The Other Side of the Mirror

by Jamie Sands

The a grandmother who vanished from a locked room.The best a psychic who's as mysterious as she is cute.Detective Jack Duarte is the one called upon when weird cases hit Auckland. A fierce loner with a reputation for solving the unsolvable, she is the perfect choice for the latest odd the locked-room disappearance of a beloved grandmother, who has vanished without trace and, seemingly, without suspects or a motive.This time around, though, Jack has also been assigned a partner. The fresh young detective Piper, who has transferred in with a difficult history, is determined to prove themself. Smart, perky, and inexperienced. They are exactly the kind of partner Jack manages to scare away.As they dig deeper into the mystery, though, Jack has to put her own reluctance in the back seat and help Piper navigate a whole different world -- because the beloved grandmother has her own mysterious past, one that has already cost lives... and souls.With the help of the enigmatic and beautiful psychic Emmaline, Jack and Piper must confront the strange world on the other side of the mirror. Some mysteries can only be solved with magic!

Genres: Mystery, Urban Fantasy, Crime

256 pages, Paperback

First published November 27, 2020

About the author

Jamie grew up in Wellington and was a library devotee and constant reader of fiction from a very early age.

They write optimistic urban fantasy, LGBTQIA romance, paranormal and some things that don't make sense.

They’ve had stories published in Baby Teeth horror anthology, Enamel literary magazine and they've self published a number of roleplaying games as well as fiction under a couple of pen names.

They live in Auckland, New Zealand, with their partner and two formally-stray cats

Jamie’s visited Japan three times (another trip is always planned) and would like to move into Tokyo Disneyland.

Reviews

[Ay]

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The book starts out rocky, then I was completely sucked in, thoroughly enjoyed the story, and wanted to jump right into the next book in the series. Where is it dammit!?

The book is rated 4 stars instead of 5 because there is some awkwardness around the depiction of the characters early in the book. Also the language felt a bit odd/awkward. Early in the book I was rereading some of the paragraphs because there was something strange about the verb tenses, turns of phrase and a few copy editing type issues. Maybe less formal New Zealand English is like that? I wasn’t sure.

Stick with the story though, because the world building is worth it, as is the writing around magic, reality, faery, and when they were doing stuff. It was also an interesting experience to be immersed in a story written by a Kiwi for other Kiwis that just assumes the reader understands place, in the same way US and UK writers do.

One of the issues this book really foregrounded is the limitations of the English language around gender. There are non-binary characters, where they/them/their are used (entirely correctly) and it’s just awkward. How I wish Anglophonie had our own version of the Academie Française to facilitate an elegant solution (our version would only do elegant solutions). Over time, no doubt, we’ll all get used to this usage, probably, and it’ll just be another daft aspect of English. *grumble*

This review is deliberately vague because the discovery experience was great, and I want everyone else to share it. Part of that was reacting to the approaches and choices the characters made throughout the story.

I have been reading crime novels for (oh God) around 44 years now, and fantasy for even longer. So reading this book for the purpose of review (ie not in a completely Id state), I am simultaneously conscious of the layers under it of what has gone before. It’s really quite something. The actual mystery plot sits quite well by comparison, which is no mean achievement.

[Andi C Buchanan]

Solid, enjoyable paranormal detective novel, with lots of good twists, some great - and often dry - humour, and a cast of queer characters. Looking forward to the sequel.

[Susan Anne]

The Other Side of the Mirror by Jamie Sands is one of those books that is better than the blurb. I was completely drawn in by the two worlds the author created - an AU Auckland with magic and Faerie populated by dark fey. Also, the author did not use Faerie as a deus ex machina, but rather had Jack the detective find clues to the mystery there. I enjoyed how Jack's interactions with her new partner Piper and Emmaline the psychic helped make her a better person, one not so rigid. I did not see the solution coming which made the story all the more enjoyable. I'm going to buy the next in the series, probably in paper, as the covers are great.

[Milo]

I’m generally All Cats Are Beautiful, and that’s extended into my reading life. Having said that, this is a fantastic queer magic mystery with a lesbian cop MC and her NB cop partner/sidekick and a helpful and sexy mage to guide them through the weird.

I really hope there are more books to come.

[Kristin]

I thought this book was cute but it didn’t encourage a need to read anything more about the characters or world. It was a nice introduction for someone who is new to this genre but I felt it was rushed in places and slow in others and could have used a bit more balance.

[Jennifer Garcia]

Excellent book all around.

[Starfire]

I think if I had to describe this it would be Eve Dallas meets Harry Dresden with a queer, Kiwi setting. I really hope Jamie writes more in this series!

[Kandice]

I wanted to really like one but DNF at 50%. The flow was awkward. It felt very jumpy with events and reactions stilted and forced.

[Stacey]

This is the first book in this particular series by the author. I did start with the Mt Eden Witches which I am constantly hanging out for the next book. The start of this series was a little clunky compared to what I was used, it is worth carrying on though as the flow starts to happen and is resolved by the second book.
It blends the real world in NZ (I'm a kiwi living in the setting of Auckland so could reference the places) with the fairy realm as the detectives investigate a kidnapping of an elderly lady. Overall I did enjoy the story of the first book.