To say The Undetectables was not a book for me would be, with all due respect, more than somewhat of an understatement. I dragged myself through this book, page by page. And, yes, I could have (and probably should have) given up on it, but I didn’t. More fool me. Maybe one day I’ll learn.

In the interests of making this review as short as I can (haha), I will not attempt to summarise the book, especially given that it’s been a good while since I finished it and I have elected to erase any memory of it for my own sanity. I’m writing this review based on the increasingly frustrated notes I made while reading. But anyway, it’s a mystery novel, with a little bit of magic thrown in, and a ghost in a cat costume.

Chief among this book’s issues for me was that it couldn’t decide on the tone it wanted to take. Most of the issues I’m about to enumerate do actually stem from this, I believe, so let’s start here. Did it want to be a humorous cosy mystery? Did it want to be a darker fantasy tale? Did it want to be a serious tract on the carceral state and the general shittiness of the police? More than anything, it seemed to want to be all three. Now, I’m not saying you can’t have a humorous cosy mystery that does darker things, considers police states, and so forth, but it has to be done better than this. If you’re going to lean into the cosiness, for example, you have to integrate the whole prison system subplot in a way that’s smoother than just chucking it in as one character’s apparent personal crusade (which, by the way, didn’t make it seem all that seriously taken, but does get hammered into your head at every conceivable opportunity). Instead of trying to be everything, this book should have simply picked one thing to be and done that well.

This tonal issue leads me to my next point because apparently the way to be a humorous cosy mystery is to have your characters almost exclusively speak in memes. It might be alright if there was, say, one or two meme references, ones that were actually funny, but instead you just get meme after meme instead of actual human dialogue. Because, as well as these memes, the dialogue itself is painfully stilted. It doesn’t feel as though these are people talking to one another so much as saying what needs to be said in the scene to progress the story. I couldn’t even just skim the dialogue to get through because it simply made me want to die and that’s not an exaggeration.

I wish I could say something remotely positive about this book, really I do, but it was without a doubt one of my worst reading experiences this year. If that sounds mean, well, sure. Maybe it is, but it’s also the honest truth. It was, to me, badly written, full of magical coincidences and an uncompelling mystery on top of that. Not one I would come back to, and not one I could actually recommend.

However, everyone is, as ever, invited to ignore my review entirely, I guess, and pick it up anyway. Absolutely nothing stopping you, after all.

I like this one a lot. The characters read really well and they acted like real people and the dialogue was great. I din;t love it - mainly towards the end - how the mystery all came together didn't quite work for me for some reason, BUT i think, overall, it was pretty good and i will hand sell it in store. Thanks!

This was fun!
First off, delighted with the chronic illness rep - very strong and fit beautifully with the overall story.
I loved the friendship between the characters and that felt like a really big element of the book.
I did find it tricky to get fully immersed into this, and I think it might be a combination of pacing and info-dumping that felt a little clunky. Some of the plot twists weren’t a huge surprise and the ending left me a little dissatisfied, although I’m mindful that other people may have a very different reading experience!
All-in-all, good fun and worth it for the characters!

A very strong 4 stars!!

The Undetectables is a magical murder mystery with the tagline “be gay, solve crimes, take naps” literally what more could you want? Set around Samhain (or Halloween) this is the perfect book to add to your October TBR.

The standout element for me was the friendships at the core of the book. The trio of Diana, Mallory and Cornelia really worked, and did not (as trios in books often do) feel like one friend was perpetually left out, or tagging along. Theo and Mallory’s friendship was also so endearing, and the dialogue between all four of the Undetectables felt genuine and unforced. Smyth clearly has a strong grasp on these characters and the world they inhabit.

Although I felt the plot lagged at times, and SPOILERS the ritualistic aspect of the murders made it somewhat repetitive, SPOILERS it was all in all very enjoyable.

I look forward to reading more from Smyth as the series continues, and would recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun read to kick off Autumn with!

HIGHLIGHTS
~glowy magic beetles
~fibro rep so good it hurts
~let’s invent magical forensics!!!
~so much snark
~friends to the end (and beyond)

I knew I was going to enjoy The Undetectables as soon as I saw the tagline Be Gay. Solve Crimes. Take naps., but I am delighted to be able to tell you that I did not just enjoy it, I freaking loved it.

THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN.

So let me get this straight. Or, should I say, gay.

It also made me want to cry a lot, because I’ve never read anything with a main character who has fibromyalgia before, and I was not expecting the representation to hit me so hard. Smyth has either done their homework incredibly well or has fibro themselves – obviously I hope for the former! – because Mallory’s struggles reflect my own painfully (hah) well. If you want a glimpse of what having fibro is like, well, The Undetectables has you covered: I can personally attest to the accuracy of the rep here.

Exercise was often touted as a cure, but Mallory couldn’t fathom how that was meant to work when she could barely stand up as it was.

(And if you claim it’s annoying or repetitive how often her pain or brain-fog comes up, I will straight-up BITE you. IT DOES SUCK HOW IT AFFECTS EVERY LITTLE THING, DOESN’T IT? NOW IMAGINE LIVING WITH IT.

Ahem.)

The Undetectables walks a very fine line with aplomb: people are dying horribly, which is serious and tragic and terrifying, but also, three witchy besties and their ghost buddy are being hilarious, clever, and single-handedly (…quadruple-handedly?) inventing the field of magical forensics with light-up beetles and Magic Magical Machines. I can’t imagine it’s easy to write a book that is simultaneously light-hearted and serious, that has that marvellous X factor that makes it easy to read but also leaves room for grief and fear – but Smyth pulls it off like an especially elegant spell, and yes, you can consider me enchanted.

The entire book feels like a magic trick, honestly, in how it manages to look like one thing while being another, making you watch one hand while the other brings a whole fluffle of jackalopes bounding out of the magician’s hat. Yes, it’s a murder mystery – but it’s also an exploration of how chronic illness affects friendships with those who aren’t ill, about tangled, thorny relationships and a few different takes on self-worth. It’s such a light, breezy read that you could almost miss how deep it is, how raw it gets, how honest – not just about fibromyalgia, but with regards grief, culture clashes, privilege, classism, how heavy the weight is when you’re trying to prevent more people from getting killed.

It has unexpected depths, is what I’m saying here.

But it is, fundamentally, utterly delightful.

tradition is just peer pressure from dead people,’

This is in large part due to the marvellous cast, their quirks and idiosyncrasies, and the dynamics between them all. Cornelia is massively into bugs; Diana makes murder dioramas; Theodore is Dramatic and also stuck with cat ears, since he died wearing them; and Mallory is Tired But Dammit, she’s going to invent magical forensics if it kills her. Anyone who’s ever been seriously ill or otherwise incapacitated – to say nothing of those of us with chronic illnesses or disabilities – will empathise with Mallory’s fragile uncertainty over whether she is Too Much for her friends, but that friendship is really what pulls the entire book together, is absolutely the heart of the story. These four made me laugh, made my heart ache, made me punch the air when they overcame a Thing – even when, maybe especially when, that Thing was their own feelings or hangups! THANK YOU YES, WE STAN HEALTHY LOVING FRIENDSHIPS HERE!

There was no single level nor astral plane where Mallory felt confident Cornelia could be described as a ‘mere mortal’.

Which is not to say that everything is rosy; Mallory in particular, as the main character, is realistically flawed – and to be honest, that made me really happy. Mallory has fibromyalgia; it does not make her a saint. She’s allowed to be ill/disabled and imperfect, and it made her so much more real to me – as well as making her mean so much more to me, as fibro warrior representation.

So: four friends, trying to solve a murder. And then there’s another murder, making it clear they have a serial killer on their hands. The Undetectables is pretty much equally about the killings as it is Getting The Gang Back Together, since Cornelia and Diana drifted away from Mallory after her diagnosis – understandable, but sad. I will admit, I didn’t care for the murder mystery part – but then, I generally don’t; the murder mystery part is incidental to why I wanted to read this book. THAT BEING SAID: when all the pieces come together at the end? It’s actually kind of amazing. I was dubious about the motivations for the murders, and a few other things, but when I finally got all of the explanation, it was PERFECT. And I really appreciated how in The Undetectables, so much room is given for grief, for loss. That’s something I haven’t encountered before in SFF murder-mysteries; it made the whole murder-mystery aspect less entertaining and more real, and while I absolutely get the appeal of ‘cosy’ murder-mysteries, I’m glad that the awfulness of the situation was recognised here.

And the Getting The Gang Back Together part of the story? *chef’s kiss* YES. So much yes! It’s not the easiest thing in the world, it is messy and complicated and there is thoughtlessness and resentment and guilt all tangled up together with the endless amount of love they all have for each other. That’s what makes it brilliant! All four of the main characters feel so real, so lifelike, that they could walk out of the page and into our world at any moment – and honestly, if they did, I’d like to think we’d be friends.

Diana wore entirely inappropriate shoes for the situation, but when asked, she said ‘I can use the heels to stab someone in the neck. I don’t see what the problem is.’

Mallory could not fault her logic.

Is the worldbuilding a little weak? By my standards (which, let’s remember, are very high – I like my worldbuildingly obsessively detailed) yes. Things are kept very simple, but sometimes that very simplicity is confusing; we have five magical races/species, only three of which really come up in this book (so why have five at all?), and each one is associated with a different material – carbon, iron, etc. These associations aren’t explained, and given that they’re actually plot-relevant, that really bugged me. The religion is also pretty hazy – we have a trio of ‘lesser’ goddesses or demi-goddesses whose origin no one is really clear on, but there seems to be another level of greater goddesses above them? Again, this is majorly plot-relevant, so I really would have wanted a clearer picture of what exactly Occultists believe and how they worship.

I was also left with no real idea of how Apparents (non-magical humans, and may I just say I love this term MUCH more than mundane or muggle or whatever mildly-to-strongly-patronising term most stories use) and Occultists feel about each other, given that the magical community seems to exist openly and not be in hiding. Do Apparent nightclubs hire troll bouncers too? Do witches sell their magical services to Apparents?? Are faeries sitting on the boards of otherwise-Apparent environmental charities??? Unknown.

HOWEVER: although we don’t get a lot of info on the different magical peoples, it’s made very clear that they all have their own cultures and traditions, and not just in big general ways, but in smaller day-to-day type things, which I really loved. It massively helps to make them feel distinct from each other. And the confusion around the goddesses is acknowledged in-text and is strongly implied to be a Thing Which Will Be Plot Relevant Later.

(I so hope we get a sequel. Preferably LOTS of sequels. I WANT AN UNDETECTABLES SERIES, IS THAT SO WRONG???)

And although, being me, I wanted more worldbuilding – we didn’t actually need much more than we got. It definitely wasn’t enough to affect how much I enjoyed this book – was which was, in case you didn’t pick up on it earlier, A WHOLE HELL OF A LOT.

An urban fantasy that feels light but has a lot of heart, with a fantabulous cast and oddly adorable glowing beetles, The Undetectables is my new favourite friendship-fantasy. I strongly advise you not to miss out on it!

4.5 stars

The Undetectables is an amazing, fun and quirky murder mystery mixed with fantasy that I absolutely loved. This book was addictive and I found myself unable to put it down!

It was impossible for me not to love this group of friends who each bring their own to The Undetectables. Not only do we get a lot of representation in this book but each character is unique and incredibly realistic and relatable. They each have their own strengths and flaws and to me that made them even more likeable.

I loved the murder mystery element of this one and whilst I managed to guess who was behind it all it didn't take away from the enjoyment I had when reading it. It was all so cleverly done and I think Courtney Smyth did a fantastic job! I'm excited to see what they write next!

Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

"Be gay. Solve crimes. Take naps." - This tagline is what drew me to this book and my god it DID NOT disappoint. this is the perfect book to read for Halloween.

Here we follow Mallory, and her friends, as they investigate a serial killer whose motives seem to be tied to three prominent historical figures. Honestly, this was giving Criminal Minds but make it supernatural.

One of the first things that i LOVED about this book was the representation: chronic illness fmc, queer characters, non-binary characters, etc. The second is the style of writing, by this I mean how we got the perspective of the victims right before they died which (to me) is such a unique way to write a murder mystery, it made it feel like a tv show. I LOVED how the female main character was relatable, her thought process felt similar to my own and it made me love the book SO much more for it.

Although it took me a little longer to read this book that it usually would, i still loved it - the friendship between Theodore and Mallory was my favourite part! They are the definition of platonic soulmates and no one can tell me any differently. After that ending, I NEED a second book - and at this point it is a want and not a need.

If ever a premise/tagline pulled me in, it was this one: Be gay. Solve crimes. Take naps. Funny, magical, queer, with chronic illness representation, the story absolutely delivers on what was promised.

There’s humour - almost immediately, there’s humour - but this is cut with a lot of grimness. The book does not hold back, either on the excruciating telling of living life with chronic illness, nor on the grisly details of the murders. I recommend checking the content warnings.

And it’s not just about the magic or the mystery: as well as solving the murder, Mallory and her team must deal with the tensions of their relationships as secrets start to come into the light. With the killer striking closer to home, will their fledgling detective agency survive?

The Undetectables by Courtney Smyth caught my attention straight away with the tag line “Be Gay. Solve Crimes. Take Naps”. The first part of that phrase, (be gay, solve crimes) would have caught my attention but the addition of “take naps” had me hooked even before I read the synopsis. Written by a disabled author, The Undetectables mixes two of my favourite genres, urban fantasy and murder mysteries, with a huge dollop of representation.

At the annual Broadwick ball, Mallory, Diana and Cornelia attempt to promote their newly opened detective agency, The Undetectables. At fourteen, they’re not taken particularly seriously by the party goers they approach, many of their business cards being tossed aside and forgotten. Whatever the three friends were expecting to happen on their launch night, they certainly didn’t expect to find a dead body. Pulled into their first murder case with the ghost of the victim present, something that is highly unusual, The Undetectables are sure they can solve the case and establish themselves as detectives.

Fast-forward six years and life has not gone to plan, especially for Mallory. Recently diagnosed with the chronic illness fibromyalgia she is struggling with, well, everything. Being stuck at home, at a point in her life when she wants to be studying forensic science like she dreamed and alone with only ghost Theodore to keep her company. Not that she’s upset with her friends for following their own dreams; she told them to. She just wishes she could do the same, and that she could spend time with them rather than struggling every day with chronic pain and fatigue.

When a letter address to The Undetectables arrives, the three witches are drawn back together for a new mystery. Hired by someone high up in Wrackton society to find the murderer, things begin to get even more serious when one dead body becomes multiple. They have a magical serial killer on their hands, and they never managed to solve their first case, are they up for the task?

Smyth has created a fascinating urban fantasy world. They have added their own unique twist to familiar supernatural species such as witches, faeries, ghosts and vampires while mixing in crime solving and forensic science. The world-building in The Undetectables is rivalled only by its characters and plot, all of which are equally fabulous. The characters are adorable, fully dimensional and realistic. I particularly loved that their friendships are full of ups and downs, including disagreements and arguments. There’s a particular scene where things get so heated that they have a hex battle! Too many books have friendships where friends never argue and everything is perfect. Sod that! Give me hex battles any day.

Smyth is writing from their own experience with chronically illness and as a result the character of Mallory is spot on. Her thoughts, feelings and her experiences of fibromyalgia are described with careful detail, and scream with authenticity that will make many readers feel seen. They definitely made me feel seen. I don’t have fibromyalgia, however, I do have chronic pain, fatigue and other symptoms that cross over with fibromyalgia.

There were a lot of little things here and there in The Undetectables that caught my eye as things that only someone with a chronic illness would know or feel. It always makes me smile when I notice these in books written by authors with lived experience as it reminds me that I’m not so alone, that other people know what it’s like to live with a chronic illness. I also liked the way that Smyth wove chronic illness into the urban fantasy universe they have created.

Along with a main character with disability and chronic illness representation, there is a lot of other representation as previously mentioned. Many of the characters are LGBTQIA+, with pansexual, bisexual, gay, queer, and non-binary identities specifically mentioned/identified in the book. In short; this book is wonderfully and unashamedly queer, and I was here for all of it. The cast of characters is racially diverse, which includes one of the main characters Diana.

The main characters are also physically diverse, with Diana representing plus-sized women, Mallory tall women and Cornelia short-haired women. While plus-sized women are the less represented of these three, I mention the other two because so often do groups of female friends in books end up with the same physical size and description. All long haired, thin and willowy, whereas if you look at a group of female friends you’ll find diversity. I appreciated that Smyth made this distinction.

Another part of their friendship I appreciated was the way they cared for Mallory while giving her space. Smyth covers ableism with another character, but for her friends they have chosen to show what it’s like for disabled people to have a support network. This is especially important as many people who have disabled friends have no idea what to do with a newly diagnosed friend, and many choose to treat disabled people differently. I hope that people reading The Undetectables will learn a lot from Mallory, Cornelia and Diana and how their dynamic works.

Finally, the plot. I loved how Smyth played with many crime and murder mystery tropes, playing with the reader while also playing with their own characters. I did not see the real culprit coming and that was completely by design. Each new murder is introduced with a ‘Perimortem’ interlude chapter that is written from the perspective of the murder victim moments before their death and during their death. It is a little morbid, but Smyth’s narration lends an air of light humour to the victim’s final moments.

If you’re looking for a mystery that makes you think, mixed with a healthy dose of supernatural, diverse representation and some of the best dialogue I’ve seen in a long time then this is The Undetectables is the book for you.

If you’re not curious about Theodore the ‘cat’ ghost, then this book is not for you.

Another book that is perfect to read with Halloween approaching!

This book is a fun twist on a murder mystery, with witty and wonderful characters.

If you're a fan of found family, queer characters, ghosts with cat ears and chronic illness rep then I would highly recommend this book to you. As a person who has fibro it is always refreshing to read a character that experiences similar things to you, which is what I found in the MC, it made me love the book even more.

This was so much fun to read and I would recommend it to anyone looking for an entertaining spooky read!

Witches, ghosts, fae, trolls, vampires and a magical murder mystery with excellent representation should have been all five stars but I found it difficult to immerse myself even though I really enjoyed it.
The plot was fun, the characters were great and I enjoyed their interactions, especially the friendship between Mallory, Diana and Cornelia. And Theodore was a firm favourite. I also really liked the magic systems, and the beetles were a fantastic addition to the whole CSI element. There were some truly original ideas and I’m excited to read more from this author.
A definite recommend.

For those looking for a fun, queer, spooky murder mystery to add to their Halloween TBR this year I think 'The Undetectables' might just make the cut. This particular murder mystery brings a wonderful band of detectives - including one who is a ghost wearing cat ears for all eternity - who have to work together after a period of some separation to find out who exactly is committing murders in their town.
The main character we follow in the book also has Fibro Myalgia, and while I cannot comment with any authority on the accuracy of representation I did think it was a good depiction of someone in a high-octane situation dealing with a condition that limits energy. Truly the point where Mallory just says to the group that she needs to take a 2 hour nap before she can help them anymore was joyous.
I think many will enjoy this mystery which has ghosts, vampires, fairies, and witches galore. For me personally, I didn't ever quite click in with the writing style but I suspect that was purely a matter of personal preference and that there will be plenty of people who fall in love with this detective agency.
I will say that my favorite character - surprising no one - was our forever-cat-eared ghost, Theodore. I challenge you to read this book and not utterly and completely love Theodore! It also has me seriously considering my outfit choices - if I were to die suddenly would this be my forever ghost outfit?
Overall the comparisons to Klune's work are valid, this is a nice found family story that embraces the spooky side of things. If the writing works for you I think it will be a great time!
I received a free digital review copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

genre: urban fantasy mystery
minority rep: Disability (fibromyalgia and cane user), LGBTQ+ (multiple MCs and SCs), BIPOC

BE GAY. SOLVE CRIMES. TAKE NAPS.

That sums this book up so well! I had so much fun reading it, I loved the banter between characters, everyone had vastly different personalities which created so many fun dynamics. Then there's the almost completely Queer cast with a disabled main character and a ghost with cat ears. It's a very fun, light, cozy fantasy mystery that I enjoyed so much as most of the rep was so casual.

The disabled main character, Mallory, was such a strong personality with authentic disability rep. Her chronic pain was described very well and I think I can contribute that to the fact that Smyth is also disabled themselves. They definitely did the casual diversity justice as well as the disability representation!

This is just an immediate 5 stars for me, because I had so much fun and I felt so seen and loved by this book. Is it perfect? No. I did guess the killer before the undetectables did, but it didn't spoil the book for me. I still liked reading about how the characters found out. It's also just a fun, simple story, so don't expect the most intelligent plottwisty detective novel.
Read this book if you want to read about strong friendships and their dynamics while coming together with them and all their different skills to solve a murder. Read this book if you want something unapologetically queer and diverse with the perfect vibes for spooky season!

The Undectectables is Courtney Smyth's first novel - it centres on a group of queer decectives who, as the novel's cover says, do 3 things: "be gay. solve crimes. take naps". The end result is an absolute delight of a novel, with a suspenseful plot, excellent worldbuilding and deeply loveable characters.

Mallory Hawthorne lives in the Occult (read: magical) town of Wrackton, struggling with her fibromyalgia and trying to solve the murder of her live-in house ghost, Theodore. Her two best friends, Diana and Cornelia, arrive back in town unexpectedly - just after a brutal murder has been committed in the town. The trio (and Theo, the aforementioned ghost) team up to solve the murder.

The Undetectables really commits to its premise, and tips along nicely despite its length of 450 pages. Mallory, our POV character, is a charmer, and Smyth's depiction of her illness is fantastic. It's much more nuanced than the occasional "and then it hurt!" or "and then I had to have a sleep!" which I really appreciated as someone who has had their life impacted by chronic illness!

Where the novel really excels too, is its whimsy - while I would be reluctant to class it as a cosy mystery as there are plenty of graphic scenes and difficult topics lurking below its sweet premise, the whimsy levels are truly off the charts here. We have slick-talking characters, and ones who live to make bad puns. We have a ghost in a cat costume and faerie rock bands. I feel like these elements won't be to everyone's taste but my god, were they to mine. They did make the harrowing murders feel a little jarring, as we progressed, but I won't complain because they did well to keep me on my toes.

Small criticisms include a feeling of over-stuffedness; some political points Smyth wanted to get across, about toxic relationships and the prison-industrial complex, felt surplus to requirements. I would have preferred to have spent that time getting to know our characters on a deeper level. That said, this is a wholly unique and deeply fun book - I am so excited to read more of Smyth's work in the future, and sincerely hope to get to read about The Undetectables again soon.

The disability rep in THE UNDETECTABLES is fantastic, and much needed representation in genre fiction.

If you enjoy cosy mysteries, but wished they were more often meshed with fantasy, this is the book for you.

I had seen this book pop up on socials so I was looking forward to reading it, especially as one of the main characters suffers from a chronic illness which I have too.
I really wanted to love this book, but I just couldn’t engage with it at all. I found the pace too slow I think; which hindered by enjoyment greatly because I didn’t feel like I was invested enough to spend that much time on it.
I’m sure fantasy lovers and cosy mystery fans will enjoy this little crossover, sadly it just wasn’t for me.

This book was so much fun! I hadn't heard of the author before so wasn't sure what to expect, but loved the characters, and loved the story, loved the pacing. Everything was fantastic, and I've already been recommending this book to my partner. The queer ensemble of characters really appeals to me, and I really enjoyed the world created as well.

(spoilers)

As I was nearing the end of the book I was worried that there wouldn't be a sequel, given how traumatic the experiences of this book were and how these characters shouldn't deal with more gruesome deaths in their lives. But! Storylines for a continuation were effortlessly weaved in, and I'm very much looking forward to more from the author and this (I hope?) series.

The concept was really interesting and the idea that these murders were happening in public places, closed rooms and spaces the undetectables were completely puzzled as to how the murders happened. I figured out who the murderer was fairly early on in the novel, but the plot twist as to why and how were well-written.

I did feel at times that there was too much dialogue that info-dumped onto the reader rather than showing instead of telling such as the history of Wrackton and I also thought there was too much dialogue bunched together in a several scenes that made it very difficult to understand who was talking. This also contributed to the lack of personality that some of the main characters had because the reader didn't spend enough time alone with characters like Cornelia, Diana or Jacob. This meant that these characters were not as relatable to the reader. This being said Mallory and Theodore's characterisations and personalities were well-developed and I was eagerly awaiting Theodore's dramatic entrances and speeches. The representation of Mallory's fibromyalgia that permeates throughout the novel takes the forefront of her characterisation and how she tries to overcome the feelings of loneliness felt with the condition. The author does this in a way that doesn't over shadow the overarching plot.

Overall, I enjoyed reading about the undetectables and their quest to solve these murders while still confused as to who murdered Theodore at the start of the novel. I think the villain was weak in places and could have done with more plot twists or red herrings. However, it had many supernatural elements that I would be interested in exploring in a potential sequel.

My heart now belongs to Theodore.

Incredible representation for a menagerie of people, no matter their sexuality or disability or fantasy species they were accounted for and represented perfectly.

I loved how open Mallory was in her narrative, it wasn’t just “ouch” here and there it was a real rep of FM and how it effected her.

I do wish that the romance for Mallory was a little more obvious throughs rather than added into the end, or, take it the complete opposite way and based her determination on the platonic relationship she has with them.

4.5 stars rounded to 5.

A book about three witches and a ghost in a cat costume trying to catch a serial killer? And it’s queer? Sign me up.

I really enjoyed this, the characters are great and the humour is on point (though won’t be for everyone, I’m just corrupted by tumblr). I loved the world-building too, particularly all the little details about the different groups (witches, faeries, vampires…) and their customs.

The main character is disabled, having fibromyalgia. This is at the forefront of the book and she has to deal with the limitations this imposes on her. I really liked this aspect, as well as how queer everything in the book was. The world seems to be queernormative, or at least there are no homophobia plotlines.

The mystery was entertaining, despite me guessing the major reveals. I still like how it was done though.

My main pet peeve about this book is the use of “goddess” where in our world we would say “god”. eg ‘oh my goddess’. This is a general ick of mine in books as it always feels forced to me. Not holding it against the book too much though!!

This is currently a standalone, but had a fairly open ending and I can absolutely see this world being turned into a series where The Undetectables have to solve more crimes!