Etiquette & Espionage/Gail Carriger/307 pgs./December challenge--Turtle Doves

Gail Carringer starts the "Finishing School" series with this title. Sophronia Temminnick, the fourteen year-old daughter of a middle class Victorian family, is being sent to Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality. What Sophronia's mother doesn't realize is that in addition to learning the ways of acting like a lady, Sophronia will also learn the art of espionage and assassination! Their brother school is the "School of Evil Geniuses" which should tell the reader something! There is humor, vampires, werewolves, dirigibles--and action. I really enjoyed the strong female characters, and highly recommend this book!