BOOK REVIEW: The Raven Spell by Luanne G Smith

 

Publication Date: February 1, 2022 Format: ebook Genre:  Historical Fantasy

Publisher: 47 North  Length: 267 pages Buy:  Kindle | Paperback

Synopsis

After a nearly fatal blow to the skull, traumatized private detective Ian Cameron is found dazed and confused on a muddy riverbank in Victorian London. Among his effects: a bloodstained business card bearing the name of a master wizard and a curious pocket watch that doesn’t seem to tell time. To retrieve his lost memories, Ian demands answers from Edwina and Mary Blackwood, sister witches with a murky past. But as their secret is slowly unveiled, a dangerous mystery emerges on the darkened streets of London.

To help piece together Ian’s lost time, he and Edwina embark on a journey that will take them from the river foreshore to an East End music hall, and on to a safe house for witches in need of sanctuary from angry mortals. The clues they find suggest a link between a series of gruesome murders, a missing person’s case, and a dreadful suspicion that threatens to tear apart the bonds of sisterhood. As the investigation deepens, could Ian and Edwina be the next to die?

Review: 

I found this book through Kindle Unlimited.  

I really enjoyed this historical fantasy.  The almost Jack the Ripper type mystery mixed with a detective with missing memories and magic makes this book even more entertaining.  It isn't a fast paced mystery but rather a slow burn with a hint at the end that we will see these characters again.  

Edwina and Mary are sisters with unusual gifts.  They are young and seem to have been abandoned by their parents but they get by selling curiosities of found objects.  Edwina can find most shiny things there are to find, they call to her and they are often found combing the beach in search of lost items they can sell.  This is where they stumble across a man who appears dead or at least on the verge of death. Mary uses her powers of being able to steal memories on the man before they realize that he isn't as close to death as they assumed.  Feeling bad they try to make right what they did but find themselves entangled in a mystery and even on the path of a killer.  

I haven't read anything by this author before but I will be picking up a few of her other books because this one was so good.  I loved the atmosphere, the mystery and the characters.  

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