The Magpie Lord

The Magpie Lord (2013) K.J. Charles (Charm of Magpies)

One for sorrow
Two for joy
Three for a girl
Four for a boy
Five for silver
Six for gold
Seven for a secret never to be told
Eight for a letter over the sea
Nine for a lover as true as can be

Lucien Vaudrey spent 20 years exiled in China by his father. Now that his father and brother are both dead, Lucien has returned to England to inherit the title of Lord Crane and the earldom. But it seems like someone doesn’t want him to keep that inheritance for long.

Stephen Day is a Justicar–a magician who enforces the rules. He also has an unpleasant past with the Crane family, and wants nothing better than for the new Earl Crane to suffer has the old earl made others suffer. But he has to uphold the law, and that means he has to work with Lucien Vaudrey, who is… not what he was expecting.

“Murder?” Stephen knew he sounded scathing, couldn’t help it. “It is a crime.”

“Mr. Day, you know what they were,” Crane said. “If someone killed them, it was about bloody time.”

“No, it was murder,” said Stephen. “No matter what they were.”

“I dispute that. Hector did exactly as he chose— rape, assault, abuse— with my father’s protection and complicity, and he got away with it for thirty years and more because not one single person had the guts to stand up to them—”

I really like the world-building of these stories. And the characters. And the story.

So I guess I pretty much like everything, even if I could do without all the boinking. And even the boinking is kinda fascinating, because like magic use, homosexuality had to be hidden as well.

Also, for a self-published book, I very much like the cover. It’s extremely well done, giving you an idea of the time period, the characters, and the relationship between them.

A fun book, and I’m looking forward to the next.

Publisher: KJC Books

Rating: 8/10

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