The Maccons and the lives of their pack are thrown into turmoil preparing for the birth, but an even more pressing matter intrudes - a ghost, near-poltergeist state, who arrives with the news that there is a plot afoot to assassinate the queen. It is commonly held that Alexia will give birth to a soul-stealer/skin-stalker - one who can absorb and discard supernatural abilities at will. With the birth of her child a month away and the impact of a human, albeit preternatural, mother and an immortal werewolf father still uncertain, Alexia learns that in order to guarantee her child's safety she must do the unthinkable and give them up for adoption before they are even born. While the series' preceding volume, Blameless, faltered a bit due to Alexia's lengthy separation from Conall, with the Maccons reconciled Heartless is a fine return to form for Carriger's delightfully quirky realization of Victorian London and its supernatural (and soulless) denizens. Roughly six months have passed since Alexia's 'disagreement' with her husband, Conall, over their forthcoming child's paternity saw her decamp to the continent, encounter dangerous Templars hoping to control her preternatural ability, and comes ever-closer to understanding her past and what the future holds for the impossible child she carries within her. Will Alexia manage to determine who is trying to kill Queen Victoria before it is too late? Is it the vampires again or is there a traitor lurking about in wolf's clothing? And what, exactly, has taken up residence in Lord Akeldama's second best closet? Top that off with a sister who has joined the suffragette movement (shocking!), Madame Lefoux's latest mechanical invention, and a plague of zombie porcupines and Alexia barely has time to remember she happens to be eight months pregnant. When a mad ghost threatens the queen, Alexia is on the case, following a trail that leads her deep into her husband's past.

Lady Alexia Maccon, soulless, is at it again, only this time the trouble is not her fault.

Heartless carriger novel