Three Graces

Land Mysteries #6

by Celia Lake

In May of 1945, as the war in Europe is coming to an end, three women can turn their attention to an old and lingering problem. Lizzie never met her brother-in-law, Temple. He died in 1922, in what she and her husband now know was a desperate attempt to stop further damage to the land magic. No one has been able to figure out what damaged Temple’s magic or why he’d insisted on such self-destructive choices. Lizzie hasn’t, her husband Geoffrey hasn’t, and neither have their friends who are experts in a dozen relevant fields. Now, as the demands of the war begin to ease, Lizzie asks Alysoun and Thesan - their friends and allies - to help her solve the mystery. She hopes that Alysoun’s clear-sighted experience and Thesan’s ability to see hidden patterns will be enough of a help. Perhaps together they can finally find and make sense of long-hidden information and do their best to make sure this sort of tragedy never happens again. Three Graces is a novella tackling the long-standing question of what happened to Temple Carillon and brought him to his death in 1922. It is full of intelligent friends supporting each other, the changes that come with the end of the war, and navigating a new world. It is best read in series sequence, as it draws on a number of situations during the Second World War and its impact on Albion.

Genres: Fantasy, Mystery, Historical, Historical Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Paranormal, Novella

167 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 15, 2023

About the author

Celia Lake spends her days as a librarian in the Boston (MA) metro area, and her nights and weekends at home happily writing, reading, and researching.

Born and raised in Massachusetts to British parents, she naturally embraced British spelling, classic mysteries, and the Oxford comma before she learned there were any other options.

Reviews

[ReadKnitHoard · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Unearthing puzzle pieces to reveal a long-hidden mystery. I have a feeling I will enjoy this story more when I reread the preceding events in various books before coming back to it.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is one of the non-romance historical fantasies set in Lake's magical Albion -a magical Britain that exists alongside historical Britain. This story takes place in 1945 just after the end of the war and follows the threads of a mystery that’s been alluded to throughout many of the previous books - what happened that ultimately led to the death of Temple Carillon and his wife in 1920. Alysoun, Thesan, and Lizzie pull together new and old information to solve that puzzle.

These three are some of my favorite characters in Lake’s work so I really enjoyed seeing them together and I loved the unraveling of the puzzle. It was also a lot of fun to see many of the characters from previous books and hear what they’re up to. I enjoy the deep world building that Lake does in really thinking how the existence and use of magic interacts with and changes all manner of things about people’s lives. It’s a very rich and believable world.

This is definitely not the place to start with this world (try Pastiche or Goblin Fruit) but for longtime readers this was a terrific addition.

[Allison Henle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Celia Lake continues to be a must-buy author for me. I swear she couldn't write a bad story if she tried.

This one was 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5 because it's such a good continuation of a well-loved series. That said, this is absolutely not the book to start with.

Why only 4.5? Although the author sticks the landing particularly well (a criticism of other books has been that she seems to shy away from the actual climax of the plot), there is perhaps too much competence in the main characters. They're all extremely kind, smart, adept, skilled, etc. I love reading about bad-ass women, but I felt no concern that they wouldn't triumph this time.

[Anne Libera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spent the last few days of December flipping back and forth between a couple of books and I'm starting the new year by finishing them. This had the feeling of a Marvel movie that brings back ALL of the characters for cameos, but for all of that, the mystery felt solved well and I genuinely enjoy making sense of the characters and their relationships throughout this particular series.

[MAB LongBeach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Novella that finally solves the mystery of what happened to Temple Carillon. A great look at some old friends, and a few new ones.

Absolutely not the place to start with this series/world. But fans will not want to miss it.

[V Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thumbs up.

As usual Celia Lake does not dissappoint. Three Graces resolves a mystery that has threaded through several books. (It is not necessary to read the predicessors, but don't deprive yourself of the pleasure.)