Blood & Ash (The Jezebel Files, #1)

by Deborah Wilde

[EBookObsessed]

I loved the blend of investigation and magic in Of Ash and Blood.

As a Mundane Private Investigator, Ashira Cohen is forbidden from working a case involving Nefresh (magic users). She has already been warned by House Pacifica as well as pompous Levi Montefiore, who runs her local House. Problem is that no one advised her that her current investigation involved an unregistered Rogue magic user and when she gets knocked down and suffers a concussion, she needs to sweep the whole thing under the rug rather than lodge her own complaint.

But hitting her head has caused more problems for Ash than just a bump and a hospital bill, Ash suddenly has magic of her own — blood magic, something which has considered as much a fairy tale as unicorns and dragons. No one is going to believe that Ash knew nothing about it since most magic makes an appearance in childhood. Someone actively suppressed her magic and she needs to figure out who and why before she is locked up as an unregistered Rogue herself.

Still Ash’s investigation into her own issue may have to take a back seat to the fact that someone may be abducting troubled teens — troubled magical teens. Ash has to find out how they are being lured and why. Ash needs to find her missing ex-client before it is too late. If she can solve this, it might go a long way in convincing Levi and the House that Ash hasn’t been hiding her abilities and if blood magic actually exist, Ash can’t possibly be the only one.

I am certain at this point that an author’s chance of writing a purely unique novel is a million to one. For example, any vampire novel after Bram Stroker’s Dracula is not unique, whether they sparkle or not. I say this because when a book comes second on someone’s reading list to a book that is similar, it is hard if not impossible to ignore the similarities. Before we can talk about this story under it’s own merit, you need to know three things that jumped out at me and kept smacking me around throughout the whole novel: #1 – the main character has blood magic which brought of memories of the Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniels series and #2 references Houses which oversaw anything to do with people with magical abilities was reminiscent of the Houses in Ilona Andrews’ Hidden Legacy series. #3 is the fact that those without magic were considered “Mundanes.” I never read the Harry Potter books but even I know what a Muggle refers to. Mundanes was just a poor choice of word. I just find it pulls me out of a story when I start making comparisons between stories. Additionally, there was some similarities to characters and character arc between this and her Nava Katz series, but that is not wholly unexpected since many authors do this even unintensionally, including Nora Roberts. If you never read those stories, never mind. No problem.

Aside from all that, Of Ash and Blood is a great Urban Fantasy story with a solid plot and interesting characters. Ash’s obsession with Sherlock Holmes adds an interesting depth to the character. Ash is snarky and smart as all Urban Fantasy heroines should be and Levi is smart, rich and powerful which makes him a good counterpoint to Ash. I will definitely be reading the rest of the series.

Received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.

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