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A review by whatyoutolkienabout
The Deadly Grimoire: An Arkham Horror Novel by Rosemary Jones
5.0
The Deadly Grimoire is a follow up to the wonderful Mask of Silver by Rosemary Jones. The tale itself is a stand-alone and while there are references to the previous novel you most definitely do not need to have read that work to understand The Deadly Grimoire. In my humble opinion you most definitely should because it is an amazing read.
We follow a barnstorming pilot (who honestly I love maybe a little too much!) and a daring actress who team up to save the world from supernatural disaster. Betsy Baxter is a plucky stunt-actor and star of the 1920s serial adventure, The Flapper Detective. While researching for a wing-walking scene, she meets the fearless Winifred Habbamock and discovers a shared background of eerier encounters and eldritch phenomena. Betsy has been investigating and trying to find leads on the disappearance of an old friend while they were filming the horror-struck The Mask of Silver. When she finds he has reappeared in Arkham, she and Winifred hit the road, or rather sky to investigate. Arkham is far from safe and full to the brim with danger and unsolved mysteries. Betsy needs to utilise her skills and allies, old and new, to prevent an otherworldly cataclysm from consuming her and all of Arkham.
Once again the authors and Aconyte team have perfected the use of tie-in fiction. Sometimes it’s difficult to transfer from one medium to another. Turning the lore of a game into a novel can face some problems – either you could follow the storyline of the games too closely that it becomes almost unnecessary or you stray too far and end up with some people less than happy. Although usually I would hope fans are just happy to have more ways to access something they love but digression aside this is not the case with Rosemary Jones’ stories. Or the whole Aconyte library to date.
Jones manages to capture the horror and mystery of the game and pairs this perfectly with a pulpy and rip-roaring 1920s setting. The horror and lead up of the tale have elements of Lovecraftian storytelling without the problematic racism and sexism. You are sure to find none of that in this book. I honestly adore the fact we have three strong female protagonists and even one morally grey strong female. It was wonderful to see, in some cases,the female taking care of and protecting the male protagonists and saving themselves and the day.
The story is told via Betsy Baxter’s point of view but this in no way undermines other characters. Sometimes first-person perspective can mean that side characters have less time to shine but this is not the case at all. Via our narrator we still get a wonderful insight into our other characters and while parts might be skewed slightly by Betsy’s view it is generally executed perfectly. The characters themselves are all fabulous and completely believable within the Arkham universe. Wini was an instant favourite, and I would happily read a book based solely on her adventures with or without the eldritch horrors and old gods. But, I also really want a Farnsworth spin off - then again, I dare anyone to say they don’t like sassy butlers!
All of the character are memorable and even the antagonists are well thought out and written. Honestly I don’t know how Jones’ fit so much action into this book but it has everything I ever wanted – daring stunts, flying, shoot outs, car cases, speakeasies, smuggling and eldritch horrors and not once did I find myself thinking this is too much. It was all perfect! The only downside is Wini isn't real!
A wonderful addition to the growing Arkham Horror line up, The Deadly Grimoire captures everything that is wonderful about the Arkham Horror games and sprinkles in high octane action, strong heroines and daring events. A must read for fans of the games, horror, pulp fiction and Lovecraftian eldritch horror.
The book is due to be released in ebook on March 1st 2022 with the paperbacks following on 15th March for the US and 9th June for the UK.
ROSEMARY JONES is an ardent collector of children’s books and a fan of talkies and silent movies. She is the author of three bestselling novels in Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms setting, numerous novellas, short stories, and collaborations.
We follow a barnstorming pilot (who honestly I love maybe a little too much!) and a daring actress who team up to save the world from supernatural disaster. Betsy Baxter is a plucky stunt-actor and star of the 1920s serial adventure, The Flapper Detective. While researching for a wing-walking scene, she meets the fearless Winifred Habbamock and discovers a shared background of eerier encounters and eldritch phenomena. Betsy has been investigating and trying to find leads on the disappearance of an old friend while they were filming the horror-struck The Mask of Silver. When she finds he has reappeared in Arkham, she and Winifred hit the road, or rather sky to investigate. Arkham is far from safe and full to the brim with danger and unsolved mysteries. Betsy needs to utilise her skills and allies, old and new, to prevent an otherworldly cataclysm from consuming her and all of Arkham.
Once again the authors and Aconyte team have perfected the use of tie-in fiction. Sometimes it’s difficult to transfer from one medium to another. Turning the lore of a game into a novel can face some problems – either you could follow the storyline of the games too closely that it becomes almost unnecessary or you stray too far and end up with some people less than happy. Although usually I would hope fans are just happy to have more ways to access something they love but digression aside this is not the case with Rosemary Jones’ stories. Or the whole Aconyte library to date.
Jones manages to capture the horror and mystery of the game and pairs this perfectly with a pulpy and rip-roaring 1920s setting. The horror and lead up of the tale have elements of Lovecraftian storytelling without the problematic racism and sexism. You are sure to find none of that in this book. I honestly adore the fact we have three strong female protagonists and even one morally grey strong female. It was wonderful to see, in some cases,the female taking care of and protecting the male protagonists and saving themselves and the day.
The story is told via Betsy Baxter’s point of view but this in no way undermines other characters. Sometimes first-person perspective can mean that side characters have less time to shine but this is not the case at all. Via our narrator we still get a wonderful insight into our other characters and while parts might be skewed slightly by Betsy’s view it is generally executed perfectly. The characters themselves are all fabulous and completely believable within the Arkham universe. Wini was an instant favourite, and I would happily read a book based solely on her adventures with or without the eldritch horrors and old gods. But, I also really want a Farnsworth spin off - then again, I dare anyone to say they don’t like sassy butlers!
All of the character are memorable and even the antagonists are well thought out and written. Honestly I don’t know how Jones’ fit so much action into this book but it has everything I ever wanted – daring stunts, flying, shoot outs, car cases, speakeasies, smuggling and eldritch horrors and not once did I find myself thinking this is too much. It was all perfect! The only downside is Wini isn't real!
A wonderful addition to the growing Arkham Horror line up, The Deadly Grimoire captures everything that is wonderful about the Arkham Horror games and sprinkles in high octane action, strong heroines and daring events. A must read for fans of the games, horror, pulp fiction and Lovecraftian eldritch horror.
The book is due to be released in ebook on March 1st 2022 with the paperbacks following on 15th March for the US and 9th June for the UK.
ROSEMARY JONES is an ardent collector of children’s books and a fan of talkies and silent movies. She is the author of three bestselling novels in Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms setting, numerous novellas, short stories, and collaborations.