The Mystery at Dunvegan Castle is the third UF mystery by T.L. Huchu. Released 29th Aug 2023 by Macmillan on their Tor imprint, it's 400 pages and is available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links.

Oddly paced, often almost twitchily frenetic in places, it's nevertheless very well written and engaging. It follows on from the first books in the series and, as such, would be a challenge to read as a standalone. Main character Ropa can communicate with (and indeed compel) spirits. She gets drawn into an artifact disappearance at the magical conference at which she's an intern.

It's marketed as a YA fantasy, but it's perfectly good for an all ages (YA+, not for little kids) read. It has a huge cast, and readers who haven't kept track of the previous books should be prepared to flip back and forth some. The author/publisher have provided a handy dramatis personae list at the front of the book with characters/titles and relationships, and also principal settings, institutions, and other necessary info which will help.

The world building is *stunning* and cohesive and wonderful. There is, however, quite a lot of reverse snobbery and making fun of traditional academia; Ropa is something of a Jack-the-Lad and seemingly has a malleable and very pragmatic moral code. It's LGBTQIA+ friendly, without being preachy, which is cool. The denouement and resolution are not finished in the book and strongly foreshadow the next book in the series.

Four stars. Very well written if quirky. There are three books extant at the moment, with the fourth due out in 4th quarter 2024. It would be an excellent choice for public library acquisition, home use, or as a long buddy read or book club series project.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for the e-ARC! I will be reviewing and/or showcasing this book on my social media accounts when I can. Thanks again very much appreciated and looking forward to this book!

Third time's the charm. The third part of Ropa shenanigans was sooo much better then previous ones! Thoroughly enjoyed it with pacing, writing, mystery and all. Not so many ghosts in this one though, plus the whoddunit case is pretty clear (thanks to the blurb-mentioned "ghost help" somewhere around in the middle of the book)

I didn’t like this book because I didn’t feel connected to any of the characters. The premise was interesting enough but I just wasn’t captivated.

I love this series and really enjoyed this book. I would give this more of a 4.5, but it doesn't let you round up or down. Our favorite sleuthing ghost talker leaves Edinburgh to a magical conference with wizards from over the world. Of course things don't go smoothly and Ropa investigates and bucks the established procedures and ways. This book mostly happens within one large manor or castle and the immediate grounds. You really feel the constriction and the urgency to conclude the investigation and the setting really helps with that. It had a very "Murder on the Orient Express" meets Sherlock feel. I enjoyed getting more of the politics of the wizarding world but also enjoyed Ropa's frustration with it all (I feel ya girl!). The book had a steady pace and I found myself pulled along the story pretty quickly. I can't wait to see if we get more from Ropa and what other things she gets entangled into!

As part of her internship in the magical society of Scottish music, Ropa is helping out with organizing a conference at Dunvegan Castle. But before she knows it, there's been a murder and theft and her detective gifts/skills are required to solve it. And she must navigate this simultaneously with the toxicity and privilege of the Scottish magicians.

Overall, I liked this the most of the trilogy. A lesson that Ropa seems to be slowly learning is that there are limits to what someone can carry all on their own and the pressure on her as a 15/16 year old is usually high, especially in the context of being an intern. The writing continues to be a bit rambling in Ropa's voice, but I didn't mind it as much in this book. The locked room mystery was fun and still ties in multiple elements to the primary mystery. I really loved getting more characterization for some of the side characters. The conclusion wraps but the mystery in this book, but definitely sets up for the next book in the series. Overall, would recommend for those looking for a YA urban fantasy mystery!

Thank you to the author and Tor Books for partnering with B2Weird for a B2WTours Book Tour and the gifted copy!

The Edinburgh Nights series really appeals to me because of Ropa and her absolute badassery. That said, I am still not sure how I feel about Ropa's badassery being somewhat undermined in this installment. Don't get me wrong, Ropa is still amazing, but there are some definite self-esteem struggles here that took me by surprise. This is not necessarily a bad thing, because even the most confident and hustle-minded characters struggle at times, I just wasn't expecting it. My only other complaint for this is that even though the world opened up, including more, diverse magic users, it simultaneously closed, creating a locked-door type mystery for Ropa to solve this time around, which in some ways undermined her usual methods. That said, I still adore this world and the characters, and especially the way that the magic system functions, with scientific underpinnings and serious academic study involved in being successful. More than anything else, though, I will always adore Ropa's voice, and think that Huchu has done something very special creating such a distinctive voice for such a distinctive character.

[Full review up at Nerds of a Feather from 21 Dec]

I love love love Ropa's narrative voice (as always), and I love the sense of location: this book is very Scottish, and feels like real Scotland, not tourist Scotland and tartan + twee cottage aesthetics. This is a book written by someone who knows about Glasgow/Edinburgh rivalry, the nature of political and status tensions between Scotland and England, disputes around the responsibilities of devolved governments, Scottish independence--all of that is very real and beautifully translated into this post-Catastrophe magical alternate world. That's great. All of that is great.

But the pacing and characterization of this one felt less successful. Esfandiar was great in principle, but underused; Callandar was more of an object to worry about than a person. I never really understood what progress Ropa was actually making on the mystery. She didn't really seem to have anything in hand. Every time she tells people that she's making progress, I wasn't sure whether she actually was and just not telling us, or whether she was lying out of her ass (as she does). When a book is structured around a mystery like this, the reader needs to be kept in the loop.

Also the ending was very abrupt. I know it's supposed to be setting up Book 4, and I will definitely read Book 4 with pleasure. But still--there are ways and ways of ending on a cliffhanger/sequel-set-up, and this was not how to do it.

[Thanks to Netgalley for ARC]

The third installment in T L Huchu’s thrilling Edinburgh Nights series follows ghost talker Ropa Moyo as she’s sent to help out at a magic convention at Dunvegan Castle on the Isle of Skye. Hoping she’ll get the chance to rub shoulders with the magical elite, Ropa finds herself in the midst of a dark mystery when a magical scroll is stolen and a librarian murdered. Can she uncover who’s behind it all in time to recover the scroll and help her mentor before its too late?

This is the third installment in this series and I’ve enjoyed each one immensely. I really enjoyed that this one was set on the Isle of Skye and it was interesting to see Ropa in a different environment. Trapped in the castle, this is a fast paced mystery and I definitely did not guess who was behind it all. Huchu’s writing is compelling and the story is clever, complex and entertaining. The Mystery at Dunvegan Castle features much more politics and scheming than the previous novels and it was really fascinating seeing the different magical organisations and schools attempt to out manoeuvre each other.

Ropa as always is a brilliant protagonist and you can’t help but root for her. She’s so full of attitude but she’s also determined to succeed and do what’s right. This installment sees quite a bit of character growth in Ropa as she sticks by Callender and has to deal with her anxieties. One of the things I love about this series is the unique approach to magic and I loved getting to explore that a bit more in this book. I definitely feel like I could read lots more books about Ropa’s adventures and I can’t wait to see where Huchu takes the story next.

Ropa has her hands full this time. She is at Dunvegan Castle on the Isle of Skye as part of the Hamster Squad that provides support for a magical conference. But when someone makes off with a magical scroll, Ropa's boss Sir Ian Callander locks down the whole castle while Ropa gets tasked with finding the culprit. Plenty of red herrings, suspects, and magic being thrown about before the final confrontation reveals the true goal of the miscreants! A nice addition to the series!

Thanks Netgalley for the chance to read this title!

Thanks to Tor Publishing Group and NetGalley for an eARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review!

The first two installments in the Edinburgh Nights series were five stars for me - I love Ropa’s narrative voice, and the magic system and eerie factor of some of the baddies in this series are unmatched.

This is, unfortunately, the weakest installment in the series so far for me.

I often struggle with locked room mysteries, and this locked-castle mystery felt too similar to a bottle episode during the run of your favorite TV show - where the characters don’t go much of anywhere, grow as people or within their relationships, or do anything super meaningful.

There is also a bushel of politicking in this book, which is not my favorite thing to read about and in a fantasy series, and feels like it should have come up sooner than it has. Adding it to the bulk of a story where Ropa doesn’t get to explore a complex world (we don’t get anything of her Gran or sister Izwi in this book!) really just bogs it all down even further.

It was finally hard for me to believe that Ropa gets away with the stuff she does. About a dozen magical adults put their full trust into this teenager to solve this case, allowing her to go places and ask questions one would expect to trust an investigative veteran with. If someone dares question what Ropa is doing or asking about, there is a “well, she’s with the Society,” attitude, and almost every adult is dumber than Ropa, which at some point was just irksome rather than a selling point for me to root for her even further.

Overall, I'll happily continue with the series, but my main motivation after this one is that they can't do two locked-room mysteries in a row!

I adore this series overall. I didn't enjoy this book as much as I have the previous two. Good characters, but maybe it was the setting since they were away at a conference. I am looking forward to see where the next book goes.

Very much looking forward to the next installment of this series. Find the magic systems and space in between very interesting

Ropa is working at a conference at the Isle of Skye and as usual trying to monetize it and always looking for a bit to help out others. When a magical book is stollen on the first night of the conference, her mentor seals the grounds in a dome and charges Ropa with finding who did this. Jomo is hurt during the heist, so he is out for most of the book. Priya isn’t helping as much on this adventure and to complicate things the Sorcerer Royal has taken an interesting in Ropa as well. The book doesn’t end with a stratifying conclusion but has you wanting the next one to find out what will happen with Ropa after her big decision at the end of the book. There is a lot we still don’t know about her family, and I have a feeling more of that will come out in future books. The audio of this is great and I really enjoyed the voice work.

Absolutely adored this newest addition to the series. With every book I fall more and more in love with this world, the humour and our favourite ghosty PI, so-to-speak. This book's view on magic, what is considered "civilized" and colonialism's role in how societies and advanced magics are perceived was really good. Can't wait for more.

In the third outing of the Edinburgh Nights series, streetwise teenager Ropa Moyo has left the city on a wee work trip. Stuck wrangling attendees at the Society of Skeptical Inquirers’ annual conference, Ropa can hang while the magicians do their thing and enjoy the sights at Dunvegan Castle.

Sike! Of course everything goes tits up – as Ropa would say – and she has to catch a murderer and a thief before the conference closes. What’s a teenaged ghostalker to do? Well, clean up after all the puffed-up and self-important magicians, of course. Ropa Moyo is back in the game, ready to solve another mystery. It’s great fun to see how she makes use of her ability to speak with the dead to unearth new clues and crack the case. But Ropa’s not on her home turf this time and even the ghosts of Dunvegan seem strange…

As much as I’ve loved reading about Edinburgh’s underbelly, the change of scenery was a welcome one. Ropa’s under the watchful eye of her bureaucratic and snobbish Society overseers 24/7 at Dunvegan, and I could practically feel the tension. With her BFFs Priya and Jomo lending a hand, Ropa has to crack the case without being kicked out of Scottish magic’s most elit(ist) institution. But as she’s undermined and mistrusted at every turn, Ropa starts to wonder…is a position with the Society still what she wants? I was pleasantly surprised by the direction her character arc has taken, and I’m desperately hoping that a fourth book will be announced soon.

There’s certainly lots more of this world and T. L. Huchu’s ideas to be explored. Western racism and post-colonial ideas have always turned up in Ropa’s narration (must be all those audiobooks she listens to), but The Mystery at Dunvegan Castle marks the first time these ideas are at the core of the main plot. Although I can’t guess how, my prediction is that Ropa’s family history, her own future, and the evils of magical society are all linked.

This book marks a tonal shift in the series that some readers may find unwelcome, but I for one am excited to see what will come next.

Disfruto mucho con la lectura de cada entrega de la serie Edinburgh Nights de T.L. Huchu, así que ya esta predispuesta a que The Mistery at Dunvegan Castle me gustara. Huchu mezcla fantasía e investigaciones detectivescas en un escenario distópico que aprovecha para realizar crítica social. Vamos, que no da puntada sin hilo. Además, la personalidad Ropa es arrolladora y el ecléctico grupo de amistades con el que se rodea y le ayuda no le va a la zaga.


En esta ocasión, la acción se desarrollará en el Castillo de Dunvegan en la isla de Skye, donde tiene lugar la conferencia bianual de magos del Reino Unido, un nido de rencillas y envidias en el que tiene lugar un robo muy aparatoso. Para impedir la huida de los malhechores, utilizarán un conjuro que impide salir del recinto del castillo, sirviéndonos en bandeja un misterio de “habitación cerrada” (“castillo cerrado” si queremos ser más precisos).

Las peculiares características de Ropa, con su capacidad para hablar con los fantasmas y su inusual educación mágica servirán para desentrañar el misterio, mientras que vamos conociendo las distintas facciones que luchan por el poder mágico en las islas británicas, en ambiente tan pijo y remilgado como Eton, pero con las mismas puñaladas traperas y bajos instintos como en una pelea de gallos.

Para disfrutar del libro en su totalidad hay que entrar en el juego del autor, que de primeras no lo pone muy fácil con el slang que utiliza Ropa. Superado este obstáculo, quizá flojee un poco la investigación en sí, pero me ha gustado mucho el contraste tan acusado que se muestra entre los privilegiados y los hambrientos, entre los nacidos entre algodones y los que han tenido que luchar a dentelladas por sobrevivir. También es muy importante el mensaje postcolonial del autor, que nos muestra en dos vertientes: la verdad razón de la existencia de la magia escocesa, relacionada con las hadas que estuvieron en esa tierra con anterioridad y la relación de las antiguas “colonias” con el decadente “Imperio”, reflejado en la presencia como invitados a la conferencia de los etíopes como nación invitada.

Por si esto fuera poco, se vislumbra un futuro muy distinto para Ropa a partir de la siguiente entrega de la serie, sobre todo por ese final que el autor nos regala para que no nos queden uñas que modernos hasta la llegada de la siguiente entrega.

Book 3 of a series. Haven't read the first 2. Interesting character and premise. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

CONTENT WARNING: blood, murder, emotional abuse, suicide, mention of torture, violence, panic attack

This is one of my newer favorite series, and I haven’t seen a single person talking about it. I can’t figure out why, since this is a really great series! It’s a combination of dystopian and urban fantasy and mystery, it’s diverse, and I can not get enough of it!

To start with, we’ve got Ropa with her foot kind of in the door to getting a legit gig. She’s been scrounging by as a ghosttalker, but she knows the real path to success is getting admitted as a magic practitioner. However, anyone trying to improve their socioeconomic status from the bottom of the barrel into a society that includes people from the upper crust of society is going to face opposition, and Ropa certainly does. I’m sure her black lipstick, neon dyed locs, colorful language, and tendency to pop off at the worst possible times doesn’t help her cause.

In this book, Ropa is in attendance at the worldwide Society of Skeptical Enquirers’ conference, held on the Isle of Skye at the creepy and haunted Dunvegan Castle. There are some notable guests in attendance, particularly the high wizard of Ethiopian magic and the Sorcerer Royale of England. But when a shocking act of violence occurs so that a priceless magical scroll can be stolen, the whole castle is placed on a magical lockdown and Ropa is tasked with investigating.

This is where Ropa really shines. She may be a 15-year-old dropout, but she’s no slouch. Supplementing her education with books whenever possible, she uses the knowledge to boost her skills when working for the Society, or even when doing her ghosttalking work. But her best attribute by far is the way that she isn’t afraid to rely on others when there’s something she doesn’t know. And while there is a lot she doesn’t know, Jomo and Priya make up the difference a lot of the time.

As far as diversity goes, we’ve got loads in this book. Ropa and Jomo are Black, and Ropa is very close to her African roots. She incorporates her heritage into her magical work by using an African instrument to facilitate speaking to ghosts. Priya is of Indian descent, and is a wheelchair user, but doesn’t let that hold her back in any way—in fact, I’d dare to say that she’s one of the most badass characters in the series. She’s definitely one of my favorites.

The story is full of surprises and twists that I never saw coming. While trying to figure out who was behind the theft, I couldn’t figure it out until it was spelled out for me. Huchu is fantastic with leaving behind a number of red herrings, and with so many people trapped in the castle, this is a locked room (castle?) Mystery that is done exceptionally well.

Overall, this is a fantastic addition to the series. I can’t wait to see where this goes next, and as usual I’m sitting on the edge of my seat for the next installment. Hopefully, more people will be exposed to these stories soon, and it will be taking over social media soon because I want everyone to be exposed to this amazingness! So go out and start the series if you haven’t yet!

Another great story in the Edinburgh Nights series. I love that Ropa and her group of friends don't let other people dictate how they view a situation. I also love that Ropa does not let others bully her into going against her moral code. I am very much looking forward to the next book, I cannot wait to see what situations Ropa and friends get into next.