A fun and entertaining installment in the Murder and Magic series, this book can be enjoyed both as a standalone, as well as for anyone hoping for more of this world. While I’ll admit to being a bit disappointed that this book doesn’t focus on Hetty and Benjy like the earlier books in this series, Velma quickly grabbed my attention and I was soon on board with how her adventures would stack up instead. I also loved being able to see some of the characters we had known and loved in the other two books, as well as seeing how the family had grown since we had last been in this world.

While I kind of thought this book had a slower start, once the story kicked off I was invested until the last page. Once Velma and Dillon began their investigation together - snarking at each other the entire time - I was having a blast. The investigation is in-depth and intricate, and up until the pieces started to come together I had no idea how everything would fit. The worldbuilding in these books is also fascinating, as this book expands upon how the 1920-1930s looks with the magical alternate universe - but in a very grounded way to where everything feels realistic and possible.

One thing I always really appreciate with Nicole Glover’s writing is how well the romances are done in her books. I will admit, I was a bit hesitant once I learned that this would be a more of an enemies-to-lovers type of deal, since I find the trope tedious if poorly done. However, I was pleasantly surprised to love every bit of conversation as well as the entire dynamic between Velma and Dillon, and that they felt natural and real as they slowly became closer. While different from how Hetty and Benjy slowly realized they simply just “fit” together, a lot of how naturally the two fit together was the same. I realize some others might prefer heart-pounding and “love at first sight” or much more dramatic romances, but that’s never been something I’ve been able to relate to and I much prefer the natural progression done within these novels.

I really enjoyed this book, and I think it could easily be enjoyed by anyone just getting into the world created by Nicole Glover. If you haven’t read The Conductors I highly recommend it, and if you’ve read her previous duology I highly recommend getting back into that world with The Improvisers. Full of magic, twists, betrayals, murder and just a dash of romance - this book is a great escape into the magical historical fiction fantasy world of Nicole Glover.

A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Avon and Harper Voyager for providing this e-ARC.

It’s been a longer wait than I’d hoped for the latest installment of Nicole Glover’s Murder and Magic series, but The Improvisers has proved to be worth the wait. Jumping further forward in time to see how the 1930s look in Glover’s version of the world with a prohibition on certain potions and the controversy of flying in planes versus flying on brooms was fun. At the same time, the characters and how they connect back to Hetty and Benjy kept the novel feeling consistent and like a true continuation of the series. Though some elements of the case at the heart of the story felt like they were a little too loosely connected, the themes raised in the novel and the dynamics between the central characters meant that – for me, at least – the exact shape of the central mystery and how cleanly things fit together weren’t as necessary for keeping the story as a whole compelling.

Velma Frye wears many hats – she investigates unusual incidents for the Magnolia Muses organization bringing unusual magical items in for cataloguing and storage, she’s a pilot who performs in many aerial shows, and she investigates cases of her own on the side, carrying on a longstanding family tradition. As she flits between her various jobs and interests, a local journalist Dillon Harris seems to dog her every step, in search of a good story – a nuisance that threatens the integrity of her investigating on several occasions. But when their paths cross at a baseball game where the Members of Rational Clarity group disrupts events with a demonstration, Dillon proves to have information Velma could use and agrees to his cashing in on a favor she owes him. Crisscrossing the country, visiting her sister at the family’s inn that appears to have a connection to her case, and dropping in on family, Velma and Dillon work to solve a growing list of murders, recover some stolen and disruptive magical items, and possibly prevent the MRC from carrying out a devastating demonstration at the upcoming arcane expo.

Back when I read the first novel in this series, The Conductors, I had hoped to see some standalone novels set in this world. After reading the second novel, The Undertakers, and given its ending, it seemed like the books would follow each other a little more directly, so the initial time jump between that book and this one was a bit of a surprise with The Improvisers ending up with the best of both worlds, getting to see what’s become of Hetty and Benjy while also seeing a larger slice of the world Glover has created and other events in history through that altered lens. Glover’s take on Prohibition, the introduction of flight, and different movements to improve (or stymie) race relations are just as engaging as the first two novels. With so much location hopping and so many things going on as the disparate plot threads gradually coalesce into the same case, it could be difficult to follow why Velma was where she was, but the world building was so extensive and entertaining that it didn’t really matter to me if it would actually prove relevant to the case and there were times when I actually stopped trying to figure it out.

Actually, I didn’t much care for the case itself. It felt less genuinely complicated and more chaotically presented in an attempt to feel complicated. But the characters at the heart of the novel kept me more than invested enough. The playful dynamic between Velma and Dillon worked just fine but it was really the relationship between Velma and her sister, Carolyn as well as her friendships with Edythe and Lois that proved the most interesting. It isn’t just in relationship between Velma and Carolyn that Glover shows how adept she is at portraying the frustrations and loving ties of family. Seeing how Velma interacts with her grandparents and with various cousins further shows how family bonds test the limits of loyalty and how much the history of how you grow up and who you grow up with shapes the person you become.

Magical artifacts are going missing, and the bodies start dropping. Velma’s detective work for the Muses is put to the rest when she has to chase down a mysterious organization with plans for destruction. All she needs is the next clue, and for that cute reporter to stop asking questions.

A return to the world of The Conductors and the Undertakers & I couldn’t be happier! Glover’s historical work is wonderful. It feels grounded and real, even as people are throwing magic around. And it is fascinating to see the evolution of the magic from the previous two books!

And this book hit so many of my interests! A bad ass lady pilot (inspired by Bessie Coleman), en engaging mystery that kept me guessing on how it would resolve, a road (plane) trip, & a surprise little romance that I got really invested in!

I am delighted to see Glover continuing this series with character as wonderfully complicated and interesting as the previous two books, and I can’t wait to see what comes next!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for this arc!

Set in 1931 during Prohibition, this third in the Murder and Magic series boasts a unique fantasy world where magically charmed curios are highly prized. Barnstormer and bootlegging aviatrix, Velma Frye, works for the magic rights group Magnolia Muses, and is plenty rich enough to have dropped her vocation of illegal bootlegging of magical potions in favour of travel in search of enchanted items. Connecting a pocket watch and a music box to magic-incited violence, Velma plane-hops across America to wherever similar incidents have occurred, taking possession of the offending items and returning them to Magnolia’s safekeeping. Along for the ride, much to Velma’s chagrin, is magic-wielding reporter Dillon Harris, who, armed with camera and typewriter, turns out to be quite a good clue-tracker, although putting it all together to make sense puts them both in danger.

In my first foray into this series, I found myself enchanted by the 1930s vibe. The enterprising Rhodes clan are an appealing bunch, and Velma a vibrant, sassy character I would happily take to the skies with. Glover is an awesome storyteller, subtly weaving in backstory to make this episode stand alone well. The catalyst is Jeremiah Sitwell’s failed invention of a dangerous now-missing machine, which someone is trying to find and repurpose for nefarious ends. The search takes Velma home to Bramble Crescent, to her disabled sister Carolyn, a no-nonsense woman who presides over the family-owned Beacon Inn, where all the trouble may have started in the 1870s. Grandparents Hetty and Benjy Rhodes, practitioners of celestial magic, play cameo roles here, but they are compelling characters, and their role as undertakers adds a further layer to the story. Velma is inspired by Bessie Coleman, the first Black woman to gain a pilot’s license. This excellent series holds great potential for magical realism readers.

I received a copy for review purposes; all opinions are honest and mine alone.


THE IMPROVISERS, by Nicole Glover, is a genre busting story the tests boundaries and leans heavily, too heavily, IMO. Glover uses magic excessively. At times, I wasn’t sure if the characters were participating or planning, especially during the early stages.

Because the story incorporates significant historical events, (black female aviators, prohibition, racism), I was expecting good world building. Unfortunately, this element suffered because of the extensive use of magic. There is quite a large cast of characters that are hard to keep track of. For the same reason as above, development suffers and we don’t get to know them very well.

For the majority of the story, I was waiting to be drawn in and care about what was happening. What happened was another spell or twist to an already completely gnarled storyline📚

I love a story that can mix magic and historical together so well. With that said I did feel like maybe I was missing something from the story. It seemed to jump right in with no enough of a backstory to ground me properly. Nevertheless Nicole Glover is a staple in the black fantasy space. She is able to weave together magic, murders, and historacal events into a way that really captivates readers. Job well done.

I received an ARC from the publisher and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
I had previously really enjoyed Nicole Glover’s Murder and Magic duology, so I was excited to hear that she was expanding the story with a standalone set in the same world. The Improvisers is perhaps even better than those prior books, capturing all the magic of those works with a little something more.
The story is now set in the Prohibition era (mostly 1931, but there are also flashbacks to earlier in the 1920s), and I love how Glover has expanded her historical fantasy world, and how it would all develop throughout time, particularly highlighting the evolution in racial tensions between Black and white people. And showing the impact of Prohibition in particular on magical items is a nice touch.
I didn’t know prior how exactly this story would tie back to the previous two, but I was pleasantly surprised when I learned that this followed Hetty and Benjy’s granddaughter (one of several, in fact). While the characters, especially Benjy, were one of the weaker points for me in prior books, especially the first, they grew on me by the second, and I am glad to see how the family has grown in the years between the end of the last book.
And Velma is much more of a dynamic character than her grandparents, that’s for sure. She’s immediately compelling, given her multitude of vocations, from pilot to investigator, and puts her neck on the line for the sake of fighting for racial justice.
I also really liked the prominently featured enemies-to-lovers romance with fellow journalist Dillon Harris. Their conflict is apparent from the first pages, with excerpts from their respective news articles expressing their contrasting opinions on planes and magic. Through working together, their bond grows, and they come to find out they each complement the other perfectly.
As with prior books, there’s also a mystery, and this provides a lot of intrigue and twists and turns throughout the book. With the book being rather long, and taking place in many locations with them traveling, I did find the pacing a little uneven, but the story was overall mostly satisfying and came together in a satisfying way.
While this is billed as a standalone companion novel., I hope this isn’t the last we’ll see of the characters, especially as there’s a large extended family tree. I’d recommend this to readers interested in a historical fantasy highlighting Black history, and featuring romance and mystery elements.

I don’t often jump into the middle of a series, but when I saw an ARC of The Improvisers by Nicole Glover, sitting on a table of freebies at the 4th Street Fantasy Convention this summer, the cover arrested my attention. It features a black woman in a leather flying cap with goggles, looking upward, with stars above ring, part of a white circle on one side of her, part of a gold circle on the other side, and an old-fashioned plane below her, flying across a golden swirl of sparks. It looked like my jam, and it was! Unfortunately, it took quite a while to reach the top of my To Be Read pile, but I really enjoyed it.

This is book #3 in Glover’s Murder and Magic series, but the protagonist here is the granddaughter of the protagonists in #1 and #2, so there’s a reset of sorts. I’ve put book #1 (The Conductors) on hold at the library, but I didn’t have any trouble jumping in here and following the plot of The Improvisers.

Velma Frye is a barnstormer pilot in an alternate-history fantasy Prohibition America. It’s also the Depression, but since Velma made a small fortune as a former bootlegger, she is fairly free to follow her own interests, which include arcane phenomena. In this world, magic is recognized and regulated, and the regulations come down particularly hard on some of the types of magic most in use by Black people. Velma is an investigator and troubleshooter for a magic rights organization that also deals with problems when they arise.

The magic seen here is apparently a combination of potions, sigils, and devices, learned from relatives, mentors, and books (academies aren’t mentioned, nor is the system explained a la Sanderson). Those who have the power/craft generally use it to improve their lives in small ways, for protection, to make marvels and money, but some people have darker, more dangerous agendas.

A magical brawl at an airshow turns out to have been sparked by a cursed pocket watch. When Velma starts looking into this, she learns that other artifacts have been causing problems across the country. Deaths occur, and deeper investigation eventually reveals connections to her own family’s past.

Velma Frye is also an alias. Velma/Viola/Violet is a member of a large family with branches in several cities across the U.S. Unfortunately, her frequent flights and other interests means she doesn’t spend nearly as much time with her relatives as most of them think she should, so there’s a bit of resentment and estrangement.

The Improvisers has a large cast of characters. Besides her barnstorming and bootlegging contacts, her Magnolia Muses supervisor, a researcher at the same society, and her far-flung family, there’s also a pesky reporter who keeps showing up and complicating her investigations. He knows her as an aviator and former journalistic rival, but he suspects there’s a lot more to Velma. He’s irritating, but increasingly useful.

I really enjoyed the relationships in this book, and Velma’s character development. Several people call her on how her fast-paced life has let her basically use people instead of sticking around and really being part of anything. Her parents’ and sister’s frustration with her long silences feels legitimate, but when they all finally start talking again, the love is also real. Also, an enemies-to-allies slow burn feels earned and welcome rather than forced or perfunctory.

Glover’s prose (third person limited, past tense) doesn’t often soar to poetic heights, but it’s direct and practical and a breeze to read. There’s a lot going on in this 443-page book, but it doesn’t feel nearly that long; Glover keeps it all racing along together and lands the ending with a very satisfying touchdown.

Most of all, this book is just fun to read. I love Velma’s adventurous life, with its combinations of barnstorming, action scenes, family ties and other connections, and figuring out how a lot of complicated elements are going to fit together and get resolved. I’m glad to have discovered Glover, and I will definitely want to read the upcoming fourth book in the series, set at NASA in 1964.

Fun and engaging historical fantasy murder mystery. Although there are a couple of previous books about Velma's grandparents, this book stands well on its own - and in fact, I'm looking forward to reading the previous books even more now. I really enjoyed the way the author incorporated magic into the historical setting, and Velma is a very charismatic protagonist. I'd love to read more of her adventures, before or after this one.

Velma Frye is a queen.

A daredevil pilot, former bootlegger, and wielder of magic, Velma deals with racism, sexism, and more, and now she must figure out who is behind the magical items being found, and which have very dangerous consequences. The character relationships, both romantic and familial, are well developed.

While this is part of a series, I never felt like I didn't understand the dynamics of the story - and I love the fact that there are more books in this world that I can enjoy.

Very cool historical fantasy. The worldbuilding is both historical and fantastical, magic and potions and broomsticks (but not witches interestingly.) The main character Velma is a being of chaos. She’s a high flyer, she’s a spy, she’s partial owner of a bed and breakfast. I was pleasantly surprised by the romance subplot which helped draw me back in when I felt like the plot was getting a little messy. The last third of the book turns oddly whodunnit but I had fun. It’s a kind of messy book that doesn’t stick to any one genre. A lot to keep up with but satisfying overall.

This is a great next step in the series, bringing the plot to a new getting and generation. The main character is fun and engaging, and the layout of the plot follows the same sort of layout as the previous entries while still standing out on its own.

And interesting and action packed treasure hunting mystery in the Roaring Twenties! Plenty of Trains, Planes, and Magic!

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for the arc.
This book is different from my usual reads. This book follows Velma who is a jack of all trades. There's nothing this woman can't do! I found the author's writing style fresh and invigorating. I highly recommend this book for fantasy, diversity, and historical fiction lovers!

DNF. @ 30% not because it wasn’t good, but i would prefer to finish in print. Some books just don’t work as an ebook for whatever reason. This is one of those. It would be nice to also read the other two companion books. Understanding the world building from those will make this one better.

Blew through this book in a day, and absolutely loved it! Brings the vibrant magic and engaging characters of Murder & Magic into the Jazz Age and does it with aplomb! Definitely recommended to anyone who loved the first two books! Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyage for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review!