A Murder of Mages ( The Maradaine Constabulary 1) by Marshall Ryan Maresca

Hello to all,

                    It's tuesday so review day ( when i actually manage it), like i told you i'm trying to alternate my reading between sequels and new discoveries so this week it's a book that i've been eyeing since it was released and that i was very lucky to receive as a gift ( thanks again!).

It's the fist in a new series but actually it's also a kind of spin off from the first series of the author which i haven't started yet but soon perhaps.

Happy Reading!

Publisher: DAW

Publication: 2015

ISBN: 0756410274

Genre: urban fanatsy, mystery
Violence: strong
Language: mild
sex: none but allusion of sexual assault on minor
Public: 18+

Source: gift
 

Description from goodreads :

 A Murder of Mages marks the debut of Marshall Ryan Maresca’s novels of The Maradaine Constabulary, his second series set amid the bustling streets and crime-ridden districts of the exotic city called Maradaine. A Murder of Mages introduces us to this spellbinding port city as seen through the eyes of the people who strive to maintain law and order, the hardworking men and women of the Maradaine Constabulary.

Satrine Rainey—former street rat, ex-spy, mother of two, and wife to a Constabulary Inspector who lies on the edge of death, injured in the line of duty—has been forced to fake her way into the post of Constabulary Inspector to support her family.

Minox Welling is a brilliant, unorthodox Inspector and an Uncircled mage—almost a crime in itself. Nicknamed “the jinx” because of the misfortunes that seem to befall anyone around him, Minox has been partnered with Satrine because no one else will work with either of them.


Their first case together—the ritual murder of a Circled mage— sends Satrine back to the streets she grew up on and brings Minox face-to-face with mage politics he’s desperate to avoid. As the body count rises, Satrine and Minox must race to catch the killer before their own secrets are exposed and they, too, become targets.

My opinion:

          A very interesting and original story that I loved discovering.  The only downside and I prefer to start by that today is that  i was a bit confused by the world, universe in itself. Oh we get maps of Maradaine, and some infos but  not enough for me to  be immersed in the story completely without interruption or confusion at times.

Now perhaps it's a little bit my fault as well, you see this is a kind of spin off from the other series the autor has in the same universe, so perhaps  Marshall Maresca did take more time in that series to explain the universe and then it would have been a wonderful background info to jump in this new series without worry.

That being said, if you haven't read the other series like me you still can start with this one especially if you love investigation, thrillers  because the suspense is really well  done and kept until the end. I loved this magical world and the characters are quite moving.

Satrine is confronted to a very hard situation which resonated with me still she doesn't give up and is determined to get the better for her children and family. I loved her mind and how loyal she is. How she grew up certainly help her but even that no everyone could have survived as she did so she is really admirable. Minox is a mage but one that never got any education in that domain , he is uncircled ( not affiliated to any mages congregations called circles)....that in itself is already quite rare and other mages reject him for that. Worse , Minox choose to be a constable which for mages is completely unheard of and it creates even more bad reaction. Still aside from being a mage Minox is an exceptional investigator,  put aside by a lot of his colleagues and made fun of yes but still determined to resolve all his case an not with quick easy answers, he wants the truth.

The story in itself was very intense and captivating, I enjoyed it a lot. To make it even better  the main point has a resolution, we get the culprit which means no cliffhanger. At the same time we do get indices showing us that more is behind the case and while it will be another story  it was written in such a way that  we are not left hanging simply wanting for more but able to wait.....the little touch of hope was also  wonderful.

This is definitively a series i want to follow up and in the meantime I hope to discover his main series so that I can see if it will fill the blank or not ^^.

Score:  4/5

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own and no compensation was received in exchange for this review

Challenges:

Do You like reading the spin off of series you love?