implicated, and an inquest is called to investigate.
But private eye and mobster's moll Jacqueline Spadros has had enough. While she and her former lover Joseph Kerr try to learn who killed their family friend, they also begin making plans to leave the city.
Her tormentors, however, are just getting started. As their web of lies and forgery draws ever tighter, Jacqui begins to see how deep the conspiracy against her and the Spadros Family really goes.

When she's called as a witness in the inquest, the secrets Jacqui has kept over the years come back to cause her serious trouble. Will she be able to escape Bridges? Or will she be forced to face the terrible consequences of her lies and trickery once and for all?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>

My Review:

It's one thing to write a story and include all of the pleasurable tropes that people come to expect from that sort of book.
It takes guts to look those tropes in the face and solemnly declare that you are Not That Kind Of Author and this story is Not That Sort Of Book. And mean it.
Loofbourrow means it. Look out, world!

I am deeply invested in this Red Dog Conspiracy--I, the person who tends to avoid a lot of political machinations and back-and-forth, who rolls my eyes at every "new inconsistency" and new person that comes forward with "damning evidence" to refute everything that was considered "proven" up to just ten seconds ago; I, the one who doesn't like a whole lot of strategy games, and prefers puzzles with a definite end-goal and pattern-finding and mazes... I'm enthralled by this "socio-political poker game" and the stakes have never been higher, and I'm still finding characters to root for and others to disparage. Loofbourrow piles on the twists, unlike most mystery dramas with a thick layer of romance "just for the spicy"--romance in the world of Bridges takes on a character distinction of its own, aiding some characters and destroying others. It's highly prevalent in the plot, but it's by no means the main thrust--Jacqui's in this to save lives and right wrongs, not just to "be with the man she loves."

The emotional connections are just effusing from every page; every line of dialogue strikes a relatable chord within us as readers. I'm three books (four, if you start with The Alcatraz Coup) deep into this mystery and I'm still guessing and being shocked at each new move. I'm not much of a chess player, or a poker player--and I'm playing with a master, watching the pieces move and inherently knowing deep down that the person on the other side of the board knows every single move in the entire game on instinct... while I have no clue what even my next move is going to be! The fact that the "Red Dog Conspiracy" might not actually have anything to do with the actual gang known as the Red Dogs, but someone acting in their name and using their mark as a misdirect... The fact that after everything that "hit the proverbial fan" in the last book is reaping consequence after consequence in this one, none of which I could have ever seen coming... and poor Jacqui, in her vast attempts at maintaining a network of secrecy and covering her tracks, and ensuring that no one involved could suspect in the least what she is truly up to... Ends up with everything crashing down around her in the most spectacular way possible, driving her to desperate deeds I would have never expected of her, and losing all those things she sought to preserve. I'm trying not to spoil too much, but just know that this series is epic and well-timed and masterful in all it's rich detail and complexity!

Loofbourrow and the Ace of Clubs delivers in every beat, on every level. I give it a full *****5 STAR***** rating, and add to it the Upstream Writer Certified DEFINITELY RECOMMENDED endorsement. For each smattering of answers and resolutions to a previous question, there are just heaps more mysteries and problems! I positively cannot wait to see where this series goes next!

Further Reading: (Also By This Author/Steampunk/Complex Plot/Strong Heroines)
The Red Dog Conspiracy--Patricia Loofbourrow
   -The Alcatraz Coup (prequel)
   -Jacq of Spades
   -Queen of Diamonds
The Chronicles of Lorrek--Kelly Blanchard
  -Someday I'll Be Redeemed
        -I Still Have A Soul
    -I'm Still Alive
        -Do You Trust Me?
        -You Left Me No Choice
        -They Must Be Stopped
-Sky Knight--Sandra Harvey
-AmsterDamned--Nils Visser
Dawn of Steam Trilogy--Jeffrey Cook
-First Light
      -Gods of The Sun
  -Rising Suns