The Wizard & the Welshman Review

The Wizard & the Welshman: A Queer Fantasy Mystery by Laura Rayndrop | Amazon | Goodreads | My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Blurb

What mysterious organ hides within a witch’s chest?

For fans of A Marvellous Light and The Magpie Lord …

London, December 1886. A woman is gruesomely murdered, a mysterious organ missing from her cracked-open chest. Investigating the case, Kensington’s top inspector, Hal Hawthorne, quickly discovers that the victim wasn’t human—and neither is her killer. When he saves the captivating wizard November from becoming the next target, Hal is thrust into a world of nightmarish creatures and dark magic. But the deeper Hal becomes entangled in the case, the more he comes to believe that November isn’t just a wizard with mind-bending powers, but also holds the key to unraveling the web of dark magic and murder.

Can Hal solve the case and protect November, or will the murderer claim him and destroy Hal’s life forever? And what will Hal have to sacrifice to stop the killings and save the man he’s come to love?

This book is the first part of a trilogy.

The print version of this book includes a spicy bonus chapter.

376 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication October 31, 2024

The Wizard & The Welshman’s Premise

The Wizard & The Welshman tell the story of police inspector Hal Hawthorne and Wizard November as their worlds collide and they work together to track down a murder. In the process, they uncover a criminal conspiracy to murder people, both magical and ordinary, and harvest their organs on the magical black market.

On the way, they fall in love.

Victorian Laws

Hal grapples with being gay because in Victorian London that was a criminal offense. And Hal, being a police officer has a lot of trouble not following the rules. He’s been beating himself up his whole life for what he sees as a bad thing, like who he is attracted to is something that he could choose. His family moved him from Cardiff in Wales after a scandal and he’s lived with that specter over him his whole adult life, mostly due to his family perpetuating his shame. That’s the true shame, his mother is an abhorrent character.

Anyway, Hal knows he likes men but he denies himself because he’s an upstanding British man who has a lot of neurodivergent traits if we are looking at him from a modern lens, but who wants to live his life working hard as an Inspector and avoiding getting married and settling down. But being with men isn’t on his radar.

But he cannot deny his feelings for November. And November is someone to behold, indeed.

November

November is a sex worker and a wizard. He works in a brothel along with lots of other sex workers but they are all special. They are all witches and wizards. November is younger than Hal but has seen a lot in his life, after his parents abandoned him and he worked in a workhouse for most of his childhood. The Madame of the brothel took him in and is on the surface providing a good home for him.

London

Honestly, London seems like the most unforgiving place imaginable. It’s dreadful, with starving people on every corner and no escape from the cold. The author does an excellent job making the reader feel the icy cold air, the wet snow as it melts into pants legs and chills the skin, and most importantly the hopelessness hovering around everyone not well off.

The Murder

The murder in The Wizard & the Welshman that brings November and Hal together is gruesome and vicious. Helena Dunham is hacked open and her heart removed. From the start, Hal knows there’s something different about this case, and his one-track mind won’t rest until he finds the murderer and solves the case.

However, once he scratches the surface he quickly realizes that there’s much more going on than a run-of-the-mill murder. He finds November after his name pops up on a note the victim clutched in her dying hand. Hawthorne knows November is a key to the case, and seeks him out. Who he finds turns out to be an enchanting man who Hal is instantly drawn to.

The Wizard & The Welshman’s Strengths

Magical Realism

The Wizard and the Welshman is a great example of magical realism. The author does a spectacular job of interweaving a magical society into the fabric of historical-feeling Victorian London. The magic system is unique too, with only a few things that are derivative of other more well-known magical OPs.

Action

The action in The Wizard & the Welshman is written beautifully, I loved the action scenes so much. The author is masterful at writing tense, tight chase scenes. Their romp through Cairo held perfect tension throughout, it’s perfection. The séance too, such great writing. I loved these parts the most.

Weaknesses

Magic System Confusion

The magical system could have been more fleshed out, sometimes it was a bit like the author needed a plot device to happen and so it became part of the magical system. For example, out of the blue, Wizards can’t lie or their lie becomes reality? I feel like that could have been foreshadowed better so it wasn’t such an out-of-left-field thing to learn late in the novel.

Spicy Scene

One of the most cruel things the author has done is to only include a spicy scene in the print edition. I get why, physical book sales are good for business. But I wanted to read the spicy scene and as an arc reader, I didn’t get to. Sad. Update: The author sent me the spicy scene via Booksprout message so they are lovely and wonderful in every way! And so is the scene! *fans self* it was worth the whining about, I loved it!

Overall Take

I loved this book and can’t wait for more. I liked the side characters, the building feelings between Hal and November, and the action was masterful writing. The second book can’t come soon enough!.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

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