Pandian's "Accidental Alchemist" series is off to a great start and this second book in series was terrific. Love the setting of Portland and ALL of the descriptions of nature and life that we overlook on a daily basis. What other things are hiding in plain sight? No spoilers, great story telling!

I really enjoyed this 2nd book in the series. Zoe and Dorian, her friend a Gargoyle French Chef are back. Zoe is still trying to solve Dorian's mystery but takes some time off to see an old fashioned magic show. When a murder takes place and Dorian's secret is threatened she sets out to solve the crime. I really enjoy the characters and the paranormal background. The mystery was good and the solution made sense. I am looking for word to reading more in this series. Enjoy

It's been a little over a year since I read the first book in this Accidental Alchemist Mystery series, but I remember the basic premise, and after re-reading my review of that one felt moderately caught up. <em>The Masquerading Magician</em> is the second book in the series and here our 300-year-old Vegan alchemist, Zoe Faust, is trying desperately to save her friend Dorian Robert-Houdin. Dorian is a gargoyle. A <em>living</em> gargoyle. But something is happening to him and he is reverting to the stone he was carved from and if Zoe can't find a way to stop it, Dorian will be a living being trapped in stone for all eternity. A French book of alchemy might hold the answers Zoe needs, but unlocking the secrets is just a little more challenging than a Suduku puzzle.

Zoe attends a magic show, not unlike those she used to watch some 300 years earlier, and gets the feeling that these magicians are more than simple masters of illusion. There are murders at the theatre and Zoe gets embroiled in another unexpected mystery that gets much too personal.

It's clear that author Gigi Pandian has a solid back-story for Zoe and Dorian, and that there's an overarching storyline, but all of that is not present in this particular volume. This has the feel of a 'filler' book, i.e when there is a long-running storyline but the author couldn't think of where to take it and because of a contract, threw a story together, or when another author jumps in a writes a story with all the characters but it clearly isn't part of the progression of the bigger story. But this usually happens around book 8 or 9, and not the second book of a new series.

Clearly we were getting a bunch of the back story, which was nice to have, but Zoe's search for an alchemist who can help her gets derailed behind the theatre murder and old robbery come to light. I'd much rather be an active participant in the search for a cure for Dorian than get involved with obstacles that don't really have anything to do with the larger mystery.

I enjoyed the first book enough to want to read this second, and I really enjoyed a mystery by Pandian in another one of her series, so I'll risk the third book, but I'm hoping it will be clearer of focus than this one.

Looking for a good book? If you read <em>The Accidental Alchemist</em>, you'll want to read this follow-up, <em>The Masquerading Magician</em> by Gigi Pandian just to stay current with the series, otherwise there isn't much to recommend it.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

Deciphering an ancient alchemy book is more difficult than Zoe Faust bargained for. She’d much rather be gardening and exploring her new home of Portland, Oregon—but time is running out for living gargoyle Dorian Robert-Houdin. If Zoe isn’t able to unlock the alchemy book’s secrets soon, the French gargoyle will remain awake but trapped in stone forever.
When Zoe gives herself a rare night out to attend a classic magic show that reminds her of her youth, she realizes the stage magicians are much more than they seem. A murder at the theater leads back to a string of unsolved robberies and murders in Portland’s past, and a mystery far more personal than Zoe and Dorian ever imagined.

This is the second book in the Accidental Alchemist series. I have not read the first book.

This was a far better book than I thought it may have been. The blurb sounded okay - if not a little unusual - so I thought it was worth a go. So glad that I did...

The positives for this book are many - I am not even sure where to begin...

The characters: Zoe and Dorian are two of the best character combinations I have read for a while. Their chemistry is fun and I wished I had read the first book just to find out a little more about them. The elements of alchemy, magic and mystery blend together so well that I was completely sucked in to the story.

The downside, for me, was the lack of good editing. Lots of repetition was annoying and the fact that there was no true resolution left me feeling ripped-off as a reader. Like I was cheated out of a climax because the author wanted to keep this series burning...


Paul
ARH