With twists, turns, and a suspicion of the paranormal, The Raven Thief quickly became one of my favorite cozy mysteries of the year. With engaging characters and a plot that left me guessing, while not perfect, this novel will not disappoint.
The novel had an interesting hook. Our main character, a retiring magician, and her father build trick houses (taking existing homes and adding secret rooms, trap doors, etc). After building one of these houses, and attending a seance gone wrong, we are thrust into a fascinating murder mystery. I won’t get into spoiler territory, but the plot was delightfully twisty but still maintained its cozy atmosphere.
The Raven Thief has a solid cast of characters, especially our main character, Tempest. She is smart and likeable without losing her individuality as a character. Her background as a retiring magician was fascinating and her motivations were clear and well laid out. She also has meaningful bonds with the other characters throughout, especially her family.
The supporting characters were solid as well, but they felt a bit one-dimensional at times. Please note I have not read the preceding book in this series, so there may be some character building for these side characters that I had missed. Nonetheless, they were solid additions and all of them were interesting and likable over a more common trope of annoying side casts.
This is one series that I cannot wait to go back and read the first novel, so that I can prepare myself even more for future books that I sincerely hope this series will have.
Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for my honest opinions.
The Novel Llama 