Published: August 29, 2023
Publisher: Tor Books
Series: Edinburgh Nights #3
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 240 (eBook)
My Rating: 3.5 Stars
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis:
Duels, magic, and plenty of ghosts await in The Mystery at Dunvegan Castle, the third book of T. L. Huchu’s USA Today bestselling Edinburgh Nights series.
Everyone’s favorite fifteen-year-old ghosttalker, Ropa, arrives at the worldwide Society of Skeptical Enquirers’ biennial conference just in time to be tied into a mystery—a locked room mystery, if an entire creepy haunted castle on lockdown counts. One of the magical attendees has stolen a valuable magical scroll.
Caught between Qozmos, the high wizard of Ethiopian magic, the larger-than-life Lord Sashvindu Samarasinghe, England’s Sorcerer Royal, and Scotland’s own Hamish Manas MacLeod, it’s up to Ropa (and Jomo and Priya) to sort through the dangerous secret politics and alliances to figure out what really happened. But she has a special tool—the many ghosts tied to the ancient, powerful castle.
I’ve really enjoyed this odd little series, and I was delighted to see that The Mystery at Dunvegan Castle was a locked room mystery! I love a good whodunnit, especially when it’s mixed in with plenty of fantasy elements to further complicate matters. This time, rather than exploring the streets of Edinburgh, Ropa is on the Isle of Skye at Dunvegan Castle preparing for the big meeting of Scottish practitioners. Though she is Sir Ian Callendar’s assistant, she’s been drafted to assist in the set up of the meeting.
Things are going well enough until a murder occurs and a magical scroll is stolen right from beneath their noses. The Ethiopian magicians who gifted the scroll are up in arms, threatening to tear the castle apart and, to make matters worse, England’s Sorcerer Royal showed up to join the party too. Ropa is charged with investigation while Sir Callendar holds up the barrier that prevents anyone from leaving – something he must stay awake to do.
This installment is a lot less… weird than the previous two books. In fact, though I love a locked room mystery, this was not the setting in which Ropa excels and as a result I was less enthused by this book than I thought I would be. She’s surrounded by ‘real’ practitioners who largely don’t respect her and her only supporters are Priya and Jomo since Callendar’s otherwise occupied. This paradigm shift will ultimately change the direction of the series going forward and I’m curious to see where Ropa goes from here.
Overall, I enjoyed this story though it lacked the good weirdness that made me enjoy the previous two installments so much. In a way, this seems like it’s a bridge leading to a new path for Ropa in any future installments. Ropa’s voice was smothered by the traditional magicians and the requirement that she be properly professional and, well, I see what the author was doing but it made for a less enjoyable read.
**You can also check out my reviews of The Library of the Dead and Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments**
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