The Raven Spell

Smith (The Conjuror) kicks off her Raven Sisters duology with a dark and twisty fantasy murder mystery set in Victorian London. Witches Edwina and Mary Blackwood scrape together a meager living digging up trinkets from the banks of the Thames. When they stumble on private detective Ian Cameron, washed to shore and nearly dead from a head wound, Mary can’t resist using her magic to harvest his memories at the moment of his death. But Ian unexpectedly survives, and, though he’s missing his memory, he’s drawn to the Blackwood sisters’ curiosity shop. Edwina helps Ian piece together the investigation he was in the midst of before his injury, and as her desire for Ian grows, so do her suspicions of her sister’s misuse of magic. Now Edwina must choose: protect the only family she has left, or finally confront the sister she’s given up so much to protect. Though Mary’s character isn’t quite developed enough for this emotional conflict to fully hit home, Smith draws readers into a well-developed if backstory-heavy fantasy world, and brings the threads of the mystery to a satisfying conclusion. This fun, atmospheric outing is ideal for fans of C.L. Polk’s Kingston Cycle. Agent: Marlene Stringer, Stringer Literary. (Feb.)