marycatelli: (Golden Hair)
marycatelli ([personal profile] marycatelli) wrote in [community profile] books2019-05-08 08:19 pm

Ghost of a Chance

Ghost of a Chance by Dan Willis

Arcane Casebook book 2, with some connection to the earlier book.

It opens with Alex handling a case of missing property, proving that a servant didn't steal a brooch. Alas for the servant, it proves to be a fake -- the owner had sold the gems for the money -- and so the servant and her husband, also working for the couple are out their wages and can't pay him.

A police officer calls him on a murder case -- someone else's, he's to help the widow -- and it's another of the cases attributed to a ghost who gets in and out without a trace. And meanwhile, there is a series of strange thefts, and Alex is suffering badly from trembling hands, thus making making runes difficult for him.

It involves a sorcerer whose invention is to pull trains, an apprentice alchemist who is not related to her mentor, a trip to an excellent restaurant, a theory about drilling into banks, a kidnapping victim, and more.
mirlacca: still blue flowers (Default)

[personal profile] mirlacca 2019-05-10 05:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks for this review--this sounds almost like the Lord Darcy books, only American, early 20th century. I got this and the first book as well on the strength of this--never think reviews don't count!