Book three in the four-book set of the Thieftaker Chronicles is another corker. It’s now 1769 in British-occupied Boston, and conjurer Ethan Kaille is about to take on the most difficult case of his career so far. A case that will pay him nothing, no less. Seems somebody has been robbing recent graves around the city and, strangely, taking skulls and other body parts. Worse, those deceased people have begun to appear as shades, haunting their families. And still worse, Ethan, as well as his conjuror friends, is experiencing sudden failures in his spell-casting abilities.
Once again, I love the combination of three of my favorite genres in a single novel. The author deftly melds mystery, historical fiction, and fantasy together to tell an engrossing story filled with danger and intrigue. This time around, Ethan solves the mystery about halfway through but how to deal with what he learns becomes the new mystery. Much of the final half is devoted to a much larger magical battle than we’ve seen before in this series and I really enjoyed the expanded spell options and methods that were used. The action was fast and perilous but, in the end, as happens with all the best magical battles, it is the intelligent and clever use of the magic system that wins out.
And, of course, all the activity takes place amongst the backdrop of Boston just prior to the Revolutionary War. The Boston presented in these books is historically accurate, right down to the original street names, taverns, and soon-to-be historical personages.
The ending of this volume leaves things somewhat open, or at least Ethan thinks so. I can’t wait to read the fourth and final book to see if he’s right.