The Mystery at Dunvegan Castle

Ropa Moyo, an unpaid intern with Scotland’s premier magical professional organization, is tasked with helping to put together a conference at Dunvegan castle in Huchu’s entertaining third Edinburgh Nights urban fantasy (after Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments). The conference’s attendees and presenters come from far and wide, including two delegates from Ethiopia, who bring a scroll of teachings highly important to their country to exchange for a Scottish book as a symbol of trust between their nations. When a conference-goer turns up murdered and the scroll is stolen, it’s up to Ropa to solve the mystery. With the fate of national alliances and the dislike of the privileged members of the magical aristocracy weighing on her, Ropa must navigate big personalities and complex politics if she hopes to deliver justice. Ropa’s investigation is thrilling, but Huchu’s real skill lies in crafting a magical contemporary world that feels familiar yet filled with its own secrets, replete with analogous political situations and pop culture references that never feel out of place. This is good fun.(Sept.)