A review by girvinia
The Conductors by Nicole Glover

4.0

A truly original and fascinating tale of magic practitioners solving a murder in 1870s Philadelphia. I loved the world-building and the two different magic systems. The characters are three-dimensional and I really appreciated that their relationships were complex, especially the different types of friendship. I especially loved Hetty, the main character: a bold, competent woman who knows what she wants but is shy in social situations, hiding behind the performance of storytelling. Who is loyal but prickly, who has hurt her friends but recognizes it and apologizes. Hetty is a masterpiece. And kudos for having gay and trans characters and making it absolutely no big deal to anyone. I loved that.

The mystery they need to solve has plenty of false leads and red herrings and lurking bad guys. The pace of how information is revealed to the characters - and the reader - felt a little choppy. It felt like Hetty or Benjy occasionally shrugged off some questions they should have followed up on, but the solution/”reveal” wasn’t hurt by this.

Looking forward to the author’s next books!

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.