Revised review. After loving book one. I unfortunately lost interest in this one. As much as I loved the characters, I lost interest here. I appreciated what the author is trying to do. This series however no longer works for me. It may work for someone else though. I’m

I really thought the first book in this series was excellent, and the follow up did not disappoint at all. Glover is a very talented writer with a lot of great ideas and is now solidly on my radar as a career to watch.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy!

Thanks so much to Mariner Books and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I've gotten this arc before ever reading the first book. When I got to dive into the world, I love it. I love the characters. I love Hettie and Benjy and their marriage of convenience. I love the mix of historical fiction and fantasy. I love it.

So I was so excited to get into the second book, but when I get to it, sadly, it fell flat for me. It took so long to get into the plot and when we get to the climax, everything was fixed immediately.

However, I'm still excited to see more!

I dunno how to rate this one. It felt like a lot of filler and the mystery was very easily wrapped up. Which is disappointing because I absolutely adored the first one, but this one felt like much the same story but longer and more convoluted (and quickly solved).

I did, however, appreciate the sheer amount of research that went into this book (Glover has this incredible talent for bringing 19th century Philadelphia to life), and I loved the queer inclusion spread so thoroughly through it.

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review

Thanks so much to Mariner Books and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I fell in love with the Murder and Magic books early last year when I read The Conductors, and immediately was hooked by the cool magic systems and the developing romance between the two characters. The mystery aspect of all of it immediately sucked me in as well.

While I still loved The Undertakers, and I absolutely plan to continue on with the series, this second book didn't quite hit the same notes for me. I enjoyed seeing all of the friends returning and helping with the case throughout, but I feel like this second book introduced a lot of new characters in addition to the previous ones, and I had a difficult time keeping track of who was who. I spent a lot of time wondering who they were talking about instead of focusing on what they were contributing to solving the case, so that instead of enjoying the mystery for what it was, I felt a little confused and just like I was along for the ride.

This could absolutely just have been a "me" thing, and I still enjoyed the ride while I was on it, but for me a lot of the fun in these books comes from trying to solve the case alongside them and I didn't feel as though I got that from this second book.

That being said, I enjoyed seeing all of the old characters, especially Hetty and Benjy, and the banter between all of them was entertaining. I still gave this a four stars and definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoyed book one, and definitely plan to continue reading the series.

A beautiful combination of historical narrative and storytelling. A death puts Hetty and Benjy on a collision course with the evil within. It’s full of remarkable characters . A look into the Black community around the turn of the century and how they survived. It has all the elements you need for a great whodunnit.

I received a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review
This book was just as good as the original! It kept things moving in a good way that felt like a story continuation instead of a separate novel. I adore Hetty so much. She's so relatable and this time period mixed with a little magic is truly incredible!

This book has a lot going for it, celestial magic, mystery, lgbt characters who exist for and by themselves, dark secrets, and a couple who respect each other's personal goals even if they do pass barbs over those choices from time to time. All of this should make it a great read, and for the most part it is definitely entertaining and occupied by interesting scenes and characters, but it also seems to exist in a wobbly sort of dream state where nothing quite feels real or fully realized and this, along with some distracting word order and missing words in the text made the read a bit less engaging than I'd hoped it would be.

Hetty and Benjy Rhodes are back at it again! They're still solving mysteries and trying to find success in the funeral home business when the latest in a series of fires ravaging Philadelphia takes the life of Raimond Duval. Hetty, of course, wants to investigate the fires (and this one in particular), and soon the Rhodes find themselves a target. An old rival also has come back into the picture - is he somehow involved with the fires?

I can't explain what it is that I love about this series, but reading about the Rhodes and their found family feels like reading about a group of old friends. I love the celestial magic and would read a book explaining just the magical aspect of this world on its own! Count me in for the next installment of Hetty and Benjy's antics!

As you might have caught at the start of the year, I loved The Conductors, the first Murder and Magic book. I didn't love The Undertakers as much but it was still a good sequel.

The Undertakers takes place a few months after the events of The Conductors. They have started their undertaking business from Oliver's old place who still sometimes helps them. Unfortunately they aren't getting that much business. But murder always find its way to their doorstep.

The mystery itself didn't feel quite as interesting until all the puzzle pieces dropped and it seems to hold a connection to their and Jay's background (Jay and Cora being the two who took Hetty in after she escaped as a slave). But as always the intricate weaves between Hetty and all the characters around her always hook me in. Hetty (nor Benji) are very tactical and sometimes that does stand between them and others when a situation arrises.

As most as I enjoyed reading this book I felt that the few chapters we got of the past (with one of the new characters in this book) were messy. Unlike in the first book it did not feel like we were following a story of their past but snippets of scenes. It didn't feel quite right.

I read the first book "Conductors," and though I didn't love it, I thought it had a lot of potential. When I saw this book, I was hoping that the author expanded a bit more and fixed some of the tweaks I had in my head. However, it felt like a lot of filler with historical and contextual writing. The "mystery" still didn't feel like an actual mystery which was some of my faults with "Conductors". I also don't like the relationship between Hetty and Benjy. I completely understand how and why it's written the way it is, but I still don't like it and hoped for more development on that front as well in book two. This story did feel a bit much like a reprise rather than a sequel, and I found it hard to push through.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

My Highly Caffeinated Thought: A captivating fantasy grounded in rich historical detail with a little murder on the side.

THE UNDERTAKERS brings us back into the world of the Murder & Magic series with more cases for Hetty and Benjy to solve. In this sequel, Glover manages to maintain the same freshness and uniqueness as she weaves together another brilliantly conceived story.

Filled with richly developed characters, this novel continues to have a wonderful blend of a historical mystery with fantasy elements. The way the author weaves everything together is so seamless that there is never a moment where it doesn’t read as being honest or true. Even with the magic used by Hetty, Benjy, and their friends, the narrative is grounded in the time period, the issues being brought up after the Civil war, and the characters themselves to deliver a compelling mystery.

To say that I am in love with this series is an understatement. I binge-read both books within a week and could have read more. With magic, murder investigations, hidden treasure, and a historical setting, it checks off every box for me.

This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review. But I wasn't able to view it as it was archived.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Undertakers brings us back into the world of celestial magic and married investigators(and undertakers) Benji and Hettie. When fires are popping up all over the African American neighborhoods can Hettie and Benji find the answer or will their future go up in flames?

I honestly adore this universe. The celestial magic is such an awesome and original system, and integrating it into African American heritage is such a treat. The backstory and pieces of the underground railroad and escaping slavery are great insights that can spark interest and cause younger generations to do their own research on such a brave time in American history. The mystery in this novel was not as interesting as the previous one(in my opinion) but there is plenty about this series to keep you enraptured page after page. Benji and Hettie's love is written in the stars(pun intended) and adds a piece of romance for those who love a good couple to ship.

Four stars for our star magicians(see what I did there?) I look forward to seeing where Hettie and Benji have in store for them in the future. I recommend this series for anyone 10+, especially those who are interested in history but like a magical twist.

I will admit, I picked up Glover’s first novel in this series (The Conductors) thinking it was something else: I do not normally go in for books about magic. But Glover’s story was so inventive and engaging, I kept reading and enjoyed it—and similarly enjoyed this second installment, The Undertakers. It is well-researched and, like all good history-mysteries, conveys a lot of facts in an imaginative format. The magic element is both part of the entertainment and, of course, a metaphor for the freedom and autonomy that had been actively suppressed in slavery. And preserving the right to exercise that freedom post-Emancipation requires a constant vigilance, as Glover illustrates. Well done.

While I did overall like this sequel, I didn't enjoy quite as much as the first. The strongest parts of this series are the characters, the relationships, and the magic. I absolutely love both Hetty and Benjy, their relationship together but also all of the interpersonal relationships with the side characters. I also loved the magic just as much as I did in the first book, and we did get more explanations of the magic system and how it works, which was what I was hoping for. However, the weakest part of this book for me was the mystery. I found it to be very convoluted and confusing; I felt like Hetty when she would get frustrated with Benjy for jumping to conclusions and figuring out things without explaining it. I also found myself wanting to skim read the interludes/flashback chapters. While I felt like they added to the story in the first book, I didn't feel like they added any pertinent information and they slowed the pacing way down.

I had this book as an ARC through Netgalley. I'd read the first one in paper and it was good enough (although riddled with typos and missing words) so i wanted to see if the second was even better. I also assumed the typos etc were a printing issue so the ebook would solve that.
But the second volume is no better when it comes to copyedits - there are missing words, extra words, grammatical mistakes which make it hard to read. A chapter or so will be fine then you have 3 in one paragraph...
On top of that, while I love the concept, I find that the murder mysteries are confusing. It's not that they're convoluted but that we're missing context to piece it together ourselves as a reader, and the facts of the case are not satisfactorily linked. The characters seem to understand what's going on but as a reader you're left thinking "what just happened?" and "how does that even work" because you don't know all they know and i find that annoying in a mystery.
The magic system is intriguing but it also doesn't seem to follow much of any rules, and I really liked the flashback chapters but that's about it. The main characters also have conflicts with their friends that make little sense, and they're not as likeable as they were in the first book. Overall I was expecting it to only get better from a promising debut, but it got worse. I stopped at around 60% because I don't see me dragging myself through the rest of it.

The premise for this book is just brilliant. I love the idea of a story set in Reconstruction Era Philadelphia, filled with magic, mystery, which perfectly blends history and fantasy, and focuses the experiences of, mainly, Black characters.
I really loved Hetty and Benji. These are, in my opinion, very well written characters and their relationship is a beautiful one to read about. Their relationship is very much built on respect for each other, and trust in each other… that’s just beautiful and definitely needs to be featured in more fictional relationships.
I also liked that, despite being part of a series, The Undertakers could very well be read as a standalone, which may appeal to a lot of readers who are just not that into series.
I really hope to see how the story continues to evolve in the next installments of the series *fingers crossed*.
Thank you to Netgalley and Mariner Books for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I almost didn't finish this book, because something about the beginning just couldn't keep my attention... But I'm glad I went back and gave it a second chance. I enjoyed THE CONDUCTORS, but somehow felt as if I had been dropped into a party where I barely knew the hosts' names for the first chapter or so of THE UNDERTAKERS.
One of the things that kept me coming back and kept me around to finish THE UNDERTAKERS was Glover's obvious attention to detail and care for Reconstruction-era Philadelphia. This is the kind of historical fantasy that even I can get into, when it's a genre that usually doesn't do it for me!
The magical mystery here won't be too much of a surprise for readers of mystery, so I can easily imagine this being a comfort read for genre fans. There's enough going on (tons of characters, multiple plots that may or may not converge, flashbacks to fill in the reader and clue them in to what's coming next) that sometimes I had to pause and think back as to whether a character or (mis)adventure mentioned had actually come up in THE CONDUCTORS or if it was something new and merely an aside.
Glover clearly has enough content to make this an extensive series, and I hope she gets the opportunity– and maybe fleshes out some of the other cases that are mentioned so we can see more of these side characters. Sy-focused novella maybe? Ella-focused novella?
Good recommendation for those mystery-lovers who want a little more magic and a little more history in their murder intrigues.

Fans of the first book will enjoy this follow up. The characters we met in the first book are more familiar in this one, so we spend more time on the mystery and less on getting to know them, which makes for a more intense mystery. The ending felt a little abrupt, but still a fun mystery, and I'm still convinced these books would make an excellent TV series.