Comeuppance Served Cold

Crime, drugs, and magic rule the streets of 1920s Seattle in this captivating noir fantasy from Deeds (Copper Road). Seattle’s Commissioner of Magi hires heroine Dolly White as a companion for his unruly daughter, Fiona, in hopes of taming her disgraceful behavior. Meanwhile, widowed Violet Solomon, who runs a waterfront speakeasy under the guise of a hat shop, does her best to keep her shape-shifter brother, Phillipe, out of harm’s way. Dolly and Violet’s lives unexpectedly intertwine as Violet seeks revenge against the Order of Saint Michael, the volunteer police force that murdered her husband and whose leader happens to be Fiona’s older brother, Francis. Dolly, meanwhile, suspects the Order is responsible for the city’s sudden uptick in violence against shape-shifters and sets out to investigate Francis’s shady business with a local drug ring, threatening to bring to light more chaos than the city is prepared for. Deeds presents all this intrigue in reverse chronological order, spinning out mysteries that will keep readers guessing till the end. The result is a well-crafted puzzle; readers’ only complaint will be that they want more. (Mar.)