Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Flight of Magpies
SERIES: A Charm of Magpies #3
AUTHOR: KJ Charles
NARRATOR: Cornell Collins
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
LENGTH: 6 hours, 24 minutes
RELEASE DATE: January 26, 2018
BLURB:
Danger in the air. Lovers on the brink.
With the justiciary understaffed, a series of horrifying occult murders to be investigated, and a young student flying off the rails, magical law enforcer Stephen Day is under increasing stress. And the strain is starting to show in his relationship with his aristocratic lover, Lord Crane.
Crane chafes at the restrictions of England’s laws, and there’s a worrying development in the blood-and-sex bond he shares with Stephen. A development that makes a sensible man question if they should be together at all.
Then a devastating loss brings the people he most loves into bitter conflict. Old enemies, new enemies, and unexpected enemies are painting Stephen and Crane into a corner, and the pressure threatens to tear them apart…
REVIEW:
Three books in and I’m still loving everything about this series and these characters. If you’ve for some reason haven’t read or listened to this series yet I urge you to change that now. Go back to the beginning and embark on a great journey of magic, magpies and a beautiful love story.
Surprisingly, or perhaps inevitably, Flight of Magpies sees Crane and Stephen in conflict with each other. Crane misses his life he had in China, but he stays in London for the man he loves. A man he sees less and less of, due to Stephens’s increasing duties with the justiciary. There are choices coming for the two of them, and only time will tell where the coins will land.
This world is fascinating, I do love the impish tattoos moving on their own, not only on Cranes’ body but between the two as well. They add some comic relief to tense situations, brings some lightness to the story. But more than that, they too have a purpose, one I might not fully understand, yet I know they are integral to our couple. The cases Stephen was involved in drew me in; a rogue apprentice going on a stealing spree, and horrific murders of policemen. To add to the strain of it all, there were also some major conflicts within the justiciary.
I do think that this was the most intense book in the series so far, and that’s saying something. None of the books have been laid back or slow, but this had them beat on all counts. And I loved it for that. I loved every second, funny, horrible romantic and otherwise. I can only question my lack of reading or listening to this book sooner, because I for sure have been missing out.
Cornell Collins captures the essence of both characters and the era. He transports you back in time, to Victorian England and he makes you feel like you know Crane and Stephen. Feel the bond between them and how much they want to be together. He makes you hate the laws of the past, forcing them to hide, though to be fair I imagine Crane and Stephen hate them more. Cornell has made this book and this series a pure pleasure and I can only recommend them to any and everyone looking for a great listen.
This series might have ended with this book, or rather the short story following it, but luckily there are two more books set in this world. Two books that I aim to listen to as soon as humanly possible.
RATING: 
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