Psychic Virginia Dean is a member of the Leybrook Institute, a competitor of the Arcane Society. The only real difference between the two is that people of the Institute are in trade (they sell their services) and the Society is made up of the hoity-toity nobility. When two of the Institutes psychics are murdered, the J&J Agency (owned by the new leader of the Arcane Society) hires Owen Sweetwater to investigate the paranormal deaths. Since Virginia is such a strong practitioner, Owen seeks her assistance in deciphering mirror-magic which is at the root of the crimes. Of course, Virginia becomes a target of the killer and Owen must save her life.
I enjoyed the romance between Owen and Virginia which is strange since there was little animosity or snark between them. The mystery was intriguing and rather difficult to unravel. I particularly liked the evil clockwork curiosities, a very clever creation.
I always enjoy the Amanda Quick books and this was no exception. Old England mixed with psychic powers. I love how the romance flows through her books.
You either love or hate Amanda Quick and all her 'aka's' I love her books and I always know that any and all problems will be resolved. It has been interesting to follow this plot through past, present and into the future. I love the concept and since I really enjoy all genres of books, this has been a great series for me.
Virginia and Owen are a great match, they can figure out everything but how much they are growing to love each other. Virginia's ability to see what has happened in the mirrors that hang anywhere can provide Owen with the clues he needs to "hunt" murderers. The make a great team to identify who is murdering looking glass readers in Victorian London. Owen's family is concerned because he is beginning to Nightwalk - a sign that he is losing control of this talent.
The Sweetwaters are a psychic family that does not belong to Arcane - they can be hired to hunt for psychic criminals and their association with Arcane is through Jones & Jones. Virginia is not a member of Arcane - she does not trust them and she believes that Owen is determing to expose her as a fraud, just has he has done with two other psychics.
Owen knows the Virginia is the real deal and asks for her help to track down the person who murdered the other two women - he also thinks that Virginia is part of the plot.
If you read Amanda Quick you have to know that all her books have an independent woman who is self sufficient and knows how to take care of herself. Virginia likes her life, she is just curious about men and would like to have more information on how men and women interact OR maybe she just needs to go to the doctor who handles women with hysteria problems - who knows?
This was fun and interesting - I'm waiting for the next story. Enjoy!
