This review of The Raven Spell by Luanne G. Smith first appeared in Historical Novels Review February 2022. As you will notice, I enjoyed this Victorian murder mystery with magic.
Page-Turner Mystery
With page-turning effect, The Raven Spell combines vividly portrayed Victorian London, a serial murder mystery, a detective with amnesia, and witches. Within the realistically depicted historical setting, Smith includes people with magical abilities whom the larger society loosely knows about, but scorns and fears. For example, a separate constabulary handles magical situations, but publicly doing magic is forbidden. Magic has layers, and the oldest forms are viewed with suspicion even by fellow witches and wizards. Therefore, sisters Mary and Edwina Blackwood conceal their ancient magic. Smith reveals the nature of that lineage gradually, skillfully spinning out the tension as Edwina presses Mary to restrain her mysterious needs.
A Taste of Darkness
Smith includes hints about the dark nature of their magic in the opening scene along the Thames where the sisters search the mud for valuables thrown up by the river:
…her sister ran toward her with her skirt hiked to her knees and her shawl fluttering off her shoulders. Blessed Mother, what trouble has she found now?
“It’s a man,” Mary said, breathing hard from the exertion.
“Dead?” He’d have to be for Mary to exude such enthusiasm.
“Near enough.” Mary pressed her lips tight together, as if it might make her wish come true. “His is the shiniest one yet. Come see.”
Sisters in Conflict
One “trouble” is a detective whose memories Mary extracts prematurely. Mary collects shiny “baubles” full of memories of the dead, a fascinating premise. When the detective awakens without memory, Edwina acts as her sister’s moral conscience—complicated by the detective’s hunt for a serial murderer with links to the sisters’ shop. The ballooning conflict between the sisters, set against the close childhood bond formed as they faced off against the world, serves as the central driver of this excellent mystery.
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Here for a review of another Victorian fantasy series by Leanna Renee Hieber.