Human, private detective Anna Caill isn’t keen on the prohibition of magic enacted by the 18th Amendment, but she won’t deny it’s good for business. The coppers couldn’t care less about the witches’ problems, giving her any number of clients to choose from.When mysterious witch Jesse Hunt saunters into her office, he and his case will test her limits. While a killer stalks the magical underworld, … underworld, Anna is hired to find Jesse’s friend, the high priest of an ancient coven.
As her case unravels, Anna is forced to confront her addiction to a dark spell in this urban fantasy noir.
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She is a human who is Not Happy with magic being banned but it is good for her business as a PI. She has plenty of work and when he arrives wanting her to find his friend, this are going to get complicated. She is also addicted to dark magic and she will have to face that as well. Where will they be taken? Will she find his friend? See where you will be taken
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This is a mystery, with magic and set in the 1920s. Honestly, how could I ever resist it?
The story is set in a 1920s America where Prohibition is on magic rather than on alcohol. Some decades previous, the magic community revealed itself and witches and humans have lived side by side, knowingly, ever after. A person can either be born a witch or a human, and a human can never become a witch (well, unless they perform unspeakable acts). This slowly created some kind of segregation, since magic and magical tools can be dangerous to humans. Ultimately, a form of Prohibition was put in place, though – like the real Prohibition – it was actually very loosely enforced.
I really liked the concept. I especially liked how it played out in the story. The relationship between humans and witches – including the characters here involved – is complex but realistic and interesting. I’d say this fantasy aspect of the story was the best – at least from the perspective of this fantasy reader.
The mystery was intriguing, especially at the beginning. To a certain point, I found it complex enough to keep my interest, and yet handled with logic, which also kept my attention.
Unfortunately, towards the end, the mystery slid into a strained idea which didn’t really work, in my opinion. I mean, the way it started off, the mystery could have ended in a stronger way. But it was adequate, so I won’t complain too much.
There’s also a romance element to the story that becomes ever stronger the more the story unfolds. This has proven to be the weakest part in the end.
Although I’m not a romance reader, I appreciated this aspect of the story, in the beginning, because it was focused on Anna’s growing as a person. The way she handled (or tried to handle) loss and grief, though grounded in the fantasy world, was realistic and relatable. But as the story progressed, several romance clichés emerged. Since the end of the story hinged on the romance element, clichés greatly affected its strength. I’ll just say that I discussed this story with a friend who does read romances and she could guess the entire closing sequence without hesitation and without my help.
But this doesn’t mean the story was ruined. I still think it was a great story and a great set up for a series. I’ll read more if I have a chance.
Thank you to Ink & Magick and Netgalley for a copy of **In Search of a Witch’s Soul**. This is my honest opinion.
I saw the cover of this story as I was scrolling through Netgalley, and it absolutely drew me in. I love the Roarin’ Twenties. I find the style and language of this time classic and enchanting. The cover is beautiful with its sepia coloring and a dash of green will-o’-the-wisp Anna just drew me in with her intense gaze that says she has quite a story to tell.
D. Lieber writes an enchanting tale of how Anna uses her skills as a PI to help find a missing witch. I loved how she kept the story in the time period with the vernacular, style, and historical events. In this story, magic was prohibited instead of alcohol, which I found interesting. And witches actually had different souls than normal humans. I loved the story it sucked me and I read it in 2 nights! She wrote it in first POV from the viewpoint of Anna and once in a while one of the other characters. I found it easy to follow along. There is suspense and mystery with lots of magic! The magical system she described is fun and imaginable. I want to walk the streets with Anna and Jesse.
I wish she would have had more of Jack’s story. I felt drawn to him and was sad that he wasn’t more integral part of the story.
The reason I am giving it a three star review is because of the ending. I found it predictable and I felt like she ended the story too quickly. I knew what was going to happen halfway through. It also felt like there should be another book following this one. I wish Anna would have grown more as a person. She still had the same problems that we started the book with.
Overall, I enjoyed the story as it was a wonderful escape to another time.
In Search of a Witch’s Soul – My interest in this book was increased after reading Dancing with Shades, which introduces the three childhood friends. I like the idea of this American story being set during the Great War and into the Roaring Twenties, a theme I seldom come across for witches and such. The three children grow up close and are always there for each other. Having their fortunes read leads to mistakes and tragedy. Along with the mistake made by Anna after her fortune was told, was the devastation of the War on Cy and the relationships Jack had to handle because of Anna’s mistake.
While I did not care for the explicit homo- and heterosexual sex scenes, I cared even less for Anna. The more I read, the less I wanted to finish the story. Anna is stupid, self-centered and careless with the feelings of others; it is all about her. She believes she cares about people and wants to help them, yet her family and her best friend from childhood does not rate that curtsy. Even after she realizes her mistake and the costs from compounding that mistake, she goes right back to being her stupid, self-centered self with Jesse.
I do like the descriptions of the magical part of the world, although it reminded me a lot of Harry Potter’s world. The guide was a rather nice idea. I did feel like I was walking with the characters through the magical world. Character-wise, Jack and Jesse were the best, along with some of the support characters. If Anna had only considered Jesse before doing her same ole stick, I would have liked her. I found this book on Booksprout. 3*
Dancing with Shades – My first read by this author and I was intrigued all the way through the short story. It introduced three major characters and some of their background. Set during the Great War and into the Roaring Twenties, I found it realistic, interesting and wanting to read In Search of a Witch’s Soul. I found this short well written, well thought out and well edited in contrast to what passes for editing nowadays. 4*