ARC Review: Tricks of the Trade by Laura Anne Gilman

Tricks of the Trade
Author: Laura Anne Gilman
Publication: Luna; Original edition (November 15, 2011)


Description: When magic goes wrong, who are you going to call?


The name's Torres, Bonnie Torres, and I'm a paranormal scene investigator—rooting out the truth about crimes of magic. It's dangerous and boring and scary and fascinating. Though not everyone in the Cosa Nostradamus is happy we're around, which can make things…tricky.

Working two cases—looking into a murder for the NYPD, and a rich man's break-in—should be well within our abilities. But when things start getting weird in the Electric Apple, Private Unaffiliated Paranormal Investigations is stretched to the limits, trying to keep one step ahead and out of trouble. Add in rumors of a powerful creature gunning for us and it's not just our rep on the line this time—if we don't solve this case, everyone will suffer.

Fortunately, around here, when the going gets weird, the weird hire us.…



My Thoughts: This is another fascinating episode in the PUPI series. The Pups have two cases to work on this time and the one that they were least expecting to blow up in their faces is the one that does. Meanwhile, Bonnie and Venec are trying to deal with the Merge each in their own ways. Bonnie favors denial; Venec is more about control. To paraphrase Bonnie, she isn't going to let herself be pushed around by some kind of magic that has decided she and Venec will make beautiful babies. But, at the same time, ignoring the Merge isn't making it go away.


The Roblin, a mischief imp, has also come to town and has decided to focus on PUPI. This isn't really a good time for chaos to be let loose in the city. He seems especially interested in Bonnie because her magic is somewhat unusual. He manages to get her evicted from her apartment. However, that's OK with Bonnie because she has a line on an apartment where Wren (from the Retrievers series) lives. This meeting with Wren helps me anchor the story in time. I was wondering but now know that these novels are taking place a little earlier than the Retrievers novels. 


Bonnie is a particularly interesting character to me. I like her attitude about living her life. I like her accurate self assessment of her abilities. And I very much like her relationship that might be easing into a romance with Venec.


This is a very satisfying entry into the series and will please those who have enjoyed the first two books - Pack of Lies and Hard Magic.


Favorite Quote:

Benjamin Venec was many, many things: smart, savvy, fierce, an utter bastard when it suited him, and hotter than hell, with dark eyes I still couldn't identify the color of, because every time I looked into them I got seriously distracted, but he was absolutely not daddy material.

I received the eARC for this one from NetGalley. You can get your copy here.