Lee Kelly

"Washington, DC, 1926. While sorcery opponents have succeeded in passing the 18th Amendment, the Prohibition of magic has only invigorated the city's underworld... Joan Kendrick, a young sorcerer from the back woods of Norfolk County, accepts an offer to work for DC's most notorious crime syndicate, The Shaw Gang, when her family's home is repossessed. Alex Danfrey, first-year Federal Prohibition Unit trainee with a complicated past and talents of his own, becomes tapped to go undercover and infiltrate the Shaws...when their paths cross at the Shaw's performance venue, [they] become enchanted with one another... And soon...find themselves pitted against one another in a treacherous, heady game of cat-and-mouse"--

A Criminal Magic

In Lee Kelly’s “electric” (Publishers Weekly) fantasy novel, two young sorcerers experiment with magic and mobsters in 1920s Prohibition when a new elixir is created that turns their lives upside down. Washington, DC, 1926. Sorcery opponents have succeeded in passing the 18th Amendment, but the Prohibition of magic has only invigorated the city’s underworld. Smuggling rings carry magic contraband in from the coast. Sorcerers cast illusions to aid mobsters’ crime sprees. Gangs have even established “magic havens,” secret venues where the public can lose themselves in immersive magic and consume a mind-bending, highly addictive elixir known as “the sorcerer’s shine.” Joan Kendrick, a young sorcerer from the backwoods of Norfolk County, accepts an offer to work for DC’s most notorious crime syndicate, The Shaw Gang, when her family’s home is repossessed. Alex Danfrey, first-year Federal Prohibition Unit trainee with a complicated past and talents of his own, becomes tapped to go undercover and infiltrate the Shaws. When Joan meets Alex at the Shaws’ magic haven, she discovers a confidante in her fellow partner and he begins to fall under her spell. But when a new breed of the addictive sorcerer’s shine is created within the walls of the magic haven, Joan and Alex are forced to question their allegiances as they become pitted against one another in a dangerous, heady game of cat-and-mouse.

Sheila

This book wasn't perfect, but I liked it regardless! How the magic worked and the whole ~path to discovery~ for the characters and how their magic was amplified when they worked together rather than individually was fun. Joan was a great MC, & her story arc is a good cautionary tale for how women end up in and come to the realization that they're in an abusive relationship.

Where this book irked me was that the dialogue and language used wasn't of the 1920's! I understand that this is an alternate universe 1920's USA, but given the attention the author tried to pay to get the atmospheric details to evoke the Roaring '20's, the dialogue killed the illusion. That frustrated me more than anything, and I think more attention should've been paid to that. 

Also, I was a little irritated at how the other sorcerers in Joan's troupe were heavily sidelined. I think more could've been done to give them more interactions later in the book, but they were largely ignored aside from - major plot point event - 2/3rds through and the very end.

Overall a fun read though!

A Criminal Magic

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