Comeuppance Served Cold
In this thrilling mystery, the end is shown at the beginning: a woman leaves another woman dead on a couch. As she leaves the house and walks down the street, she shape-shifts into the form of a specific man, letting witnesses see someone else limp from the crime scene. Then she enters a waiting taxi and speeds away. Of course, we don’t know who these two women are, nor the identity of the man implicated for the crime. Now the story.
In Seattle, 1929, Dolly White is hired by Ambrose Earnshaw, the wealthy Commissioner of Magi, to watch over his daughter, Fiona, before her soon-to-occur nuptials. Fiona has been spending too much time at a speakeasy and is addicted to the dangerous shimmer-sham drug. Dolly gets Fiona off the drug while avoiding Fiona’s creepy, magic-wielding brother, who seems intent on ruining Dolly’s virtue.
The African American owner of the speakeasy, Violet, struggles balancing the dangers of her illegal business, looking after her brother, a shape-shifter, and his lover, an artist of magical tattoos. She also must deal with issues of race, gender, homosexuality and bias against shape-shifters. And now, a battle has begun between two murderous groups over the illegal shimmer-sham trade. Violet’s family, as well as the Earnshaws, find themselves in the middle.
This mystery-heist-fantasy novel is excellent! Deeds creates a believable, alternative, Depression-era Seattle with interesting characters and suspense that just doesn’t quit. I read the whole thing in a day. The main character turns out to be named “Comeuppance” (thus the title), and I eagerly await more of what I assume is a series about this intriguing and mysterious grifter.
