Trifles and Folly (A Deadly Curiosities
Collection), by Gail Z.
Martin, and Trifles and Folly 2 (SOL
Publishing)
“Trifles and Folly”
is the name of an antique store in Charleston, South Carolina, run by Cassidy
Kincaide, with a bit of help from Teague, her magically talented hacker and
weaver-witch assistant, and Sorren, vampire and silent business partner. But
it’s not an ordinary store, it’s a front for the collection, safeguarding, and
occasionally the destruction of magically dangerous objects.
In the early
stories, each featuring a different cursed or otherwise evilly charged object,
Cassidy is new to the business of keeping the world safe from ghouls, ghosts,
and wraiths. She’s just coming into her own as a psychometrist who can
experience the history of those who owned those objects, as well as forming a
network of allies, each with their own particular skill. My favorites were
“Father Anne,” an Episcopal priest skilled in exorcism, and “Bo,” the ghost of
Cassidy’s golden retriever, still fiercely loyal and protective.
As the stories unfold, Cassidy gains in skill
and experience. The bonus stories to the first volume feature Sorren in his
early life, a mere century into his vampiric existence, charged after the death
of his maker with continuing the work through the shop, Vanities, a precursor
to Trifles and Folly. I love that Sorren isn’t infallible, and that even his
vampiric strength can be overcome with sufficiently ancient and evil sorcery.
Like Cassidy, he finds allies, both human and supernatural. His shortcomings
and limitations give him add to him being a sympathetic character.
Although the entries
in the first volume are all short stories, those in the second include longer
novellas. The “Deadly Curiosities” novel series offers even more complex
delights for readers like me who find the characters and their challenges
enchanting in the best possible way.
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