I received this advance copy courtesy of NetGalley and T.L. Huchu. I was waiting on a continuation of Ropa's story but this was NOT what I expected... I had trouble getting into the new characters (kinda feel like I may have missed a book in between this one and The Library of the Dead). She and a few of her 'castmates' did experience a good bit of growth during the story but it seemed disjointed to me... I'm going to check and see if there is a book that I'm missing and reread this afterwards if there was before updating my review at that time.

This is part of a series that I read as a standalone, not realizing that it was book 3. Despite not having any of the information about the previous two books I enjoyed this one and felt that it was entertaining and humorous.

Roya is a character that is trying to do her best in a difficult situation and sometimes acts impetuously. She is a teenager, they tend to do that. The author does a great job of giving her depth of character and strong will.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for my advance copy of this audiobook

This is the best book in the series so far. The first one I did not really like though it kept me interested enough that I wanted to know what was going to happen. The second was better, I think I enjoyed this one better because some of the characters are fleshed out better and you discover their motivations. Ropa discovers that goodbyes are hard but it is important to face them.

4.25

I love the world T.L. Huchu has created in the Edinburgh Nights series, and I love even more that in this installment we leave Edinburgh and end up with a locked room mystery in a creepy castle. We see what the world looks like outside of Edinburgh, meet some Ethiopian magicians, and learn more about the tensions between England and Scotland. I loved the way Huchu incorporated anti-colonialism themes into this one, especially related to the looting of religious objects by the British, and I find the tension between England and Scotland really fascinating. Ropa continues to be the outspoken no nonsense teenager just trying to get through the day, and I loved seeing her interactions with the Society as well as with her friends and mentor.

I thought the pacing of this was a little slow to start, but once the action picks up it is nonstop. The plot of this book really seems to set up moves for a major macro plot to come to head in the next book, and given that ending I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Overall, I have really enjoyed my time with this series so if it sounds at all interesting I recommend picking up the first book and giving it a try. The writing is very stylized so it does take a minute to get used to, but the world is fascinating and the characters are so entertaining. I highly recommend the audiobooks, narrated by Kimberly Mandindo, as they really help set the tone and make the slang feel more natural.

I really enjoyed the first two books in this series, but this one fell a bit short for me. I wasn’t invested in what Ropa was doing at Dunvegan Castle.

The audio narration was very well done.

3.5 stars
I have loved these stories and finding out about all of the shenanigans that Ropa finds herself in. She has never been one to mince words, but seeing her stand up for herself and her hard work when it comes to the leaders of Scottish magic made my heart happy. I also enjoyed seeing and meeting characters from different countries and hearing how their beliefs empower their magic systems. I have always loved history so weaving these antiquities into the story gave it an added bonus for me, but as Ropa said “those books are full of lies”. I hope that the next installment delves deeper into the history and political schemes that we were left to wonder about at the end of this one.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for this advanced copy.

Okay here we go again. It’s time for round 3 of our impossibly brilliant 15-year-old high school dropout turned ghost talker turned assistant to the head magician even though she didn’t go to magic school. Not only is she a super genius (she just spouts that thing Machiavelli said one time- she heard it on a podcast, of course. Side note, where do I find the podcasts to train me to be a super genius? We’ve got some heavy doses of religion, mythology, science, and dense magical history in this book. While fascinating, it’s a lot to process). So, all the best magicians in the country are gathered at a conference at this creepy castle, and of course, there is a murder and the theft of a super powerful magic scroll. And all these super smart magicians are just like, okay, we are going to make the 15-year-old, non-qualified magician solve this murder. The head dude traps everyone inside a giant bubble and then they all go watch a rugby game while they leave her to figure it out. Aside from telling her every now and then she’s not solving it fast enough, no one tries to help her. She has started getting panic attacks and is a jerk about it. These books are complex and ridiculous, and I love them. Please write more! Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.

I read the 1st 2 books in the series to prepare for this ARC and I am glad I did! I enjoyed them and would have been totally lost in this book if I hadn't. I am really rooting for Ropa to get the training and support she deserves and to stop getting dicked around by the powers that be regarding magic! I can't wait to see what happens in the next installment. This was my first book by T.L. Huchu but it won't be my last!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and TL Huchu for providing me with a complimentary digital audiobook ARC for The Mystery at Dunvegan Castle, coming out August 29, 2023. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

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.

I really enjoyed the first book in the series. I thought the second book wasn’t as good as the first one. So I wanted to check this out. The title sounded so fun. I love the plot points of ghosts and castles. However, this book didn’t really work for me. I really couldn’t even tell what the mystery part was. I also forgot how young Ropa was. There was a lot of repetitive language. I really enjoyed the narrator, but not this story.

I listened to the audio version of T.L. Huchu's The Mystery at Dunvegan Castle as a standalone. (I'm a McLeod, and there was no way I wasn't going to give this book a try!) I had no trouble following along, and I think you could enjoy the books in this series in any order.

Huchu does a fantastic job of describing the setting of the castle and its grounds, as well as the magical, supernatural world in which these characters reside. The pacing is fast, and there is non-stop action from the beginning to the end.

The audio version is nicely performed by Kimberly Mandindo.

* 3.5 stars *

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

The third in the Edinburgh Nights series, The Mystery at Dunvegan Castle by T.L. Huchu follows Ropa at the worldwide Society of Skeptical Enquirers’ biennial conference. A scroll was brought as a peace offering and is stolen by one of the attendees. Ropa has to find the culprit before time runs out, the spell holding them in stops and the criminal runs free.
This book was my favorite in the series! I enjoyed the spooky setting and the twists and turns of this mystery. I love a good locked down mystery! The magical atmosphere was great however I was hoping there would be more use of magic throughout.
I loved the mental health rep as Rupa learns to cope with her panic attacks. As someone who has panic attacks myself I related to the main characters struggle. I also appreciate how the development of the main character to learn that it is ok to slow down, accept help from those who care about her, and that she needs to process her struggles.
Overall, I would recommend this book to people who love classic locked down mysteries or young adults who want a good mystery series.

4 stars (rounded up from 3.5)

T.L. Huchu takes us back to Scotland in this third book in the Edinburgh Nights series, but this time we aren’t in Edinburgh. The action all takes place on the Isle of Skye off the coast of mainland Scotland at Dunvegan Castle (a real place that is hundreds of years old). This time, Ropa, still an intern working with Sir Ian Callender, a magician very high in Scottish magical society, is helping out at a conference of magicians, including some visiting from Ethiopia. When a rare ancient scroll is stolen and a librarian murdered, Ropa is back on the job, investigating and trying to recover the scroll. Because of the isolation of the castle, this basically becomes a locked room mystery with paranormal elements. This book felt quite different than the first two, even though Ropa is still the snarky teenage narrator. She still has to deal with established magicians looking down their noses at her. There was a good deal about an old clan war between the MacLeods and the McDonalds and some commentary about essentially colonialism by European nations and how the Ethiopians resent this. (They want some of their treasures back, similar to Greece and Egypt in the “real” world.) I wanted more about Ropa’s grandmother’s backstory and we still didn’t get it, so that was a disappointment. We also still don’t know what The Catastrophe was that created the dystopian world in this series. The ending was also a bit abrupt, hinting that the larger story will be continued in at least one more book.

This is definitely a fun series, even if this one was my least favorite of the three books. I recommend it to anyone who likes magical realism, mysteries, and interesting, diverse characters.

Kimberly Mandindo again does a fabulous job with all the various accents on the audiobook.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an advance copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.

The narrator's voice is so pleasant here. Ropa is up to her badassery again and we love it. This time there is political intrigue (colonialism critique, too) and a locked castle to deal with.

I received an audiobook ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Book 3 in the Edinburgh Nights series sees Ropa get involved in the bureaucratic side of Scottish magic, and there's as many egos and underhanded power plays as in the regular world. When an important magical artifact is stolen, Ropa and her friends Priya and (to a lesser extent) Jomo try to get to the bottom of the mystery, all the while dodging rival factions and petty grievances designed to slow them down.

I really, REALLY enjoy this series, and narrator Kimberley Mandindo is a huge part of this. Her accent is understandable and adds so much to the authenticity of the story and its atmosphere that I can't imagine listening to one of these books without her!

This is one series I'm always looking forward to the next book! But definitely start with book one, because it sets the foundation for the others perfectly.

A delightful, magical twist on the locked room mystery. Ropa's facing another adventure, this time while trapped at a conference on the Isle of Skye with all the best Scottish magical practitioners. (Side note - Huchu has clearly been to a few professional conferences.) Tensions are high when a murder is committed, a valuable artifact is stolen, and the place is put on lockdown. Filled with political tension, reflections on mental health, and absolutely incredible characters, the third book in the series didn't disappoint. I find myself looking forward to cliffhangers just so I know there's another installation coming, and this delivered.

I adore Ropa and her sass. I am also a sucker for a locked-room mystery! This series as a whole is very underrated and I hope more people check it out!