The Mortal Word by Genevieve Cogman

The Mortal Word (The Invisible Library, #5)

by Genevieve Cogman

The Mortal Word is part of Genevieve Cogman’s witty and wonderful Invisible Library series, which can be enjoyed as part of a sequence or as standalones.

'Captivating story with animated characters . . . cracking pace' - Guardian

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

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. In a version of 1890s Paris, Irene and her detective friend Vale must track down the killer – before either the peace negotiations or the city go up in flames.

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 circumstantial. Could the assassin – or assassins – be closer than anyone suspects?

The Mortal Word is perfect for fans of Doctor Who and Sherlock Holmes. Continue the bookish magic with The Secret Chapter. Genevieve is also the author of the Sunday Times bestselling Scarlet - which reimagines the tale of the Scarlet Pimpernel, but with vampires, mages and magic. . .

Reviewed by annieb123 on

5 of 5 stars

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Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

The Mortal Word is the 5th entry in the Invisible Library series by Genevieve Cogman. Released 27th Nov 2018 by Berkley/Penguin on their Ace imprint, it's 448 pages and available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats.

This book combines everything I love about crossworlds fantasy, timeslip, and murder mystery with superb world building, well written dialogue, and suspense. The heroine, Irene, is a Librarian, imbued with limited power to bend reality in the alternate worlds to which she travels on assignment.

The book series has an overarching long term story arc, and though the books are all self-contained adventures, they wouldn't fare well as standalones. I heartily recommend seeking out the books in order. This is a superlative 'binge reading' series and to be honest, despite having a couple hundred books in my TBR pile, I took the time to read all 5 books in order again before starting a review.

One thing which emerged after re-reading them in order at once as opposed to reading the series piecemeal over a period of years is that Ms. Cogman has a near surgical control over the story arc. I don't have a clue what her plotting and story arc work looks like in her creative process, but there are foreshadowings from the first book on about things that eventually develop in later books. I hadn't really appreciated that when I was reading them one-per-year as they were released. I love and admire the control and expertise which this undoubtedly requires. On the other hand, the stories aren't rigid or tick-tock precise. There's a lot of suspense (and humor).

They're very well written with an ensemble cast of characters. The books are full of wit and humor and bookish in-jokes. Wonderfully intelligent entertainment.

Five stars for The Mortal Word, and five stars for the series. More, please!

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

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  • 24 February, 2019: Reviewed