Friday, February 14, 2020

Short Book Reviews: Deadly Secrets in a Newly Magical World




The Witchkin Murders (Magicfall, Book 1) by Diana Pharaoh Francis (BelleBooks)

Magic, long underground, has exploded from its confines, leaving the world and its human inhabitants transformed by Magicfall and the subsequent Magic Wars. Most of those transformed by magic – “witchkin,” including witches, dryads, and many even more mysterious creatures – are shunned by humans. When Portland, Oregon, police detective Kayla realized she was one such, she abruptly left the force rather than be discovered. But when she stumbles upon the ritualistic mass murder of witchkin, she calls her old partner, Ray, and gets dragged into the investigation. Someone is slaughtering these marginalized people with a bigger, darker, more horrendous goal. It’s up to Kayla and Ray to overcome their personal hurt, open their hearts, reveal their secrets, and work together to solve the mystery.

The mystery and the angst-ridden characters drew me right into the story, and the pacing kept me turning the pages. The book’s major flaw – for me, anyway, as for other readers it might be a feature, not a bug – was the Romance-style pacing of the unfolding relationship. I get impatient when lovers keep secrets to protect the other person, and especially when the estrangement and misunderstandings that should have been cleared up by a single honest conversation drag on for chapter after chapter. This romantic/erotic tension appeals to many readers, but I found it overly long drawn out in comparison to the fascinating world and its tantalizing mysteries.

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