bumblingbookworm's Review of The Mortal Word (The Invisible Library, #5)

by Genevieve Cogman

In 1890s Paris, a librarian and a detective must track down a killer – before the city goes up in flames. The Mortal Word is the enthralling fifth instalment in the Invisible Library series from Genevieve Cogman.

A corrupt countess. A spy in danger. And an assassin.

Peace talks are always tricky – especially when a key diplomat gets stabbed. This murder rudely interrupts a top-secret summit between the warring dragons and Fae, so Librarian-spy Irene is summoned to investigate. With her detective friend Vale, she must track down the killer – as peace hangs by a thread.

Accusations fly thick and fast. Irene soon finds herself in the seedy depths of the Parisian underworld on the trail of a notoriously warlike Fae, the Blood Countess. However, the evidence against the Countess is only circumstantial. Could the assassin – or assassins – be closer than anyone suspects?

Continue the witty and wonderful series with The Secret Chapter.

Praise for the series:

'I absolutely loved this' – N. K. Jemisin, author of The Fifth Season

'Irene is a great heroine: fiery, resourceful and no one's fool' – The Guardian

'Cogman keeps upping the ante on this delightful series!' – Charles Stross, author of the Merchant Princes series

This review was originally posted on The Bumbling Bookworm

This is book 5 in the series, so I'm just going to jump right into this - I adored the plot in this instalment. With peace talks hampered by a murder, Irene has to step in to save the day and boy does she ever! I loved that this one had the feel of a traditional detective novel, with twists and turns everywhere you look. I can sometimes be quite good at ruining books for myself by guessing the twist, but for this one I was kept guessing the whole way and it was fantastic.

My biggest criticism for this book is that it's just too long - it's the longest of all the books in the series and it really didn't need to be. I feel that 50-100 pages could've been cut from this and it would've been a lot better. But the mystery and political intrigue helped to make up for this, and I was super happy that Irene and Kai finally got together, even if it was mostly left up to the reader's imagination. A solid addition to the series, I always look forward to the next one.

The Mortal Word (The Invisible Library, #5)

by Genevieve Cogman

Reviewed by bumblingbookworm on Jan 18, 2020

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