I love the perspective shift away from Verity in New York to Alex in Ohio. Alex is such a nerd and somehow Shelby is the best because she's so overtly stereotypically Australian

6/28/25: 4 stars. My favorite novel in the InCryptid series so far. I love Alex Price, I love his love interest, and I loved the expansion of family dynamics in this entry in the series compared to the first two. The plot was a bit underwhelming compared to the Verity books, but the characters did a great job making up for it.

Seanan McGuire has created a complex structure of interlocking stories. In duets or trilogies, we see the world from a particular viewpoint, and continue to widen the perils and scope of the world. I'm giving Incryptid my first place vote for best series in the 2025 Hugos. No other nominee is expanding and informing the idea of a series as well as she is.

In the third novel in Seanan McGuire's InCryptid series the viewpoint shifts to cryptozoologist Alexander Price as he deals with murders, a variety of dangerous animals with fatal mythological powers. Along the way, he learns more about his family history, himself, and apparently finds the woman he is likely to marry. The suspense of wanting to learn what happens to the characters and who or what is causing the deaths make this a fairly quick read since it is nearly impossible to put the book down.

I thank the publisher and author for kindly sharing an electronic review copy of this work!

Again, these books feel like cotton candy for my brain. I'm not sure if they're "good" but they do bring me a fair amount of joy to zoom through. I also did get a LOT of joy out of seeing a different angle on this world and these characters, even if I do sort of miss the classic urban fantasy from Verity's books! thanks to the publishers + worldcon for the access!!