I received a copy of The Witchkin Murders (Magicfall, Book 1) by Diana Pharaoh Francis from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Overall, this novel missed the mark for me even though the author DOES have a way with words. I felt that the plot should have been interesting given the story's summary, but the plot wasn't evenly paced and the characters were rather flat/unappealing.

I'd give The Witchkin Murders (Magicfall, Book 1) by Diana Pharaoh Francis 3 stars.

The Witchkin Murders is the first installment in author Diana Pharaoh Francis' Magicfall Urban Fantasy series. 4 years ago, the world exploded with wild magic. The cherry on top of that crap cake? The supernatural world declared war on humans, and those like Kayla Reese and Ray Garza found themselves living a different life. Kayla Reese went from a cop to scavenger overnight, while Detective Ray Garza, Kayla's former partner, has been hiding in plain sight with a secret that's too great to reveal to anyone.

For years, Kayla has avoided law enforcement and trouble by keeping mostly to herself and by scavenging for scarce commodities in areas consumed by wild magic. The real story begins when Kayla finds 3 Witchkin murdered and calls Ray to investigate. The human world doesn’t think Witchkin are worthy to protect and serve. The police only protect humans. The Witchkin are little better than vermin. Ray does investigate even though he can’t do it officially. He does it for Kayla who he's still mad at, and wanting answers.

He brings along Zach Logan, a technomage who you will see throughout this book. He still has no idea what caused Kayla to quit the force and disappear, but he sure isn't going to let her get away this time without an explanation. But what's worse is Ray's hypocrisy; he's been keeping secrets from everyone he knows that he's a witch. If his secret is revealed, there is a good chance that he will be kicked off the force since witch's aren't allowed on the force. The exact reason Kayla quit and disappeared after she was infected with magic.

Ray is an untested and untried witch who has abilities he hasn't even touched yet. With Kayla back in his life, and an apparently able to shift into a Gold/Blue Dragon and perhaps an even grander fate than his own, the two will have to work together and get over themselves. Then things get real. A kidnapping of a powerful family hits Kayla close to home and since Ray is the lead detective, she finds herself once again deeply involved in trying to save Portland from being devastated by a new war that is slowly creeping towards reality.

Magicfall is actually the same world as The Horngate Witches books. These books are entirely separate with new characters. This is a world where an uneasy truce exists between humans and witchkin. Thanks to those called technomages, some technology still works. Technomages were also defenders of humanity during the brief war that happened when Mount Hood erupted with wild magic. If you are familiar with the authors Horngate Witches series, you will find several mentions of Sunspears, and Shadowblades. These are humans turned into warriors who protect witch covens. I, personally, would have liked to see several characters play a part in this series.

Three and a half stars.

Four years ago Kayla's world imploded when wild magic exploded and the supernatural world (or Witchkin) declared war on the humans. Now there is an uneasy truce with humans and the technomages on one side and all Witchkin on the other. Kayla was a successful detective until the war, when wild magic hit she transformed into a terrible monster whenever she got wet. Unable to continue working for Portland PD she now scavenges for scarce resources like tampons and peanut butter in areas ravaged by wild magic. Returning from one such scavenge she comes across three murdered Witchkin and despite all her fears, calls her old partner Ray to let him know.

Ray and Kayla had a very bad falling out when she abruptly quit the force without any explanation and emotions have run hot and fierce ever since, strangely when they meet up again for the first time in four years Ray feels more lust and frustration than anything else. They go their separate ways until a high profile kidnapping of two of the most prominent (and wealthy) members of Portland society bring Ray and Kayla back into contact again.

First, the things I liked. The world-building was great, I liked the magic mixed with technomages and shifters and mythology (even though it did seem reminiscent of the glorious world of Kate Daniels). There were strong tensions between humans and Witchkin and I liked some of the uses of magic. I also liked the hitherto less-explored mythologies and the creature which Kayla shifts into - kudos for choosing something out of the ordinary.

Turning to what I didn't like. First Ray only seemed to have one expression, or variants thereof, "his d*&k went hard", it actually started to seem like an almost forced reaction - like he had been infected with magical Viagra rather than a normal reaction to a woman he is in love with. Second, Kayla can't for the life of her understand why Ray gets so worked up when she puts herself in danger - she is in such denial about their feelings for each other that it becomes exasperating - for goodness sake you're supposed to be a detective woman, get a clue! Third there were a couple of very clunky political messages/statements which jarred on me.

Overall, this was a promising start with an interesting world-building and plot, let down slightly by the romance side (as urban fantasy often is). Not in the same league as Ilona Andrews, although so few are, but an enjoyable read nevertheless and I look forward to reading more in the series.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

The Witchkin Murders is my introduction to this author's works and it hit the spot for a supernatural craving. Magic hit and turned the world to crap as the Witchkin went to war with humans. Many of the humans found themselves changed including our heroine of this story, Kayla. Kayla is a monster and she gave up her life as she knew it to hide the fact. A series of Witchkin murders puts her in the path of her former partner Ray. Witchkin are considered less than human and thus below notice of the human police. But something big is brewing and Kayla and Ray will both give up their secrets to save the city that they swore to protect. Interesting and unique, the story twists and turns with a little romance to spice things up for one satisfying fantasy read rich in myths and imagination. (On a side note, I really hope this is a new series and not a one off because I need to know what happens next.) My voluntary, unbiased review is based upon a review copy from Netgalley.

Read one of Diana Pharaoh Francis's other series way back when and vaguely remember enjoying it so was happy to get re-acquainted with her. I loved this! There was a lovely "slow-burn" on everything! Not only the romance but learning more about Kayla and her life before and after the magicfall. Francis really knows how to keep you turning the pages. Loved Ray also!! Can't wait to see what happens with the next installment!!

Amazing book! My eyes are blurred from not being able to put it down. The intricately detailed and designed world is beyond words. This is the first book by this author I have had the pleasure of reading but it definitely won't be the last. The story is built around Kayla. Her past, her family, her state of being propels this book into epic fantasy. A truly great book!

Interesting story that reminds me of a bit of Ilona Andrew’s Kate’s Daniels Series.

Magic sudden comes into the world and all these mythical creatures are revealed to be real. People are distrustful of non-humans and when one is murdered, it is pretty much considered not important to investigate.

Kayla Reese is a former cop who left the force when she was transformed into something else. Her partner is bitter over her leaving but has been keeping his own secrets. Murder brings them back together.

I don’t know if it is because it is a new series and the author is world building, but it seemed like this book really took a long time to go anywhere. Maybe the next book will move at a quicker pace now that the background has been introduced.

The Witchkin Murders was all over the place for me. I really did love it at times but then it kind of dragged on and on.

Kayla was a police detective when the magicfall happened. She quit her job and disappeared from her partner's life. But now she needs him when she discovers murders in the park.

Ray is angry with Kayla for leaving without a trace but he was pretty mean to her when she said she needed to go. He still has no idea what caused Kayla to quit the force but he sure isn't going to let her get away this time without an explanation.

Mystery, murder and mayhem grab Kayla and Ray in its grip and don't let go for the entire ride.

Overall this was a great read and I would of given it a 4 and here comes the but... but I can't overlook an extremely long and convoluted ending and a few plot directions that led to nothing making it 3.5.

I received this ARC copy of The Witchkin Murders from BelleBooks, Inc - Bell Bridge Books. This is my honest and voluntary review. The Witchkin Murders is set for publication June 7, 2019.

My rating: 3.5 stars
Written by: Diana Pharaoh Francis
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Bell Bridge Books
Publication Date: June 7, 2019
ISBN-10: 1611949521
ISBN-13: 978-1611949520
Genre: Urban Fantasy

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Francis mixes fantasy, romance and mystery in an interesting and unique story. The book switches between the two protagonist's view points, which breaks up the story nicely. Readers get to know both Kayla and Ray through both either own eyes and each other's, giving us a clear view of their lives, perpectives and feelings. It's actually here that the story gets bogged down. For a title that revolves around the murders of the witchkin, there isn't much of the story given to the mystery. The focus of the book is more on the romance and world building, and when the murders are finally solved, it's more of a "who are they" moment not "oh, they commited the murder" or "I knew they did it." Considering the title, readers who want more mystery than romance will be disappointed; however, if they stick with it, the book is enjoyable and I'm sure the next book will be very interesting.

I’ve been a fan of this author for a few years. I haven’t read everything she’s written as not everything appeals to me. When I saw this new series, I jumped at the chance to read it as it is just what I love. I was not disappointed. Great writing, intriguing characters, and an interesting plot make up this series starter. I love the way thing progressed in the story, and I am really looking forward to seeing more with the formation of something that happened at the end. And, speaking of the end, it threw me a little with a lot of romance (I don’t want to spoil the ending so I can’t say much) when I felt the book was more about the murders and the world. That’s not a bad thing, just a little confusing as the rest of the book didn’t focus so much on it. I do want to learn more about Kayla’s family and what happens now with everything that happens. I am really looking forward to more. Check it out if you like urban fantasy. Highly recommend, and I received a complimentary copy which I voluntarily reviewed.

I liked that this book is set in the world of the The Horngate Witches, but if you haven’t read the series you will have no problem reading this one. This books seems to be the aftermath if what happened in the other series a few years later.

I liked the dynamic between Kayla and Ray, how they had a great history of partners when they were cops. Sadly when the magic apocalypse happened their relationship imploded as Kayla left the police force. Now it’s years later, both of them are hiding things, both really miss each other when faced with seeing the other.

It seems like another magic apocalypse is happening, or trying to and these two have to band together to fix it. While battling things out their secrets are revealed, they start healing the breach of plain humans versus the magicking. At the end of the book you can tell it’s going to be a whole new world, one where finally the two groups might be forced to live together without rancor.

The Witchkin Murders
(Magicfall Book 1)
by Diana Pharaoh Francis 

Kindle Edition, 354 pages
Expected publication: June 7th 2019 by Bell Bridge Books


Goodreads synopsis:
Four years ago, my world—the world—exploded with wild magic. The cherry on top of that crap cake? The supernatural world declared war on humans, and my life went straight to hell.
I used to be a detective, and a damned good one. Then Magicfall happened, and I changed along with the world. I’m witchkin now—something more than human or not quite human, depending on your perspective. To survive, I’ve become a scavenger, searching abandoned houses and stores for the everyday luxuries in short supply—tampons and peanut butter. Oh, how the mighty have fallen, but anything’s better than risking my secret. 

Except, old habits die hard. When I discover a murder scene screaming with signs of black magic ritual, I know my days of hiding are over. Any chance I had of escaping my past with my secret intact is gone. Solving the witchkin murders is going to be the hardest case of my life, and not just because every second will torture me with reminders of how much I miss my old life and my partner, who hates my guts for abandoning the department.

But it’s time to suck it up, because if I screw this up, Portland will be wiped out, and I’m not going to let that happen. Hold on to your butts, Portland. Justice is coming, and I don’t take prisoners.


***

5 Stars

This is the first book in the Magicfall series. The author is a new one for me and I was not disappointed. Awesome stuff lives in these pages. I realized later that I had another of the author’s books in my Kindle Library (THE CIPHER). So, I may be reaching for that one soon hoping it is as stellar as this one.

This book has a pretty interesting magic system. I used to wonder what people meant when they said that, and this book really schooled me on magic systems and what they truly mean. Basic premise: one day life was normal. The next day some Gods decided that keeping the magical folks of the Earth suppressed was not good. Thus began the war between the Witchkin and the Humans. Witchkin is another name for magical folk. During Magicfall a lot of normal humans changed into other things, witches, mages, technomages, shifters, etc. The whole merging of technology and magic was a very cool concept.

The story is pretty much about two detectives. One became a witch but hid his powers. One became a shifter, or a monster as she came to refer to herself. This is the story of what happens after they meet again four years later after Magicfall. They had been the closest of friends, partners on the force. When Kayla finds three Witchkin murdered and calls Ray to investigate he knows there could be a problem. The human world doesn’t think Witchkin are worthy to protect and serve. The police only protect humans. The Witchkin are little better than vermin. Ray does investigate even though he can’t do it officially. He does it for Kayla.

This book was fascinating. I was enthralled by Kayla and how she dealt with what Magicfall had done to her. She was barely coping. Ray was the same way. He had magic he didn’t know how to control. And being a detective and a witch was not actually playing by the police rules. They each struggled with who they were without the other. They were both hurt and suffering. Being away from each other had cost them immensely in many ways. The Witchkin Murders drew them together.

The book is kind of epic. It has great scope. And I wasn’t sure The title Witchkin Murders did it justice. The title is true but doesn’t quite seem to fit. I would have loved to see a morphed version of Kayla on the cover transforming from the Blue and Gold Water Dragon to her normal human form and Ray with his detective’s badge, magic flowing around it. I don’t have an idea for a new title. But I think Magicfall might have been a better choice.

I am completely invested in this world. I love all the characters, maybe not Dix, but everyone else. Like I said, it was fascinating. I don’t read a lot of fantasy but when they paired it with detectives all the little bells in my head were screaming Yes, Yes, Yes!

This isn’t going to be everyone’s speed. But if you like to read great characterization, conflict and resolution then you need to read this. My highest recommendation.

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.

I'm giving it two stars because I did finish it. The story was great, the world was interesting, the execution was not. I didn't care for any of the main characters, she was whiney, he was an idiot. But my main issue was that it took me forever to get through, even though I skimmed a lot. It was long and slow and repetitive. Constant interior monologues and info dumps made it even longer.

I really enjoyed this book, descriptive world building, strong characters, dysfunctional families - what's not to like. I am looking forward to the next book in the series with hopefully more detail around the side characters

"Four years ago, my world - the world - exploded with wild magic. The cherry on top of that crap cake? The supernatural world declared war on humans, and my life went straight to hell.

I used to be a detective, and a damned good one. Then Magicfall happened, and I changed along with the world. I’m witchkin now - something more than human or not quite human, depending on your perspective. To survive, I’ve become a scavenger, searching abandoned houses and stores for the everyday luxuries in short supply - tampons and peanut butter. Oh, how the mighty have fallen, but anything’s better than risking my secret.

Except, old habits die hard. When I discover a murder scene screaming with signs of black magic ritual, I know my days of hiding are over. Any chance I had of escaping my past with my secret intact is gone. Solving the witchkin murders is going to be the hardest case of my life, and not just because every second will torture me with reminders of how much I miss my old life and my partner, who hates my guts for abandoning the department.

But it’s time to suck it up, because if I screw this up, Portland will be wiped out, and I’m not going to let that happen. Hold on to your butts, Portland. Justice is coming, and I don’t take prisoners.

About the Author: Diana Pharaoh Francis is the acclaimed author of a dozen novels of fantasy and urban fantasy. Her books have been nominated for the Mary Roberts Rinehart Award and RT’s Best Urban Fantasy. The Witchkin Murders is the first book in her exciting new urban fantasy series - Magicfall."

This new Urban Fantasy series sounds right up my magically inclined alley!

DNFing at 16% for primarily it's-not-you-it's-me reasons.

The worldbuilding and base concept of this book are really intriguing and well grounded in a tantalizing setting. The plot is also a juicy genre blend of mystery, procedural, and gritty urban fantasy.

But I'm just not into it.

The main female POV character is strong and engaging, but I had trouble connecting with the main male character, especially when early on, he made this inner dialogue comment about a female coworker: "If she needed or wanted something from someone, she’d suck up to them like a whore on her knees until she got what she wanted."

Additionally, I found the dialogue and several support characters to be stilted and only very thinly fleshed out. I would have liked to find out more about the weird, delightfully creepy things Magicfall did to the world and to find out more about the murders that Kayla discovers in the first chapter, but ultimately not enough to push through.

This is the first book I have read by this author. I enjoyed the story, the characters different and unusual, with a solid plot line. Not so impressed with the ending, it didn't seem to work for me. I will probably read the next in the series to see where it goes. I received an e-book from NetGalley in return for an unbiased review.

I tried ya'll, I really did. I gave it 50 pages to grab me or to at least feel something other than growing irritation with the two alternating protagonists. But in the first 50 pages we have all the things that I hate in books:

1. Info-dump about the world and what happened in the first 5 pages.

2. A female protagonist that behaves like a hormonal teenager with a short fuse. Actually, scratch that, EVERYONE I met in the first 5 pages behaves like hormonal teenagers with short fuses. How can mature people and seasoned detectives not have learned to behave with civility in public is beyond me. I can be mad/hurt/disgusted by a person's actions, but still have a normal conversation with them without it devolving into a screaming match where NOBODY listens to what the other person has to say.

3. The only other female character I encountered in these 50 pages is a horrible b^%#h. She is horrible to the protagonists (both female and male), she is horrible to everyone below her and is very nice to her superiors. It is implied that she got her position as a detective not because she is skilled, but because she knows the right people. Pleeaaaase... That's a trope I absolutely CAN'T stand. Can we have books populated with normal women other than the protagonist pretty please?

4. The angry boss trope - he will yell at you even if you do your job with perfection. He will put your neck on the line for a hard job and absolutely not have your back because he is too afraid of the powerful people you are investigating... *Sigh*

That's when my cup ran over and I decided to be done with this nonsense. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley, but this is not a book or series I want to invest time in.

Magic, secrets and of course murder fuel the plot of this story that's set in a somewhat alternative world. The last thing Kayla needs is her ex partner getting wind of why she really quit the force but the universe is certainly having a lot of fun at her expense. First it gave her the worst family imaginable, then it decided to turn her into a Monster and now it's got Kayla working with Ray on a case again only this time would you believe there are godly tantrums to sort out ?
I really liked the world building going on here with lots of mystery to keep me turning the pages. Kayla is one tough cookie and can really take care of herself but at times she truly walked around blinkered. Ray simply confused me. The Ray we meet knows that he's desperate to be with Kayla but the Ray he was when he worked with her wasn't really interested as he had a lover. So his constant thoughts about what I will politely describe as his honeymoon tackle just felt forced.
Now you've probably noticed I'm not saying too much about the plot. Well simply it's perhaps slower initially than I wanted but then we get information about Kaylas family which frankly I wanted more of. Bad things keep happening though and Kayla and Ray are in the thick of it which means Ray discovers the secret that Kayla has struggled to kept hidden . The twist is that they both have not been honest and in this biased society it's high time for change.
So why only a four ? Well the big explanation at the end felt too convoluted to me . I liked that the future for Ray and Kayla not to mention the other Witchkin looked more promising and I can see great potential for this series. It s just that the last chapter introduced a character who I honestly am nonplussed by but hopefully the next book will expand these ideas.

[Review published on Goodreads under the name Kavanagh]

One (incoherent) sentence: OOOH SHIT MAGICAL POWERS GIRL DANG

I'm wow-ed by the world author Diana Pharaoh Francis created in the Witchkin Murders. The world building is done really well, author Diana did a thorough job with it. If you're into books set in a magical version of our reality, this book is right up your alley!

Unfortunately, i have a dislike for the MC's love interest. The way he behaved didn't sit right with me and so, i couldn't feel much for the romance.

Overall, it's a pretty solid read with brilliant plot, loved the inclusion of other cultural folklores than the really common ones. This book is set to be released on the 4th of June, would reccomend a read!

4 stars