The In Crowd by Charlotte Vassell

The In Crowd by Charlotte Vassell

by CarolNo Comments
I wish I had read The Other Half, the first in the Detective Inspector Caius Beauchamp series, before picking up The In Crowd. Not that The In Crowd doesn't work as a stand-alone, it does, but Caius is a full, rich character, the kind you appreciate more the more time you spend with them. His interactions with his staff, Matt Chung and Amy Noakes, are well done, too. I also feel like some of the other characters had parts in the first case that I missed. This time around, Caius is working on two cases: the death of a woman who had been the girlfriend of a missing man suspected of stealing pension fund assets and the disappearance of a girl from boarding school years ago. The mysteries are complex and and the twists were incorporated well, and I liked how certain things pulled together. Honestly, though, it's Caius himself that would make me come back to the series....
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In the Shadow of Lightning by Brian McClellan

In the Shadow of Lightning by Brian McClellan

by Carol2 Comments
In the Shadow of Lightning started with a powerful prologue, a battle scene that introduces our main character, Demir Grappo, and gives us insight into both his personality and his power. Then we skip nine years. Demir's mother has been killed and as her heir, he returns to the city to take the reigns of the family and to find out who ordered the attack. And there's a war going on, sparked by his mother's assassination. The magic is based on godglass. Different types of glass can give people enhanced abilities or cause restrictions. Wit glass for example makes one think quicker while shackle glass will allow the wearer to only tell the truth. Most everyone can use the glass, although there are some who are immune to its effects. I like that about the magic, everyone has access - if you can afford it. There are also glassdancers who can manipulate plain glass, mostly using shards of it to kill...
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