Saturday, May 30, 2015

Book Review: THE HANGED MAN(Her Majesty's Psychic Service,#1) by P.N. Elrod


Publisher:Tor Books
Publication: May 19, 2015
Genre: Historical Fiction, PNR, Fantasy
Source: Print ARC
Rating: 4 Stars

Add to Goodreads: http://bit.ly/1dCmbYz

Blurb:
On a freezing Christmas Eve in 1879, a forensic psychic reader is summoned from her Baker Street lodgings to the scene of a questionable death. Alexandrina Victoria Pendlebury (named after her godmother, the current Queen of England) is adamant that the death in question is a magically compromised murder and not a suicide, as the police had assumed, after the shocking revelation contained by the body in question, Alex must put her personal loss aside to uncover the deeper issues at stake, before more bodies turn up.

Turning to some choice allies—the handsome, prescient Lieutenant Brooks, the brilliant, enigmatic Lord Desmond, and her rapscallion cousin James—Alex will have to marshal all of her magical and mental acumen to save Queen and Country from a shadowy threat. Our singular heroine is caught up in this rousing gaslamp adventure of cloaked assassins, meddlesome family, and dark magic.

"Murder, mayhem and tea—a well-bred Victorian urban fantasy thriller. Prepare, o reader, to be enthralled."—Patricia Briggs, #1 New York Times Best Selling Author of the Mercy Thompson series on P.N. Elrod's The Hanged Man

Review: 
The Hanged Man was such a fun filled mystery full of witty characters, romance, and a storyline that just begs to be read. Set in the Victoria Era, we meet Alexandrina, a psychic who is known as a Reader. The Reader's job is to read the emotions at crime scenes. By doing that, she's able to help solve whatever crime has happened at the time. I've seen other reviewers say that this is a little similar to Sherlock Holmes; which is pretty cool. 

The characters and plot are so well developed that I had a tough time putting the book down. I wanted to know what happened next; I had to know what happened next. Alex gets called upon to do a reading for man who has commuted suicide. It's then that she realizes that maybe not all things are what they seem. We are in thrown into a whirlwind of action and it feels like at times you really don't know who to trust. I thought the mystery aspect was spot on and I loved the urban fantasy vibes we got from the book. In fact, I would go as far as to say that the book seemed a little bit more fantasy than mystery. Which there's nothing wrong with that because I love fantasy!

Alex is a likable enough heroine. She's smart and well developed. I enjoyed watching her grow as a character and of course the romance was good. I think I could have used more of it, but for the most part it was decent. The book sets up for future installments which I'm excited about. The world building was phenomenal and I can't wait until I can find back into the world Elrod has created. 

Overall, I recommend this to any and all who enjoy a good historical mystery that has fantasy like elements and good plot line twists, with that wonderful dash of romance. Come get lost in this magical world!

*Thank you to the publisher for providing a copy for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Buy Links:



About this author
Patricia Nead Elrod is an American fantasy writer specializing in novels about vampires. Her work falls into areas of fantasy and (in some cases) mystery or historical fiction, but normally not horror, since her vampires are the heroes. -Wikipedia
SHARE:

No comments

Post a Comment

© The Lovely Books. All rights reserved.
BLOGGER TEMPLATE CREATED BY pipdig