Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Vampire Menace

Wojtas’s excellent sequel to 2018’s Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Golden Samovar continues the time-traveling adventures of middle-aged Edinburgh librarian Shona McMonagle, a proud graduate of the Marcia Blaine School for Girls, where she received “the finest education in the world.” Indeed, she speaks a great many languages fluently, is a whiz at history and advanced mathematics, and her “martial arts skills are second to none.” All these accomplishments come into play when she’s spirited back to 1900 and the French Alpine village of Sans-Soleil on a mission for the remarkable Marcia Blaine, the school’s namesake. What that mission might be, though, is uncertain, as Miss Blaine failed to provide written instructions. Shona suspects that it may have something to do with the villagers who have recently gone missing and are believed to have been “torn to death by wild animals,” and perhaps also with the mysterious Scottish milord who lives in a nearby castle. The zany plot is a whirling dervish of unexpected events, all narrated with aplomb and wry wit by the erudite and intrepid librarian, who often hilariously misconstrues the clues she ferrets out. Readers will have a rollicking good time. (June)