Book Reviews

Review: The Starseekers

Sometimes, it pays to pick out a book that seems outside your usual reading list. For me, that was how I discovered the joy that is The Starseekers: A Historical Fantasy of Magic, Murder, and the Race to the Moon. It may be my favorite book since I started reviewing books for Cozying Up.

The fourth Murder & Magic Novel from Nicole Glover, The Starseekers is part Hidden Figures, part Lessons in Chemistry, and part Indiana Jones in a world where magic exists. Like the women in Hidden Figures, Cynthia Rhodes works for NASA doing incredibly complex mathematical computations as part of the space race in the 1960s. What's different is that she is an arcane engineer whose specialty is the application of the mystical to the scientific. Her preferred type of magic uses inks and cards, but other forms of magic like wands, etc. are used by others.

Cynthia also co-hosts an educational magic show at the local television station with Theo Danner, a professor of arcane archeology that she has known since they were young. When their show taping is interrupted by a strange man under a curse, the two of them begin investigating a mystery that includes a theft and eventually a death. In addition, as the investigation progresses, Cynthia and Theo also discover their mutual attraction.

The supporting characters include lots of family, friends, and co-workers—all wonderfully fleshed out and interesting. My only small nit is that because there are so many, I would sometimes get confused as to who was who, especially if the character hadn't shown up in a while. Luckily, Glover provides a family tree for the Rhodes family so you can check to see who is who within that framework.

The storytelling in this book is first rate. I found myself thinking about the plot whenever I wasn't actually reading it. I couldn't wait to find out the next part of the story! I was hooked completely almost instantly.

The Starseekers is a standalone book, but I definitely plan to read the first three books in the Murder & Magic Novel series. Nicole Glover is a fabulous author and I can't wait to escape into another one of her books.