Where It's a New Author but the Same Lord Darcy

Ten Little Wizards by Michael Kurland
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I think Michael Kurland nailed it.

This book is a continuation of the Lord Darcy alternative history fantasy mystery (my words) series started by Randall Garrett. The original included one novel and a number of short stories, all set in a Europe where magic works and England never lost its lands in France. This novel follows up on those stories very well, with characters that feel unchanged and a setting that seems well understood and recaptured.

Kurland includes a touch more direct exposition to explain how things work than Garrett did, but in other ways seems to have followed the original in every way. The methodology and pacing are so similar. I would have liked a couple more pages of sorting out at the end of the novel, and reflecting on that I nearly dropped a star, but it's such a minor quibble. Reading (as I do) a number of other books at the same time, I found myself picking this one up again and again in preference to the other books, all of which I like quite a bit, and realized nah, this does all you want a book to do. It was a brisk, entertaining read, peopled by sympathetic characters, and I was pleasantly diverted thinking about how different things might be in another world. Lots of good stuff. All the stars. Fair play and well done to the author.

(As usual, the story involves a series of murders that seem impossible, including a couple of the "locked room" type. The mystery aspect is well handled and satisfying.)

If you like alternate histories and mysteries and fantasies, I recommend the whole series.

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