Reviewed by Carissa

TITLE:  The Courtship of Julian St. Albans

SERIES:  Consulting Magic #1

AUTHOR:  Amy Crook

PUBLISHER:  Self-Published

LENGTH:  360 pages

BLURB:  

Alexander Benedict is a misanthropic thirtysomething magical consultant, working with the Agency’s top homicide detective, and perfectly content with his life, thank you very much.

Julian St. Albans is the youthful heir to his family’s fortune and affiancéd to his beloved Cecil Mandeville, a family friend as well as Julian’s lover.

When Mandeville is murdered using magical means, Alex is brought in on the case. It’s the worst day of Julian’s life, but until they meet, it’s just another case for Alex. Neither of them have any idea how their lives are about to change.

Alex has to disentangle the magical threads until he can catch the murderer, and to do that he has to put himself right in the thick of things. His long-denied family connections get him invited to participate in Julian’s Courtship as a Suitor, where he can observe the suspects firsthand. He just has to stay alive long enough to figure out which of the competition thinks Julian is a prize worth killing for.

REVIEW:  

The driving force for me getting this book when it first came out was, I admit, the fact that it was being offered for free. The cover was neat, in a minimalist kind of way, and the blurb sounded interesting…but I had never read this author before. I tend to be a bit wary of new things, and things that have been untested. And let’s just say that I have been bitten by one too many self-published works in the past to really trust that they are worth the gamble. But it was free….so why why not take the chance?

What I discovered upon reading, though, was a unique world, well crafted characters, and a read that was just too damn enjoyable to put my kindle down.

I love the world in which this book takes place. It is so like our own, but steeped in a magic so commonplace that it feels no different than the use of electricity. The courtship rituals displayed here are also incredibly interesting. When the man Julian loves dies he finds himself tied into a Courtship with a set of eligible bachelors of his society and class (Courtships can get ridiculously expensive for all parties concerned). Basically think of it as something like any of the Bachelor reality show programs–just, you know, with more class…and dead bodies.

Those dead bodies are where Alex comes in. He is basically a consulting detective to the police force. Because Cecil died under suspicious and magical circumstances, Alex agrees to work the case and go ‘undercover’ (though most people know what he is doing) as a participant in Julian’s courtship. It is a good thing Alex is the son of a well-to-do family, even if he is the black, magical, sheep. As the deaths start to pile up, and the mystery gets more and more murky and dangerous, Alex struggles to find the person responsible for it all. All the while finding himself falling for Julian St. Albans.

Even after several readings I still very much enjoy this story. The way the magic functions in this world is just great. And the characters are so much fun to read about. Especially the Temple Guardians.

My only real issue with this book is how much of the story seem to be devoted to food. The story seems to almost drag at times–a direct result of so much page time revolving around eating and/or talking about food. While I see that the food is part of the culture (especially tea, in this faux London location), I just wished it would have been more finely crafted and tuned. It flavors the story is a good way…but sometimes it is like using a handful of salt where only a pinch is needed.

I still highly recommend this book. It is a real pleasure to read, and it is not very often that I come across a world so fascinating and uniquely crafted.

RATING:  

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