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Magic for Liars    by Sarah Gailey Amazon.com order for
Magic for Liars
by Sarah Gailey
Order:  USA  Can
Tor, 2019 (2019)
Hardcover, e-Book
* *   Reviewed by Hilary Williamson

In Magic for Liars, Sarah Gailey adroitly combines fantasy with mystery. In fact, it all begins with the discovery of a body in the library at Osthorne Academy for Young Mages. The corpse of Sylvia Capley (who taught health and wellness) has been cut in half right down the middle! A spell gone wrong or murder?

PI Ivy Gamble is hired to investigate by Marion Torres, Osthorne's headmaster. Ivy's talented twin sister Tabitha teaches Theoretical Magic at the school. She and Ivy have been estranged since Tabitha went to a prestigious magic boarding school, while Ivy attended regular school, and their mother died of cancer.

Despite her misgivings, Ivy takes on her first murder case. At Osthorne, she interviews students and becomes close to physical magic teacher Rahul Chaudhary, but doesn't correct his assumption that she's a also mage. She hears of a prophecy of a Chosen One who's supposed to save the world, and she gets to know her sister just a little better, discovering along the way how easily they have misunderstood each other.

Ultimately, Ivy does solve the case, but keeps that answer to herself, for good reasons. I enjoyed this story and hope to read more of the exploits of Ivy Gamble.

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