She was like the security gate at the airport, beeping when somebody was packing magic. She was an appliance. In magical terms, she was basically a toaster. [p. 114]
First in a series featuring Lydia Crow, Private Investigator. The Night Raven sets up a London with four magical families -- the Pearls, the Silvers, the Foxes and the Crows -- who have maintained a truce for 75 years. Lydia Crow was working as a PI in Aberdeen before she had to return to London to escape retribution. Coincidentally, the disappearance of her cousin Madeleine has brought old tensions to life. Lydia, who is barely magical at all, is engaged by her uncle to locate her cousin. Unfortunately, she's not the only person looking for Maddie, and the police are taking an interest, especially the handsome but flirtatious DCI Fleet, whose focus may be more on Lydia than on any victims of crime.
Meanwhile Lydia is sharing a flat with a ghost who only she can see; reconnecting with old friends; worrying about her father, who displays symptoms of magic-related dementia; and really does not want to get involved in family matters again.
I read this around the time that news of Sarah Everard's murder was breaking, so I found the romantic/sexual frisson between Lydia and Fleet very uncomfortable. I also felt that there was too much repetition of minor details, and very little foreshadowing of one major one. The Night Raven was an entertaining read but I didn't feel drawn into its world, though I'm sure it becomes more detailed and more intriguing as the series progresses.
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