The Watchmaker of Filigree Street

I put this on my TBR purely because I enjoyed the whimsy of the title. A perfectly serviceable read that built slowly-but-steadily but I feel like the author made me promises she didn't deliver on, details of which I have handily listed in point form in the following spoiler tags.

What was the point of Grace? As a foil for Thaniel to question his loyalty? He never doubted Mori for very long, no matter who questioned him.Why did she have to infodump about how ether worked if it didn't relate to any other part of the story in any way?Why did Matsumoto hate Mori? It was nice of Pulley to give Grace a friend/love interest but since she served so little purpose, he served even less.