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hbdee 's review for:
Magic Outside the Box
by Honor Raconteur
A beloved retired royal mage is mysteriously murdered in what is called a locked room mystery, as the investigating trio led by Earthling Jamie Edwards, with her partner Detective Magical Examiner Henri Davenforth and Royal Mage Sherrod Seaton, is once again assigned to the case, this time by Kingston's queen herself. They are baffled as to how the murderer skipped past the magical wards, or how a bullet killed without ever having been fired from any conventional weapon.
In this third in the series of eight novels, the author's ingenuity begins to flag. This novel is short but still manages to seem too long.
Once again, the text is riddled with split infinitives--"struggling to NOT grimace," "when I’ve got something to ACTUALLY report,” and "probably in an effort to NOT dig at old wounds" appear within five scant pages. The use of split infinitives is fine when and if a point is being distinctly made; its use designed to attract special attention. Unfortunately, I think Raconteur must believe they're required!
Again, humor is the author's bread and butter. Examples: "“How are you doing fifty?!” Jamie called back without turning her head, “Ellie and I worked on the engine! This is a souped-up version!” Heavens preserve us, both women were going to get me killed with their tinkering. “Just because you CAN go that fast doesn’t mean you should!” “Look, Henri, I paid for the whole speedometer, so I’m going to use the whole speedometer.” "Even Sherard sounded heartened by this. (Hard to see his face with a cat still on his neck.)" "‘All due respect’ was a wonderful expression because it didn’t specify how much respect was actually due. Could be none."
Maybe I'm just saturated, think I'll take a break. Next up, Ice Planet Barbarians!
In this third in the series of eight novels, the author's ingenuity begins to flag. This novel is short but still manages to seem too long.
Once again, the text is riddled with split infinitives--"struggling to NOT grimace," "when I’ve got something to ACTUALLY report,” and "probably in an effort to NOT dig at old wounds" appear within five scant pages. The use of split infinitives is fine when and if a point is being distinctly made; its use designed to attract special attention. Unfortunately, I think Raconteur must believe they're required!
Again, humor is the author's bread and butter. Examples: "“How are you doing fifty?!” Jamie called back without turning her head, “Ellie and I worked on the engine! This is a souped-up version!” Heavens preserve us, both women were going to get me killed with their tinkering. “Just because you CAN go that fast doesn’t mean you should!” “Look, Henri, I paid for the whole speedometer, so I’m going to use the whole speedometer.” "Even Sherard sounded heartened by this. (Hard to see his face with a cat still on his neck.)" "‘All due respect’ was a wonderful expression because it didn’t specify how much respect was actually due. Could be none."
Maybe I'm just saturated, think I'll take a break. Next up, Ice Planet Barbarians!