The Cormac and Amelia Case Files

Cormac and Amelia

by Carrie Vaughn

Cormac is a former bounty hunter turned paranormal investigator. Amelia is a Victorian wizard wrongfully executed for murder a century ago. Now, her spirit shares his body, and together they've become supernatural problem solvers. Detectives. Fixers, if you will. With each new case they wonder – is this one more than they can handle? So far, the answer is no...

For the first time, five previously published stories spun off from the New York Times Bestselling Kitty Norville series, full of mystery, magic, and horror appear together in print – along with a brand-new story revealing just how much attention Cormac and Amelia's exploits have attracted.

(This collection includes the previously published stories “Long Time Waiting,” “Dark Divide,” “Badlands Witch,” “Fatal Storm,” and “Charmed Waters.”)

Genres: Urban Fantasy

451 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2022

About the author

Carrie Vaughn is the author more than twenty novels and over a hundred short stories. She's best known for her New York Times bestselling series of novels about a werewolf named Kitty who hosts a talk radio advice show for the supernaturally disadvantaged. In 2018, she won the Philip K. Dick Award for Bannerless, a post-apocalyptic murder mystery. She's published over 20 novels and 100 short stories, two of which have been finalists for the Hugo Award. She's a contributor to the Wild Cards series of shared world superhero books edited by George R. R. Martin and a graduate of the Odyssey Fantasy Writing Workshop.

An Air Force brat, she survived her nomadic childhood and managed to put down roots in Boulder, Colorado, where she collects hobbies.

Visit her at www.carrievaughn.com

For writing advice and essays, check out her Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/carrievaughn

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book collects five novellas presented within a framing arc that feature the characters of Cormac and Amelia from Vaughn's Kitty Norville series. Kitty appears in a couple of cameos along with Ben and their son (!), but the focus is all on Cormac and ghost witch Amelia, who shares his body, and their evolving and obviously complex relationship. Vaughn makes their unlikely relationship fascinating and moving, never silly. The individual interior stories were previously published, but four of them had only appeared electronically. This print edition appears to be privately printed, but is better copy edited than many of the books I've recently read from the big publishers. I did find some of the breaks between sections confusing (we could have benefited from a table of contents at the front), and they went a little too happy with different fonts on the cover and title page, but that's a minor quibble. The stories are very well crafted and range from very deep and dark to a light-hearted mermaid rescue; I stayed glued to them and was surprised and delighted throughout. I disliked Cormac very much in the first few Kitty books, but Vaughn has made me a fan. Hoping there's another volume out soon!

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those who always wanted to know more about Cormac and Amelia and their relationship, this is a must read!

[Trish B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this collection of novellas, where Cormac (former bounty hunter) and Amelia (the Victorian ghost sharing his mind - look, it’s a little complicated) solve paranormal mysteries together. The overarching story of Cormac explaining who they are and what they do is a nice way to develop their story a little further.

(Reading all the stories together also shows how Cormac has been fascinated with Amelia’s hair since they met, which is funny and cute).

One thing I like about the Kitty Norville series is that the characters and the world change over the series, and you can see this in both Cormac and Amelia’s characters over the stories in this collection, and in the mentions of other characters from the Kitty series. The world-building doesn’t stay still, but expands and evolves.

I think you could read this without needing to have read the Kitty Norville series, as other events and characters are only briefly mentioned, but if you have read the series, you’ll enjoy this more. There’s also a reference to the very early short stories set in the Kitty universe.

[Krystal Rains · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Carrie Vaughn's style and writing.

I hadn't enjoyed a good "Kitty" adjacent book in quite awhile and was excited to read what Comac and Amelia have been up to. This includes several previously published short stories, but I had only read one (their origin story) and this placed all the stories in a recollection scenario but set the book in a new complication/setting so we have a starting point for more adventures.

The bodies follow Cormac as usual, but the adventures are each unique and you don't quite know where they are headed. I look forward to the teasing promise of more to come.

[Spiderorchid · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite (paranormal) crime solving duo - I loved the individual stories when they first came out, it's great to have them all together in a nice print edition now.

Amazing premise, solid world-building, well written mysteries and characters that you love to spend time with. I hope there will be many more stories with Cormac and Amelia in the future.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

4 1/2 stars. I have enjoyed everything I've read from the Kitty Norville world by Carrie Vaughn and this book is no exception. Five novellas and they're all good, plus they feature two of the more interesting supporting cast who appear in some of the Kitty books. These are just good urban fantasy fun tales!

[Shannon Siverns · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so happy this book exists!
I read the Kitty series earlier this year and was disappointed to learn all these Cormac stories were ebooks only. And then I found out this was coming in print!! I bought this book so fast and I loved it! Love Cormac and Amelia.

[Theresa Materazzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Cormac and Amelia! It gives me what I miss from the Kitty book series being finished but with little bits of Kitty and Ben mixed in! And now we have the PSA added in, well hot damn I cannot wait for more! Thanks Carrie for the continued ride in Kitty’s, now Cormac’s world!!!

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

hover's near a five star, really enjoy these stories.

[Bonny Fuller-Fells · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Federal Agency Investigates Cormac

Cormac goes to take out the trash and is tranked by a dart. He wakes up in a circle on a chair. Some agents want to ask him magical questions.

[Cassie Bateson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely wonderful addition to the Kitty Norville series. All the short stories are deftly woven into this book so it doesn't really feel like a collection of short stories