Posts Tagged ‘murder mystery’
Good Guys, by Steven Brust
Posted on: May 20, 2018
Good Guys, by Steven Brust
published March 6th 2018
where I got it: Purchased new
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What can you do with magic? Pretty much anything you can do without it, except magic makes things much easier, and much faster. Students at the Foundation learn chemistry, molecular biology, and physics. They need to know how everything in the natural world works, so they can learn how to properly manipulate it for the results they want. The applied science of magic is a lot of knowledge, even more practice, and boat ton of will power.
Steven Brust’s newest stand alone novel, Good Guys, is Dresden Files meets Columbo, meets a study in the glory that is non-verbal communication. Donovan Longfellow heads up the American field team for the Spanish Foundation, a secret society staffed by magicians, sorcerers, recruiters, researchers, and assorted administrative staff. As the story opens, Donovan is breaking in his new field specialist, Marci. Fresh out of training, and still thinking she can have a healthy relationship while working for The Foundation, Marci is bright eyed and bushy-tailed, reminding me a little of Gwen from Torchwood. The team is rounded out by Susan the acrobatic ninja, and yep, the three of them are the entire American field team for the Spanish Foundation – saving the world by day, and often working 2nd jobs on the side to make ends meet. They might be saving the world, and the Foundation offers pretty good health insurance, but the hourly wage sucks.
The novel opens with a murder committed by magical means. Donovan’s team is put on the case, and as the murders stack up, the killings become more and more gruesome. None of the people who are murdered were particularly nice people. Someone is trying to send a message, but what are they trying to say, and why? The Foundation tends to frown on people using magic for selfish or violent reasons, so why should they care that a bunch of assholes are getting knocked off? Other than the fact that he’s getting paid for it, why should Donovan care?
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