‘Murder at the Kinnen Hotel’ Book Review

Mount Readmore Book Review, 2018 82/200

Murder at the Kinnen Hotel by Brian McClellan

Audiobook Edition

Finished on 5/29/2018

Goodreads

Description:

Special Detective Constable Adamat may be the most capable young investigator in all of Adopest. He’s sharp, thoughtful, and his particular sorcery gives him a flawless memory. A transfer to the First Precinct seems like the perfect opportunity to showcase his abilities and advance his career.

But things work differently in the First Precinct. The murder of a businessman’s mistress quickly pulls Adamat into an unexpected world of conspiracy and politics where he’s forced to use all his wits to stay one step ahead of unseen enemies and keep his friends—and himself—from the guillotine.

Occurs twenty-two years before the events in Promise of Blood.

Genres: Fantasy, Novella, Crime, Mystery, locked room mystery, Powder Mage

A good old fashioned crime-solving adventure- with magic guns!

Spoiler-ific review

This is my favorite Powder Mage Novella I’ve read so far. Featuring Constable Adamat (my favorite character in the series), this is a classic locked-room mystery. One of Adamat’s old friends has been framed for the murder of his mistress. The suspect is discovered in the locked room with both a gun and a woman with a hole in her chest, and it’s up to Adamat to prevent his friend from having his head cut off.

I like mystery novels. This was a good one, reminding me of a Sherlock Holmes novel but with sorcery. If I were to critique the old Holmes novels, I would say they are usually rather low on non-mystery plot, sticking to mystery instead. That’s not a bad thing, but I like my books to have slightly broader plotlines. This book contains such a broad outline, with the plot continuing to develop even after the initial crime which triggered the mystery.

Highly recommended.

Stay Sunny!