How Do You Like Your Mystery—With Magic or Without?
Do you like your mystery with just humans or also witches and vampires? I’ll take either with a cup of coffee or tea. After reading the first book in the Inheritance Games series, I took down two more and I’m on book four. No magic is involved with the Hawthorns, just a lot of secrets and games.
Another series I started reading has plenty of magic. A Discovery of Witches was also made into a TV show of the same name that lasted three seasons. I plan to watch it but wanted to finish the book first.
Rich Folk with Layers of Secrets
The Inheritance Games series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes is classified as a YA mystery/thriller. The Hawthorne Legacy (Book 2 – 2021) and Final Gambit (Book 3 – 2022) round up the same main characters from the first book to uncover more secrets while they play the games that billionaire Tobias Hawthorne left for his family.
He had created games for his four grandsons to play and master since they were born, and the games continue even though he’s dead. Besides, his four grandsons, Tobias left two daughters and a son—that he was aware of. Secrets remember.
The biggest secret was Avery Grambs, a teenage stranger nobody in the family knew. Yet, Tobias left her most of his fortune with a catch. She is required to stay in the family home for one year with all the disinherited family members. And loads of secret passageways in the mansion. I don’t plan to leave spoilers so as not to ruin any of the reveals.
Witches, Daemons, and Vampires Galore
The first book in the All Souls series by Deborah Harkness is A Discovery of Witches (2011). I’ve seen the genre listed as Historical Fantasy, Romanic Fantasy, and Paranormal & Urban Fantasy. If you like slow-burn romance, paranormal reads, and historical manuscripts, this series is for you. It’s almost like an adult’s version of Twilight but more sophisticated with references to biology, old manuscripts, and wine.
Instead of Bella and Edward on a high school campus, Diana Bishop and Matthew Clairmont meet at the University of Oxford’s Bodleian Library. Diana is a witch who doesn’t want to use her magic to get ahead in her profession as an historian. She regularly checks out ancient manuscripts for her work, but her life changes forever when she checks out one particular bewitched manuscript. Matthew is a vampire who has been around for 1,500 years, but he’s never met anyone like Diana. Initially drawn to the manuscript she’s uncovered, the forbidden romance between a vampire and witch begins.
The fifth book in the series, The Black Bird Oracle was published July 2024. I am interested to see how well the actors in the series match my imagination to the characters in the book. I will continue with the book series.
Comments and book suggestions are always welcome.
