Rough Justice

Armstrong’s charming novella features Olivia Taylor-Jones (familiar from the Cainsville series), an heiress who works as an investigator for her boyfriend—defense lawyer Gabriel Walsh—and is the newly minted Mallt-Y-Nos, or Matilda of the Hunt. She must lead the Welsh Wild Hunt, bringing accused killers to their final justice with her pack of giant black dogs. During Olivia’s first hunt, outside Chicago, she begins to suspect that the target, Keith Johnson, is innocent, and asks to do a little research before bringing him down. She puts her investigative skills to good use digging into Johnson’s past. When Gabriel takes on a client accused of shooting her husband, Olivia’s research leads her to believe that Johnson’s case and Gabriel’s new client may be connected. This swift, smoothly written supernatural mystery, told from Gabriel and Olivia’s alternating perspectives, employs a clever twist, expands on Olivia and Gabriel’s relationship and Olivia’s new powers, and poses intelligent questions about the nature of justice. Cainsville fans will enjoy this bite-size treat, which is enhanced by illustrations by Xavière Daumarie. (July)