The Undertakers (Murder & Magic, #2)

by Nicole Glover

Nicole Glover delivers the second book in her exciting Murder & Magic series of historical fantasy novels featuring Hetty Rhodes and her husband, Benjy, magic practitioners and detectives living in post–Civil War Philadelphia.

Nothing bothers Hetty and Benjy Rhodes more than a case where the answers, motives, and the murder itself feel a bit too neat. Raimond Duval, a victim of one of the many fires that have erupted recently in Philadelphia, is officially declared dead after the accident, but Hetty and Benjy’s investigation points to a powerful Fire Company known to let homes in the Black community burn to the ground. Before long, another death breathes new life into the Duval investigation: Raimond’s son, Valentine, is also found dead.

Finding themselves with the dubious honor of taking on Valentine Duval as their first major funeral, it becomes clear that his passing was intentional. Valentine and his father’s deaths are connected, and the recent fires plaguing the city might be more linked to recent community events than Hetty and Benji originally thought.

The Undertakers continues the adventures of murder and magic, where even the most powerful enchantments can’t always protect you from the ghosts of the past . . . 

• ISBN10: 0358197104
• ISBN13: 9780358197102
• Publish Date: 9 November 2021 (first published 1 November 2021)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Harper Voyager
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 448
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

The Undertakers is the second book in the historical fantasy series by Nicole Glover. Released 9th Nov 2021 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on their Mariner imprint, it's 448 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is an engaging historical fantasy with a large cast of characters and an interesting and well built magical background system. I enjoyed the storytelling and the author is exceedingly adept at historical background and verisimilitude. She really brings 19th century Philadelphia and the social structure of the time and place to life. I was less immersed in the actual mystery which was easily solved and telegraphed fairly clearly, but the story itself is well told and worthwhile. I found my attention wandering during the read because of the very choppy nature of the scene cuts however. I also found myself distressed and angry throughout a significant portion of the read due to the historically accurate and pervasive casual racism and sexism.

The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 14 hours and 36 minutes and is capably narrated by Bahni Turpin. She does a good job defining the characters and keeping them distinct from one another. There were a few places in the dialogue where I had to listen a couple of times to figure out which character was talking, but overall it's a really well narrated audiobook. The sound and production quality are high throughout.

Four stars. Recommended for fans of historical fantasy mysteries.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.