Bookworm alert! I just sped through The Mystery of the Missing Eyebrows, the first in A Steampunk Hero Detective – David Mcdonald Mystery Series by Stephen Rudd, and I have so many feelings. It is exactly as smart and creative as the title suggests, but also ten times weirder (in a great way!).

The Story

Our detective, David Mcdonald, is a self-help writer and part-time sleuth living in a bizarre version of contemporary England. When his friend Nick calls him after a house party where everyone—every single guest—has had their eyebrows secretly cut off while they slept, David scoffs. But by the time he gets there, a few of the guests are acting hugely strange, almost glitchy. The mystery isn’t just about the lost uni-brows, though. It spirals into secret weapons, modern cult connections, and a ‘black box’ that may control people’s memories. No one remembers anything, but something definitely happened.

Why You Should Read It

What got me was the voice. David types on an actual typewriter and has these super sarcastic, very human thoughts—he is utterly believable. And the writing absolutely shines when major creepy things happen quietly: a character hugging and not letting go, a total 80’s sci-fi vibe of “aw thank you, now I help erase you.” Much scarier for being smaller and more recognizable.

There’s a strong message about disinformation and how easily we accept normal, even about ourselves. He combines classic conmen (like our weird David Walsh) and aggressive gym-girl Enya with straight-faced madness, questioning what ‘exist’ even means possibly. Also loved the inside game reveal where kids solve side clues hidden on property maps—makes involved Rudd’s clever world-building, purposeful quirk.

Final Verdict

This book is excellent if you binge downloaded The Kraken Wakes and Python documentaries, but you aren’t prepared for straight an ancient gumshoe follow it in complete plain 21.” That sentence, like the book. I find.

Exactly one sure catch side of very non-magic detective with n…n-nah you have tiny-scream set later.

With gorgeous UK dark-humor attitude. Ideal for: Adventurous gentle readers looking for laugh-aspan-shriek indie curl toward pages to be

Perfect for fans of Douglas Adams’s Hitchhiker outer-slotted weird and of John Dies at the End episodes honestly original uneasy mental side-routes or small independent podcast-blends* for skipping whole
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