Friday, December 29, 2017

BOOK REVIEW for "The Devil's Eye (Maddy Wimsey, #1)" by J.R. Rain & Matthew S. Cox

*****(5) of 5 Stars!

SYNOPSIS


Detective Madeline Wimsey tends to stand out with her wild red hair, pentacle amulets, and offbeat methods, but she has a tool few other cops use ― magic. 

Maddy knows the universe wants to balance itself out, so she isn’t above tossing around a spell or two whenever a killer’s karma needs a little nudge in the right direction. As a member of a practicing coven, she’s used to strange looks, hushed whispers, and rolled eyes, but couldn’t care less what people think of her. 

After a man turns up dead in a grisly satanic rite, her fellow detectives are quick to crack jokes. Since they can’t tell a pentacle from a pentagram, Maddy’s happy to get the case. She suspects the ritual to be the work of amateurs, a theory that pans out when they track down the pack of clueless high school students who made the shrine in the woods. Convinced all is not as it appears to be, Maddy asks the Goddess for a push in the right direction and learns a disturbing truth: 

The Devil’s Eye is watching her.

REVIEW

I was quite intrigued by this new series, and rightfully so!  The authors have created a powerful character in the persona of Maddy Wimsey.  Not only is she a good cop who has worked her way up to become a good detective, she is a practicing witch who isn't afraid to use her magic when she feels it might be helpful.  Unfortunately for Maddy, the universe tends to lead her to clues, not spell things out for her; so she does end up doing quite a bit of genuine detective work along the way.  The actual story behind the mysterious crime ended up being quite a bit more convoluted than I would have imagined, making for an intriguing story on the way to finding out what really happened.  

We get at least a glimpse of several people in Maddy's life through the course of the story, mostly in her police squad and her coven.  The former seemed to be fleshed out a bit more, but then again she did spend quite a bit of time with them, since the focus of the story was on the mysterious death.  The latter group had it's fair share of interesting characters with intriguing backstories, of which I suspect we will be learning quite a bit more in future volumes of this series.  Maddy had two especially good, solid relationships: her boyfriend Caius and her partner Rick; both of which provided sharp dialogue and entertaining interaction.  My favorite character by far, however, was Maddy's hair, which she treats throughout the book as a separate entity having a mind of it's own.  

I definitely enjoyed the read and certainly look forward to reading more stories in the Maddy Wimsey series!  
~
I received a free eBook copy of this title from the author 
and have willingly provided an honest review.

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