The Mystery of Dunvegan Castle by T. L. Huchu
Publication Date: August 29, 2023
Edinburgh Nights series:
Library of the Dead
Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments
Summary from Netgalley:
Everyone’s favorite fifteen-year-old ghostalker, Ropa, arrives at the worldwide Society of Skeptical Enquirers’ biennial conference just in time to be tied into a mystery—a locked room mystery, if an entire creepy haunted castle on lockdown counts. One of the magical attendees has stolen a valuable magical scroll.
Caught between Qozmos, the high wizard of Ethiopian magic; the larger-than-life Lord Sashvindu Samarasinghe; England’s Sorcerer Royal; and Scotland’s own Edmund MacLeod, it’s up to Ropa (and Jomo and Priya) to sort through the dangerous secret politics and alliances to figure out what really happened. But she has a special tool—the many ghosts tied to the ancient, powerful castle.
ARC provided by Tor Publishing via NetGalley for an honest review.
Confession:
This is the third book in a wonderful urban fantasy series, but it could easily be read without having read the previous two. I have loved everything about this series, the settings, the magical system, and all of the lovable characters, plus some really good mysteries.
Ropa is a great main character. She is fearless, loyal and doesn’t take any crap from anyone, even the adults around her who want to mold her into something she isn’t. Ropa is also extremely smart and compassionate and have I mentioned she talks to ghosts? I love her interactions with the ghosts she meets, and when she can she does help them to move on which is wonderful. Ropa is also very good at what she does, which is solve mysteries. She can see patterns and figure out the clues way better than I can, which always makes me excited about a character.
Jomo and Priya are also along on this adventure to the Isle of Skye and do a marvelous job of helping Ropa solve the mystery and back her up when she needs it. Both of these characters have been in the other books and have always been helpful. It was nice to see them here just as supportive and they always have Ropa’s back.
There are a lot of adults that surround Ropa, some good and some not so good. She feels a lot of pressure from both sides to maybe conform a bit to what the Society expects of its young magicians, but I love that she doesn’t ever cave in to them. She is who she is and they need to deal with it.
The plot is fast moving, even from the first chapter which has Ropa removing a malevolent ghost from a couple’s home. There are many exciting scenes where magic is used in amazing ways. I love the magical system in this series, which is based on science and math. It is not explained as much in this book as in the first two, so it may be a bit confusing if you haven’t read them. I also love that the book is written in the first person. I think that makes the emotional aspects of the book more impactful. I did struggle a bit with all of the scottish slang, or maybe modern youth slang, but for the most part I was able to figure that out from context.
A nicely done third installment in a wonderfully fun urban fantasy that involves magic, ghosts and mysteries.
Confessions of a Serial Reader 