An Unkindness of Magicians

Finished August 15

An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard

I really enjoyed Kat Howard's Roses and Rot, and was eager to read this one. The opening scene of a magician performing an impressive bit of magic sets the scene and we gradually learn of the circumstances of this performance and the magician community that lives and operates in New York City. They call it the Unseen World and try to be as invisible as possible to the regular citizens of the city. 

The magician at the beginning is a woman named Sydney, and she has great powers, has come from a dark part of their world, and has strong feelings about the system that put her in the life she has lived until now. 

Sydney's story is gradually revealed, as are the stories of other magicians that she comes into contact with. For a few decades a system has been in place of pooling magic, but it has required sacrifices from all of the families part of the Unseen World and the dark nature of this has influenced many of them. Each House has its family, and the House itself has a consciousness and a power. Every once in a while there is a Turning where a House has made a challenge to take the place at the head of the community. One has been announced, and Sydney has answered an ad to be a champion for one of the Houses. In her case it is a new House, from a magician who has come from outside the Unseen World, but has been around for a few years. As the challenges escalate from proofs of magical ability to fights to the death, Sydney puts in place her own secret plan, one that will change the Unseen World completely. 

Sydney is a very interesting character, as is Laurent, the magician she becomes contracted to. The other champions have secrets, as do many of the heads of the Houses. Some of these are more evil than others, but all have consequences. 

I like the world that Howard has created here, and the depth of many of the key characters, which are complex and interesting. I'd love to see more of this world, but also of any others that she creates. 

Smoke and Mirrors

Finished April 12

Smoke and Mirrors by Elly Griffiths

This is the second book in the series featuring magician Max Mephisto and police detective Edgar Stephens. This book is set in 1951 in Brighton. It is in November that the book begins, and Max is in a pantomime at the local theatre. Two tween-age children go missing from a local neighbourhood, and Edgar is involved in the search. But soon a winter storm moves in and the snow makes the search more difficult. When the bodies of the children are discovered a few days later, they are found under the snow with pieces of candy leading to them like a trail. 

It makes Edgar and his team Emma and Bob think of Hansel and Gretel, and when it turns out that the two were putting on a play using younger children as actors that is reminiscent of the fairy tale, they start looking at the adults who were mentors to them.

There are also echoes from a decades earlier child murder at a pantomime, and some of the people in the Brighton area may be connected to that earlier event. 

Max's newly discovered daughter Ruby is in a production nearby, and she appears here in a peripheral way, and we see the beginning of her relationship with Edgar.

Edgar takes his job very seriously and works on the case tirelessly, foregoing sleep and sustenance, so you get a real sense of his empathy and commitment. 

I had just read book number three in this series, so it was nice seeing more of the background of the characters here. Emma is interesting as she has taken an unusual job for a woman of her background, and she doesn't advertise her class when at work. Her parents don't necessarily approve of her career choice, but they do support her choices. 

The whole aspect of fairy tales and their history is interesting as well, and I really enjoyed this aspect of the work, seeing how surprised some of the adults were at what they learned, and what creativity the children had. 

The Blood Card

Finished April 10

The Blood Card by Elly Griffiths

This is the third book in the Magic Men series (also called Stephens and Mephisto), but the first one that I've read. The story is set in 1953, in the days leading up to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Edgar Stephens is a Brighton police detective, the head of the murder team there. Max Mephisto is a magician. Both men were on a team referred to as the Magic Men in World War II, where they used illusion to try to fool the enemy. 

Max discovered a few years previously that a liaison with a snake charmer back years ago has resulted in him having a daughter, Ruby, who is also looking for a career as a magician. Edgar is now dating her and hopes to marry her. 

Edgar has two police officers on his team, Emma Holmes and Bob Willis. They are both good in their own way, but Emma is very driven, feeling that she has to prove her worth. 

Both men are contacted by a man called General Petre who tells them that another man they worked with during the war has been murdered and getting them looking into his contacts and following up leads. It seems both to make sense and a bit strange, but the two men agree to assist. While Max follows up with other contacts in the theatre industry, Edgar goes off on a quick trip to the United States to meet a man there. It seems that there is a threat to disrupt the coronation and given that it is less than two weeks away, things move pretty quickly. 

When a fortune teller in Brighton is also found dead in a suspicious manner, Edgar wonders if there is a connection and Emma takes the case seriously, getting involved with the woman's family to investigate all possibilities. 

I really enjoyed the characters, both the two main male characters Edgar and Max, and the two women who have large roles in the plot here, Emma and Ruby. This is an interesting case, dating back to incidents in the war, and with danger on more than one front.