Heart of Stone

Heart of Stone (2007) C.E. Murphy

I inadvertently picked up the second book in this series, so being me, I had to go back and find the first book in the series, and by then I’d gotten sucked into the Repairman Jack series and the Commissario Guido Brunetti mysteries, and pretty much forgot about this series. But after taking a break from those two series I found this and decided it was time to check it out.

Margrit Knight is a lawyer for Legal Aid, her on-again off-again boyfriend is a cop, and when she speaks to a man wanted for murder, her life gets very complicated, very quickly.

I liked Margrit a lot. She does stupid things, but her heart is in the right place, which is how a rich girl ends up working at Legal Aid I suppose. I also like he she recognizes that she can’t necessarily reconcile the contradictions in her life–especially how race affects her job and her personal life.

I also really liked how the supernatural element was done in these books. I won’t say more, because I really don’t want to give away any part of the series. I’ll simply say things didn’t go the way I expected, and that was a nice change. (Don’t read the back! It gives too much away! I didn’t read the back until after I read the book and I’m glad!)

Although there is kissing and there are threats of boinking, no boinking actually occurs, which was another nice change of pace for a supernatural fantasy. Though there is a fair amount of yearning.

The mystery surrounding the murders and the character she meets through the course of the book was also good, although there wasn’t much of a chance of being able to guess “whodunnit”. But that’s fine with me.

So Heart of Stone is an interesting supernatural fantasy. I enjoyed the main character, although I think she could have had one or two more weaknesses, and been less enamored of Alban, but all in all I enjoyed the book, and recommend it without reservations.
Rating: 7/10

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