Audiobook Review: Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire

Rosemary and Rue
Author: Seanan McGuire
Narrator: Mary Robinette Kowal
Series: An October Daye Novel (Book 1)
Publication: DAW (August 29, 2009); Brilliance Audio (June 8, 2010)
Length: 346 p.; 11 hours and 16 minutes

Description: The world of Faerie never disappeared: it merely went into hiding, continuing to exist parallel to our own. Secrecy is the key to Faerie’s survival―but no secret can be kept forever, and when the fae and mortal worlds collide, changelings are born. Half-human, half-fae, outsiders from birth, these second-class children of Faerie spend their lives fighting for the respect of their immortal relations. Or, in the case of October “Toby” Daye, rejecting it completely. After getting burned by both sides of her heritage, Toby has denied the fae world, retreating into a “normal” life. Unfortunately for her, Faerie has other ideas.

The murder of Countess Evening Winterrose, one of the secret regents of the San Francisco Bay Area, pulls Toby back into the fae world. Unable to resist Evening’s dying curse, which binds her to investigate, Toby is forced to resume her old position as knight errant to the Duke of Shadowed Hills and begin renewing old alliances that may prove her only hope of solving the mystery…before the curse catches up with her.

My Thoughts: This urban fantasy story introduces October "Toby" Daye who is a changeling fae in San Francisco. Toby had turned her back on the fae world and was making her living as a private investigator. She married a human man and had a daughter. When the fae world catches up to her and turns her into a koi living in a botanical garden, that life is destroyed. 

When the story begins, Toby has come back from being a koi but has lost 11 years of her life. She's lost her license, her husband, and her daughter, and is working as a night clerk in an all-night convenience store. But faerie isn't finished with her.

Calls on the answering machine she's been ignoring are from Countess Evening Winterrose pull her back in. The first calls just ask for help, the later calls demand it, and the last call curses her to find Evening's killer or die herself. 

Toby is forced to return to faerie where she meets old friends and old enemies as she tries to solve the murder of Evening in time to save her own life. 

This story had very intriguing worldbuilding. I liked all the various fae creatures and characters. I liked Toby and enjoyed seeing her return to life after all she had gone through. This story had a nicely twisty plot. Mary Robinette Kowal did a good job narrating and bringing all the various characters to life. 

Favorite Quote:

"You should have screamed by now. It doesn't taste as good when you don't scream. Why won't you scream for me?"

"Sorry, but we only serve diet agony here," I whispered through gritted teeth. "No artificial colors or flavors."

I bought this one. I got the Kindle copy in 2009 but only recently got the audiobook. You can buy your copy here.