3.5⭐️

This book is not what I expected. In a good way. I was expecting a run of the mill cozy mystery with a murder/crime taking place, our protagonists finding clues, finding a red herring and then finally cottoning on to the solution towards the end of the book. While the plot more or less follows that particular blueprint there is so much more that happens on the way to the solution of the mystery.

Though this story starts off with a car bomb, that particular mystery diverts Henri's and Jamie's attention to the problem of bad/forged charms that claim to keep out sickness. This is one of the few times that there is no sympathy for the victims. And that was refreshing to see.

I have always wondered how it would be to be transported back into the past or into the world of some of my favourite fantasy books. Jamie has done exactly that in a way and Honor has tackled this in as logical a way as you can with such a premise. Some of the difficulties she faces are smoothed over by magic, but not all of them. She has problems with conveying some ideas because of the differences in their worlds. But the best is Jamie bringing in the concepts of our world in to theirs like cell phones, cleansing solutions and so much more. Not all of the things are replicated exactly but modified to work there. I am so intrigued by where these ideas can be taken in the rest of the series. And the mysteries and interactions between the characters are depicted well too.

This book wasn't just a fantasy story with some mystery thrown in but was pretty emotional at the end. There were no clear perpetrator and victim in this.

I am quite looking forward to the next book.