A murder in a school for witches. To get the murderer, they need someone from the outside. Someone who is not one of them. Ivy Gamble, P.I., will solve this case.
Ivy is happy with her life, until she gets a visit from the headmistress of the Osthorne Academy for young Mages. One of their teachers, Sylvia Capley, was found death in the academy library and she does not believe the report the NMIS – National Mage Investigative Service – gave her, that it was just a magic accident.
Now, Ivy is going to a place she swore she would never set a foot in and she has to face her sister Tabitha, who is a teacher at the Academy. If taking on a murder case, which she usually does not do, talking to her sister seems to be harder than working on a case she did not ask for.
Sarah Gailey’s magic crime book is a mix of Blood Ties meets Veronica Mars with a bit of Harry Potter sprinkled in throughout the page. Be aware that it may sound obvious in which direction the story might go, but trust me, you will get it wrong a few times. Another similarity is that there is a chosen one who will be the most powerful mag of our time. This person is revealed pretty early on within the story and does turn out to be an important clue to the story. However, it does kind of feel misplaced with everything else going on.
The most interesting part in the story is the fact that mags are capable of doing some really cool things, even curing people. However, this is only possible until a certain point when everything goes sideways. This is something that is usually not a topic in a magic story, or it is said that it just is not possible. But here, it is and this is what makes Magic for Liars special.
How far would you go to heal a person? How much are you willing to risk?
Magic For Liars is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers. If you want to know more about Gailey and the other books she has written, visit her website.
Will you be reading Magic For Liars? Or have you already? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
Ivy Gamble has never wanted to be magic. She is perfectly happy with her life—she has an almost-sustainable career as a private investigator, and an empty apartment, and a slight drinking problem. It’s a great life and she doesn’t wish she was like her estranged sister, the magically gifted professor Tabitha.
But when Ivy is hired to investigate the gruesome murder of a faculty member at Tabitha’s private academy, the stalwart detective starts to lose herself in the case, the life she could have had, and the answer to the mystery that seems just out of her reach.
Great review! I just wanted to let you know that Sarah Gailey actually uses they/them pronouns and not she/her as you used above. 🙂