To Kill a Fae (Hollowcliff Detectives, #1)

by C.S. Wilde

Fae like to play dangerous games...

In detective Mera Maurea’s experience, three things motivate a murder: secrets, convenience, or passion. But none of the three can explain why the Summer King is dead.

With a tight deadline hanging over her head, Mera has to figure out who’s the culprit before the frail balance that holds the nation of Tagrad together crumbles into dust.

To aid her—or turn her life into a living hell, hard to tell which—is her fae partner Sebastian Dhay, a snarky detective with a penchant for the illegal. He’s a volatile wild card who will do anything to solve the murder, even if it means his doom.

The clock is ticking. And Mera is hiding a deadly secret of her own.

• ISBN10: 1689950315
• ISBN13: 9781689950312
• Publish Date: 26 September 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Independently Published
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 258
• Language: English

Reviews

[kimbacaffeinate]

A murder-mystery, an unwanted partner, and secrets drew me to To Kill a Fae by C.S. Wilde. Narrated by Chris Dukehart, the back-and-forth banter between our detective and a FAE investigator named Sebastian was a fun beginning to this series.

The first audiobook in the Hollowcliff Detectives, Wilde brings opposites together to solve a high profile case. The tale that unfolds has snark, sexual tension and more….

Mera Maurea and her partner are called to a crime scene. Where they discover that the male victim is the Summer King, they expect Tagrad (fae) detectives to take over and prepare to fight for the human case.

Instead, Mera discovers they will partner her with Sebastian Dhay, a snarky Fae who doesn’t want to follow human law. From their first encounter, the snarky barbs and underlying chemistry had me laughing.

These two are polar opposite. Mera likes to follow procedure and obey laws. Even if she is hiding a secret. As the listener, we learn her secret early on and even get flashbacks of her past. Sebastian is more of a “whatever it takes to catch the killer,” type of guy.

The two compliment each other and I loved the underlying sexual tension. The case and overall world-building are well-developed, keeping the listener engaged. The author shared the world and characters, without information dumps which allowed the story to unfold at a clipped pace.

While some aspects felt similar to other stories in this genre, the author offered some interesting twists with the two worlds working together.

I’ve enjoyed Chris Dukehart’s narrations before, and she was an excellent choice for the third person narrative of Mera. I thought she accurately reflected all sides of Mera. Chris has a wide range of voices and her males voices are delightful without being gruff. The story lends itself perfectly to audio and I felt Dukehart enhanced my enjoyment. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer