Laura Laakso

The writing itself was enjoyable and I was intrigued by the magical world and the MC and her magic.
Sadly the main focus of the book is on the murder mystery which itself is founded on an absurd level of incompetence and ignorance of the police as well as various other investigative instances.
The book for example describes recognizing that the body has been moved after death as a very smart discovery that the authorities missed completely.
The entire case is crammed full of contradictions and oddities that are so obvious a child could have spotted most of them after having watched a single episode of a crime tv show.
I guess the book title already tells all.
There are of course many other possibilities to explain why nobody spotted any of this or was made to
ignore it all. But all of them leave the plot in an entirely unbelievable state. If multiple governments were corrupt to the point of just covering up a prominent murder like that without even bothering to hide the evidence of the coverup then why the hell does nobody know that the governments are corrupt to the core?
Or if it was all covered up by super duper special magic despite the book starting out with claiming that there is an institution of magical investigators known for being completely infallible then, again, how did nobody figure out that you can fool those supposedly magic-immune investigators with magic?
Regardless of how I look at it, there is no possible way for this plot to make any sense. All the options require accepting something completely absurd and/or contradictory at some point.

Beyond this problem, the clues are anything but subtle. Guilty people behave excessively suspiciously while innocent people might as well have a halo and angel wings.
The only reason the reader can't resolve the mystery immediately is simply a lack of general information on how things work. How the magic works. How law enforcement is organized etc.

I personally like my mysteries with a lot more subtlety and actually well-hidden bread crumbs and clues.… (mehr)

I read this book for an event I am hosting in September and will be posting my review as part of the event.

The aim of GeekDis is to discuss disability representation in pop culture from the perspective of the disability community and to spread awareness about why accurate representation is so important.

I'm inviting anyone who identifies as neurodivergent or disabled to join in the event in September.

Information on how to take part, including collaborative topics with other bloggers can be found at the GeekDis Information Hub!

Hope to see you there!… (mehr)

I read this book for an event I am hosting in September and will be posting my review as part of the event.

The aim of GeekDis is to discuss disability representation in pop culture from the perspective of the disability community and to spread awareness about why accurate representation is so important.

I'm inviting anyone who identifies as neurodivergent or disabled to join in the event in September.

Information on how to take part, including collaborative topics with other bloggers can be found at the GeekDis Information Hub!

Hope to see you there!… (mehr)

It can be hard to review a book that is completely out of your comfort zone and Fallible Justice, on the face of it, is just not my kind of read. I struggle generally with fantasy, Harry Potter being the most I can usually handle. But.......I have to say that Fallible Justice was very readable, even for this non-fantasy reader.

Yannia Wilde is our protagonist. She's a PI in Old London (as opposed to New London) but she's the only Wild Folk living there, the rest being part of a conclave elsewhere. She has her reasons for being in Old London but she does find herself attracting attention, mostly unwanted.

I loved her friendship with Karrion, who at the start of the story becomes her apprentice. They have a real rapport and I can see that what was set up at the beginning of this series will last and grow in future books.

Yannia and Karrion take on a case to try and prove the innocence of a man who has been found guilty of a terrible crime. This is where the title comes from as Heralds have given the verdict and they are never wrong. Or are they? Is their justice fallible after all? Their journey towards finding the truth is fascinating and there's enough of a foot in reality that I didn't feel too overawed by the fantasy elements.

It took me a little longer than normal to read this book, I think because I needed to fully understand all that was happening and get to grips with the magic and the paranormal and Yannia's sensory skills which allow her to borrow the nose of a nearby animal. I'm sure seasoned fantasy fans would race through it though.

Overall, I think this is an accomplished debut and a must for fans of the genre. I found myself very interested in the mixture of magic and reality, and in Yannia's back story.… (mehr)