The Witchkin Murders is the first book in the Magicfall series by Diana Pharaoh Francis. Four years ago, my world—the world—exploded with wild magic. The cherry on top of that crap cake? The supernatural world declared war on humans, and my life went straight to hell.I used to be a detective, and a damned good one. Then Magicfall happened, and I changed along with the world. I’m witchkin now—something more than human or not quite human, depending on your perspective. To survive, I’ve become a scavenger, searching abandoned houses and stores for the everyday luxuries in short supply—tampons and peanut butter. Oh, how the mighty have fallen, but anything’s better than risking my secret.Except, old habits die hard. When I discover a murder scene screaming with signs of black magic ritual, I know my days of hiding are over. Any chance I had of escaping my past with my secret intact is gone. Solving the witchkin murders is going to be the hardest case of my life, and not just because every second will torture me with reminders of how much I miss my old life and my partner, who hates my guts for abandoning the department. But it’s time to suck it up, because if I screw this up, Portland will be wiped out, and I’m not going to let that happen. Hold on to your butts, Portland. Justice is coming, and I don’t take prisoners.
The Witchkin Murders is a good series starter. I loved the world building and thought that the majority of the characters were very well built with complex personalities and stories that I would love to learn more about. I liked Kayla's determination and ethics. I thought she was a solid character and dealt with a series of huge problems in her life the best she knew how. I though that some of the secondary characters were fantastic, and I would continue reading the series simply to find out how their lives play out. I also thought the mystery and action parts of the story were extremely well done. The creatures and mythos used were complex and varied- and I loved trying to guess what kind of creature each was by the descriptions that were given.
I did have some problems with the book. One is that for one character they kept switching if he was referred to by his first or last name with no discernible reason. The first time it happened I had to go back a few pages to see if the person I thought was talking was, and I found it distracting. My second issue was with Ray's character, he was just so angry and explosive in his own head. I admit that I skimmed a good deal of his inner dialogue because I just had no interest in reading all that angst over and over. Speaking of inner angst, the lust at highly improbable moments- and the self flagellation over it by Kayla drove me a little nuts, so I often skimmed over that too.
The Witchkin Murders is a urban fantasy with good world building. I was not thrilled with everything, but it was well worth the read and some might really enjoy it as a whole.
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