What Ho, Automata

Dolley’s collection of Wodehousian steampunk is entertaining and often spot-on parody. In the early 1900s, committed bachelor Reggie Worcester, a man who firmly believes that eunuchs and orangutans are behind every kidnapping and that feeding fish to a robot makes it smarter, encounters automaton Reeves at his club. He immediately recognizes how useful Reeves’s brain can be—arguably the only smart thing the buffoon does—and they start to investigate mysteries involving suspicious pigs, disappearing debutantes, and time travel (featuring H.G. Wells). Meanwhile Worcester attempts to appease his nosy, matchmaking Aunt Bertha, until an encounter with the forward-thinking suffragette Emmeline Dreadnought helps him understand why some men might actually want to get married. Fans of Wodehouse will certainly appreciate Dolley’s witty pastiche, but the stories are best read one or two at a time; the jokes wear thin en masse. (Oct.)