Zoe Faust has lived
for centuries as an alchemist, wandering the world to hide who she is. But
since arriving in Portland and with her new housemate, Dorian the immortal
living gargoyle, she’s starting to put down roots, make friends and even a
family.
But one of the
cornerstones of her wandering is that her old friend and mentor, the alchemist
Nicholas Flamel, abandoned her. Now she learns he may have been imprisoned over
the centuries - centuries waiting for her to rescue him. She has to act, even
under the shadow of a suspicious death and through some very shady art dealing
This series probably
epitomises “cozy mystery”. It’s not action packed. It’s not full of death
defying feats and we don’t even have a huge amount of scary tension - albeit
still with a few to maintain the stakes and not remove from the fact it is a
murder mystery
That’s not because
it’s boring - far from it - but because it’s story doesn’t rest on blood
fizzing and massive drama even while we still have carefully maintained threads.
It’s not a book that nails you to your seat, but it is a book you can coil up
in your seat and relax
I really like how Zoe
and co manage to be pulled into the murders of this series. A lot of the time
with cozy mysteries it’s a little weird how we get these protagonists involved
in the mystery - and why the police even tolerate their presence - or why they
don’t mind their own business, especially when Zoe has such a big secret to
keep - her immortality and, therefore, fraudulent identity.
But by linking the
murders to Alchemy and, more importantly, giving the characters a mystery that
is more relevant to them (the abduction of the famed Alchemist, Nicholas
Flamel) we get a lot more personalised motive to actually get involved in
the mystery. At times it seems odd compared to the rest of the genre - because
there’s a murder and Zoe & co all seem far more interested finding a
painting which may lead them to Nicholas than they are about the dead man. It
almost feels callous - until you remember just how ridiculous it is for the man
in the street to decide to just muscle their way into a police investigation
(especially lacking appropriate investigative skills despite Dorian’s
enthusiasm). Instead they involve themselves where they should be and where
they are the most invested and where they have the relevant skills
Zoe and Tobias
struggle with protecting their secret identities and have a very good reason to
avoid police scrutiny with them being decades or hundreds of years old and
Tobias’s identity definitely frays around the edges. This book also follows on
the previous two books of Zoe trying to put down roots, make friends and have
an actual home. We saw this building over the last two books and this time it
grows further - but Tobias is a walking warning as to how hard that can be,
newly bereaved after the death of his wife, grieving but having to desperately
do so in secret or at least hiding the identity of who his elderly wife was.
Zoe herself is opening her life considerably - with old friends coming back,
with Tobias present and with her secret being known by more people, Zoe’s life
is changing a lot. But how much in her control and how much safely is still to
be seen. Zoe is definitely launching into a very uncertain future.
I do like how the age
of these characters factors in - we have Zoe’s suspicion, inability to
necessarily connect with modern technology along with her many memories that
interspace the story. We have Tobias and his history as an escaped slave and
the scars he still lives with. Even subtle elements like Dorian not accepting
the idea that a teenager is a child and shouldn’t be treated as an adult or
assume the dangers as an adult. We also have some really interesting flashbacks
which address alchemy, art - but also class and gender as well.
This all combines
with some really beautiful writing about art (which I found fascinating despite
my general disinterest in art) and a general artful pacing which managed to not
be full of action and tension but is still compelling and interesting and fun
to follow.
Tobias is a Black man
as well as Zoe’s old friend and fellow Alchemist with different skills. What I
like especially is not only is he a prominent Black character and a clear and
valued friend of Zoe’s but he also doesn’t always follow her lead, will
sometimes do his own thing and will often not feel the need to consult or
otherwise work with Zoe when pursuing his own leads. We also have more
expansion of Max’s role, Zoe’s boyfriend and an Asian man, including his very excellent
mother and sister. What is less ideal is that these two women actually feel far
more fleshed out than Max himself. I get that Max loves Zoe… I get that Zoe
loves Max and I get that Max is moderate sceptical when it comes to the
supernatural. But that’s kind of all I know about him and it feels like he’s
still a blank slate. I feel more connected to the new female detective who
teamed up with Zoe and was more than a little awesome.
There are no LGBTQ
characters
This series continues
to be fun. It’s an amusing read with great characters and a really original
concept - from the sentient gargoyle to the very idea of basing the series on
alchemy. Having a supernatural system with very little in the way of overt
magic but a more subtle low key use of power - and on the third book we are
opening up new directions of investigating, widening the series which I think
is very necessary when a book series begins to develop. I look forward to see
where this develops from here. I’m still following this series and enjoying it
immensely
