A lively and atmospheric occult mystery with a main character who’s as hellish as she is human.
A half-demon private investigator takes on her strangest case yet in Sfetsos’ fast-paced, witty, and darkly charming urban fantasy.
Destiny Sagar, a “Private Investigator of the Weird Kind,” is accustomed to tracking cursed artifacts, shapeshifters who’ve gone missing, and the occasional hexed heirloom. But when a mysterious caller says, “I need you to find me an angel,” her professional detachment falters. That request sets off a chain of encounters that test both her control over her demonic powers and her faith in the human world she’s tried to make her home. The story unfolds in a well-rendered mix of noir grit and occult mystery. Sfetsos’ world is full of witches, selkies, and other beings hiding behind magical glamours. Early scenes establish Destiny’s duality—her horns, tail, and cloven hooves concealed by jeans and sarcasm—as she battles both inner rage and outer danger. A nun named Sister Trinity appears, and her calm conceals a darker truth; Destiny’s immediate reaction—“A nun didn’t shed ash for no reason”—signals that nothing in this world is as it seems. The uneasy partnership between the half-demon and the possibly fallen holy woman drives the bulk of the story, which thrives on tension between faith and corruption, morality and instinct. Sfetsos keeps readers off-balance with flickers of religious horror, sharp banter, and moments of genuine pathos as Destiny wonders whether she can still claim a soul. The supporting cast is well-drawn: Zenda, Destiny’s mentor and surrogate mother, grounds the narrative with warmth and wit, while Kenan, her erudite partner, provides a gentler counterpoint. The author uses their dynamic to add a romantic undercurrent that never overwhelms the plot but gives it emotional heft. As the novel moves toward its conclusion, Destiny confronts her origins and the blurred line between heaven and hell. The story’s spiritual undercurrents bloom in its haunting final act, where an angel’s quiet greeting—“It’s nice to finally meet you, Horned Lady”—becomes an unexpected exchange of grace. “The way to Hell is paved with souls,” Destiny reflects, closing a tale that merges noir fatalism with hope.
A lively and atmospheric occult mystery with a main character who’s as hellish as she is human.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2025
ISBN: 9781963355390
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Brigids Gate Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 24, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Enough clues, red herrings, and false endings to make readers feel that the Orient Express has put out to sea.
A luxury liner bound for New York in 1924 becomes the scene of a twisty golden age pastiche.
When an unnamed third-class passenger discovers the body of an elderly man at the bottom of an exterior flight of stairs aboard the Endeavour, Capt. McCrory insists it must be an accident. But James Temple, a Scotland Yard detective who just happens to be aboard, says that no one would have ventured to the outdoor steps in the rain without a coat, so the death should be treated as suspicious. Unable to stop Temple from investigating, McCrory assigns ship’s officer Timothy Birch to accompany him, and Birch promptly becomes the world’s most unwilling Dr. Watson, constantly battling Temple over theories and procedures. Anxious that they have only four days to find a potential killer before the ship docks and lets its 2,000 passengers roam free in New York, he’s especially infuriated at the leisurely pace marked by Temple’s bromide, “Facts before witnesses.” There’s reason to sympathize with Temple, because the suspects in first and second class (the only classes that matter in this ultra-class-conscious world) are cardboard cutouts—the successful banker, his trophy wife, the aspiring artists, the gallery owner—who are much less interesting than the secrets they’re hiding. In his most anachronistic development, author Hindle shows Birch, unlike the imperturbable sidekicks he echoes, sunk in grief over his vanished daughter, Amelia, and his estranged wife, Kate, who left him after Amelia disappeared during one of his ocean voyages. He’d do anything to get his daughter back, he tells Temple, and his determination leads to the biggest surprise of all.
Enough clues, red herrings, and false endings to make readers feel that the Orient Express has put out to sea.Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
ISBN: 9798217185740
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: July 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2026
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.
On the orders of her mother, a woman goes to dragon-riding school.
Even though her mother is a general in Navarre’s army, 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail was raised by her father to follow his path as a scribe. After his death, though, Violet's mother shocks her by forcing her to enter the elite and deadly dragon rider academy at Basgiath War College. Most students die at the War College: during training sessions, at the hands of their classmates, or by the very dragons they hope to one day be paired with. From Day One, Violet is targeted by her classmates, some because they hate her mother, others because they think she’s too physically frail to succeed. She must survive a daily gauntlet of physical challenges and the deadly attacks of classmates, which she does with the help of secret knowledge handed down by her two older siblings, who'd been students there before her. Violet is at the mercy of the plot rather than being in charge of it, hurtling through one obstacle after another. As a result, the story is action-packed and fast-paced, but Violet is a strange mix of pure competence and total passivity, always managing to come out on the winning side. The book is categorized as romantasy, with Violet pulled between the comforting love she feels from her childhood best friend, Dain Aetos, and the incendiary attraction she feels for family enemy Xaden Riorson. However, the way Dain constantly undermines Violet's abilities and his lack of character development make this an unconvincing storyline. The plots and subplots aren’t well-integrated, with the first half purely focused on Violet’s training, followed by a brief detour for romance, and then a final focus on outside threats.
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374042
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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