Very much in the mode of the final novella in New Amsterdam, Seven for a Secret gets a bit more into the alternate history aspects of Bear's steampunk world and is tinged with quite a bit of melancholy. Seven for a Secret is more thriller than mystery, and even if there's nothing particularly unique about either Bear's vampires or her steampunk alternate history, it's all well done and the characters and their relationships are superb. They're wonderfully complex through the spare prose, and I hope to someday see more from them.