A while back, I came across this video from Brit publisher Gollancz featuring a handful of their male and female authors duking it out, so to speak. And since I'm a book junkie, you know I'm always on the lookout for new, or new to me authors. Suzanne McLeod went on my wish list and was subsequently published here in the US, A Sweet Scent of Blood, first in the Spellcrackers series, was released here in April of last year and book two, The Cold Kiss of Death, was released just last month. Book three, The Bitter Seed of Magic, appears to be slated for release in December. Last Friday, I wrapped up reading the first in this series. I have to say, I love McLeod's originality. It's vamps and fae and witches and trolls and other beings hanging out and living among us (in the UK).
Genevieve Taylor is a sidhe with a secret, she's also half vamp. But it's her heritage and her family secret that she's been trying to hide all this time. When the vamps come to Spellcrackers with a special request, Genny is assigned the case. It seems a local celebrity vamp has been accused of killing his girlfriend. That alone is not enough for Spellcrackers to step in, nevermind the fact that the witches and the vamps hate each other! No, the vamps suspect that magic is behind the killing and they want Genny to sniff out the spell, even though the local cops say no evidence of magic can be found. And this is when Genny really gets herself in trouble, aggravating local authorities, vamps, and the other "others" around her and landing her in a heap of trouble.
I have to admit I felt a little lost throughout this book. I kind of felt like I'd jumped into the middle of a series rather than the first installment. There's so much backstory, and so much that is obviously left to be revealed throughout the series, but I felt like I was missing something.
Book two is in the tbr and I hope that some of my own confusion is cleared away. I've read other reviews that are totally positive, so I'm guessing that it's my own personal mindset at the time of reading that's affecting me. All in all, though, setting, characters, and mythology are all stand out and different, which is a big plus.
A mixed review on my part, with a nod to the fact that it's probably just me.
2 comments:
Good to here this series is good. I have these books on my wish list
This series gets put on the WWBL, then removed, then back on. It is currently on. I will read the first in the series one day.
I've read a few first in series books like that. If I didn't check fantasticfiction and make sure that it was indeed the first in series, I'd have sworn it was somewhere in the middle.
Makes me a little nuts, but willing to keep going if the book is good.
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