Barbara’s rating: 3.7 out of 5 Stars
Series: Glass and Steele #6
Publication Date: 9/4/18
Period: Fantasy Victorian London
Number of Pages: 245

Oh! Happy Days are here again – sort of. In the last book, they found the physician magician and he and India worked together to create a new magical watch for Matt. Matt is hale, whole, and filled with more energy than he’s had in a long time. The only fly in their ointment is that Matt’s family still expects him to marry his cousin, Patience. Matt swears that won’t happen, but nobody can figure out how he can get out of it without causing a scandal and hurting his cousin.

With Matt’s health restored and no magicians to track down, they are getting bored. Boredom doesn’t last long and they are soon on the trail of a murderer. Oscar Barratt, the journalist who had written articles introducing the fact that there was magic and magicians in the world, has received threatening letters from someone – and when his editor is murdered, he believes he was meant to be the victim instead. When the police don’t think the murder and the letters are connected, Oscar asks India and Matt to investigate.

The investigation is filled with red herrings, twists, and turns and you’ll be wondering until the end. Are the Guilds trying to silence the journalist? Was the journalist the real target? Was the editor the real target? Is Coyle involved or is he a red herring?

On the romance front, things have moved – sort of. India and Matt have declared themselves to each other – but they have not made it public. So, Matt’s family still expects him to marry his cousin Patience. Matt’s uncle is holding something over his head – and Matt has to get sneaky and underhanded to get out of the betrothal. First though, he will try to convince Patience’s original betrothed to marry her. Barring that – well – you’ll have to read it and see.

In the meantime, India does something she must keep secret from Matt. We all know that will work out well somewhere down the line don’t we? 😊 So, while we don’t get a wedding, we do get declarations.

I can recommend this book if you like a quick, interesting mystery with a bit of romance. The characters are interesting and Aunt Lettitia is less annoying than in previous books. Hopefully, we will get a wedding in the next book.