A Study in Sorcery by Michael KurlandMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Randall Garrett wrote one novel and a number of short stories about the investigator Lord Darcy. This is the second sequel written by Michael Kurland, the last of the Lord Darcy mysteries, and it's a bit thinner but still fun.
The setting remains the key component, with an original take on an alternate history with magic: England still controls France (never losing what Henry V gained) and has remained a real empire up to the sort-of present, including a tenuous hold on the Americas. (These stories mostly take place in the 70's, though the technology is more steampunk than modern. Much of society relies on magic instead.) This time, we're in North America, at a settlement I think is meant to be where New York should be. There's a murder involving an Aztec (here, Azteque) nobleman, a crime which needs to be solved before an important treaty is signed with Aztecque ambassadors, and Lord Darcy is called in to save the agreement. Altogether, this is an interesting society and world, with lots of fun what-if? answers, and the freshness of that setting all on its own makes the story fun to dip into.
The plot mostly works. It's a quick read, with decent pacing, and I have no real problem with any part of it--except I was expecting some more action at some point. It feels like we were hiking up a mountain and then were suddenly back at the bottom, as if a middle section was planned but abandoned, the story quickly wrapped up, to keep it at a tidy 75,000 words. There is pretty good rising action, but I can't really identify much of a major crisis, and I felt the lack of it.
That said, the conclusion makes sense and works fine. Maybe it's just a very long short story...
This may be the least successful (IMO) of the books and stories of Lord Darcy, but it's still fun, and if there were ten more I'd buy them today. Alas, this is it. Last one.
I wonder if Brandon Sanderson has a minute in his schedule.
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