T;LDR: An urban fantasy mystery novel with an interesting world and a main character out of prove herself, Deadline is a light and entertaining read.
Deadline by jennifer blackstream
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2
This is a new series for me in the urban fantasy/mystery genre. I stumbled upon it while researching cover ideas for my book (I love the cover for the entire series) and was interested enough in the blurb to give it a read, especially when it was free on Kindle. While I can see some potential pitfalls coming to the series based on the first book, it was an easy read for a lazy Saturday.
The world-building is scattered throughout and not heavy-handed, the mystery was interesting and there were plenty of red herrings. But the MC bounced from one encounter to another and I’m not a fan of the sidekick (personal taste). And thus, I give it 3.5 stars.
Plot
Shade Renard is the village witch, doing some healing, birthing babies, and tackling any stray otherworldly creatures who crawl out of the river. She also has a pixie named Peasblossom for a sidekick. But what she really wants to be is a private investigator.
When an acquaintance from the FBI wants her to look into a missing persons case for another agent at the FBI, Shade jumps at the chance. However, once she starts down this road, she can stop, especially once Dracula, the Dracula, hires her to find out who stole his precious black book from his very secure vault designed by the missing and most definitely missing woman.
What follows is mistake after mistake, as Shade bounces from one potential suspect to another, eventually either exciting or angering every one of them. If she fails to find the book in time, a war will erupt between humans and Otherworld.
T;LDR: A village witch with aspirations to be a private investigator takes on her first case, which quickly snowballs into multiple suspects, all hitting harder and heavier than her. Will she solve the crime in time or end up dead like the two investigators before her?
What I Liked
I liked the world the book is set in, at least the parts the book shares. There are hints to other worlds and dimensions, but as they aren’t really relevant to the plot, they aren’t explored. The cross between the human world and the Otherworld happens right in front of normal humans; some see it, some don’t. And I liked that.
I also liked that there are as many powerful female characters as male in this book. It’s a nice balance.
The mythology and magic are interesting. It appears to be based on the mainstream categories, but the author added a few additional tweaks to make it interesting.
I also liked the overall theme of the book – plucky heroine is trying to balance her ledger by helping stop attacks on the humans from the Otherworld. Her intentions are good, even though her execution leaves a lot to be desired.
And that leads to me…
What I Liked Less
The heroine wants to be a PI. It’s her dream. It’s what drives her forward throughout the book. But she sucks at it. Like really sucks at it. I found that to be a bit too much. If she wanted it that bad, she’d stop and think things through, not blast off from one encounter to another.
She’s supposed to have been alive and training as a witch for a very long time and yet she feels like a teenager the way she responds to things in this book. If the author intended to make this series like Janet Evanovich’s bestselling series, she started with the wrong premise. Or at the very least, the wrong backstory for her MC.
I am also not a fan of the sidekick. This is definitely personal taste and plenty of people found Peasblossom to be lovely, so take my opinion here with a grain of salt. But, she was annoying. A mix of sass (sort of), naivety, and needing praise for every little thing she did, she was not my favorite character. I also didn’t see the ’emotional’ connection that made Shade so worried about her whenever she sent her on a separate mission. It was lacking…for me.
Lastly, and my biggest concern with this series, is the inability of the MC to cast any kind of major spell and her failure to plan for anything besides honey for the Pixie. Having read a few of the reviews for later books in the series, it seems my concerns may be well-founded. But I’ll leave it at that for now.
To Sum Up (too late!)
Overall, this is a decent mystery set in an interesting world with a lot of potential. It could go either way, but based on this book alone, I do recommend it for someone looking for another good urban fantasy mystery series. With all that in mind, I rated it 3.5 stars.
About the Author
Jennifer Blackstream is a USA Today bestselling author of urban fantasy and paranormal romance. She is amazed and grateful to have made a writing career out of a Master’s degree in Psychology, hours of couch-detecting watching Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, and endless research into mythology and fairy tales. She firmly believes that whether it’s a village witch deciding she wants to be a private investigator, or a single mother having a go at being a full time writer, it’s never too late for a new adventure.
A fervent devotee of cooperative board games, Jennifer sets aside at least two nights a week for team-based adventures such as Mice & Mystics, Sentinels of the Multiverse, or Harry Potter: Battle at Hogwarts. She uses games with dice-based mechanics to lure in her ridiculously lucky-rolling son and daughter in the hope that they too will develop a passion for cooperative escapism. Her website is here.
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