The Hexologists

Starred review from July 24, 2023
Bancroft (The Fall of Babel) brilliantly inaugurates a new fantasy series with this suspenseful and humorous introduction to “private investigators of the paranormal” Isolde Ann Always Wilby and her husband, Warren, who took her last name when they married. These spell-casting celebrity sleuths get a daunting challenge from Horace Alman, Royal Secretary to Luthland’s King Elbert III. Alman is concerned that the monarch has gone off his rocker after Elbert repeatedly declares that he wants to be “baked into a cake,” and even crawls into an oven to achieve this goal. The secretary traces the king’s mental collapse back to his receipt of a letter from someone purporting to be Elbert’s bastard son, a claim buttressed by the envelope’s having been sealed with a royal signet that went missing 25 years earlier. Isolde and Warren agree to investigate, probing into the letter writer’s identity and motives for coming forward—even when doing so lands them in some supernaturally dangerous situations. This light and charming tale encompasses a twisty mystery, detailed Victorian-esque worldbuilding, and nuanced protagonists who love each other dearly, all relayed in Bancroft’s superior prose. Readers will be eager to see how the series evolves. Agent: Ian Drury, Sheil Land Assoc.

August 1, 2023

Isolde and Warren Wilby, who delve into secrets and solve magical mysteries, find themselves seconded to the Crown in this first entry in a new series. Their mission: to learn who the king's blackmailer is. It should be an easy case to solve, but all the records seem to have disappeared--and all the witnesses seem to have died under mysterious circumstances. Something is rotten in the kingdom of Luthland, but whether it's the blackmailer, the king's past, or the current cover-up is what the Wilbies will have to hunt down, even if their road leads to forbidden magic or the inside of a tomb--possibly their own. Bancroft (The Fall of Babel) writes a gaslamp fantasy world where magic breeds technology and disaster in equal measure, and sometimes the only thing a pair of magical detectives can do is keep digging in hopes of finding the key to each deadly mystery as it attacks with the able assistance of the dragon who lives in their portmanteau. VERDICT This madcap thriller is recommended for readers who can't resist the rising wave of fantasy mystery series.--Marlene Harris

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2023
Married couple Isolde and Warren Wilby, Hexologists and private investigators, must solve a royal mystery before the kingdom collapses into chaos in the first book in a new series. When the royal secretary interrupts the Wilbies' teatime because the king is asking to be baked alive into a cake, it's just a normal day for the magical investigators. It seems a blackmailer's claim of an illegitimate heir is driving the king mad. Iz wants nothing to do with royalty, but Warren reminds her that an unrecognized heir creates a power vacuum, which means Luthland's vulnerable will suffer all the more. When a forest golem breaks down the cellar door and heads straight for the royal secretary, that seals the deal: The Wilbies take the case. Magic exists in the Wilbies' world, one strikingly similar to London during the Industrial Revolution, and Iz is a student of hexegy--the casting of hexes. With Iz's powers and Warren's social skills, as well as a large cast of side characters that includes a librarian, a foodie dragon who lives inside a magic carpetbag full of relics, and an alcoholic imp, the mystery unravels into stranger and stranger revelations. If the Hexologists can't solve the case quickly, it could tear the kingdom apart--literally and figuratively. While the book gets off to a promising start, with action and intrigue bathed in delightfully wry humor, the language soon begins to feel like it's had a wrestling match with a thesaurus. The pacing and clarity sometimes suffer from this cleverness, though the main characters are likable and what you'd expect from a quick-quipping husband-and-wife investigative team. They aren't unique, but they are fun. If Bancroft had spent more time developing them instead of jumping from one side character to another and given them real obstacles instead of a too-convenient history/tool/hex to solve every problem that arises, this book could have been top-notch. As it stands, this magical tale--ultimately about classism and justice--should still find an audience in need of a chuckle and a mystery to solve. Characters and humor make this magic-meets-steampunk novel worth checking out despite its shortcomings.

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August 1, 2023
Isolde and Warren Wilby, the titular hexologists, seem a rather mismatched pair on first introduction--she, brusque and efficient, he, an affable character happy enough to chat with anyone. Mr. Alman, the king's secretary, attempts to hire them to investigate a letter sent by someone claiming to be the king's unacknowledged son. It might be legitimate, because the seal on the letter belongs to a genuine royal signet, which would have significant consequences for the royal succession. Isolde is about to refuse on the grounds that she serves the public and no longer works for the police, when a giant mandrake attacks from inside Isolde's extensive wards and protective hexes. That makes it personal, so they take the case. An entertaining investigative romp ensues, with ever-increasing layers of deception, secrets, and unhinged ambition. As they uncover successive versions of the truth, starting with the king's stay at a hospital that has since been decommissioned, readers meet an assortment of side characters both charming and sinister, along with some likely antagonists for future installments that promise worthy adversaries and wide-reaching plots.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.