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Title: Dead Letter
Series: Arcane Casebook #0
Author: Dan Willis
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 96
Words: 31.2K
| Synopsis: |
In 1930 New York, the sorcerers are the powerhouses of magic and the runwrights are the poor cousins. Private detective Alex Lockerby is definitely in the latter category, plying his meager magic skills to help people the regular cops ignore while barely making ends meet.
What Alex needs is a break. Just one good case to get his name out there and start bringing in business. When ambitious beat cop Danny Pak gets stuck trying to solve a John Doe murder, it might just be the break Alex has been looking for.
As Alex and Danny team up they begin to unravel a tale murder, jealousy, and revenge stretching back over 30 years. A tale powerful forces don’t want to come to light. Now the cop and the private detective must work fast and watch each other’s backs if they hope to catch a killer and live to tell about it.
Alex meets Leslie, Danny and his sister Amy and several of the cops we know from the series.
| My Thoughts: |
I didn’t bother with putting up the conclusion to the “mystery” as it was almost more of a side note that was the vehicle to introduce us to all these various characters.
In that regards, this novella was a complete success. Even while Leslie (the secretary) is leaving the series in book 4, it was still nice to see how she and Alex were introduced. Amy was a fun include, even though she has zero presence in the series. Danny, I have to admit, I was hoping for more of a connection between him and Alex. They came across as just 2 people helping each other out rather than friends, but now that I write that, that is how it comes across in later books as well.
Alex is a loner and while he intersects with other people, he doesn’t seem to need a group of friends. I can totally relate to that 😀
★★★☆½
Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road 
Sometimes these novellas are nice just for a bit of a “snack” read in a series when you’re waiting on the next book. I’m glad this one did that much, at least.
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I also felt like it eased me off the storyline so I’m not obsessing about not having more to read 🙂
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Oh that helps too!
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I like the sound of “a tale murder, jealousy, and revenge stretching back over 30 years”! 🙂
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I’ve been enjoying the “mystery” side of these books as well.
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I like the occasional novella inserted into a series I’m enjoying, as long as it adds something to the world and not just there for the sake of it!
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This is definitely a helpful novella, and considering it is free, is probably used a promo to get people hooked on the series.
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Did it seem like the author was trying to accomplish anything in particular with this novella? Like try a different style? Or maybe introduce an origin story that wasn’t included in the series? 😛
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He didn’t try anything like that. In fact, most of it is just fleshing out what you hear about in the later books. I think its more of a marketing thing, as he is giving it away for free on his website.
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