-Synopsis-

J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Agatha Christie, and other literary legends join forces to unravel a deadly conspiracy in this gripping mystery that sweeps from the halls of Oxford to the streets of London and the shores of Loch Ness.

In the shadowy streets of 1936 Oxford, England, members of a secret society keep turning up dead. When J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and their fellow literary masterminds, known as the Inklings, are called upon to catch a killer, they trade their pens for magnifying glasses. With time running out, they get a helping hand from mystery writers Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers to unravel a sinister web of secrets.

Packed with historical details, intrigue, and a thrilling whodunit, this novel is a masterful blend of high-stakes drama. Dive into a world where the creators of fantasy and mystery confront a real-life menace in a race against the clock. Will dark forces prevail, or will these literary giants crack the case before the murderer strikes again?

-Review-

To begin, I give a huge Thank You! to John R. Kelly, Penguin Random House Christian Publishing/Waterbrook, and NetGalley for allowing me access to this book for my honest review!

Trigger Warnings: slight language, murder, blood mention, mentions of child death in the past, poisoning, occultism, rituals.

Ever since I discovered this book earlier this year, I was intrigued to give it a good read. I have been a fan of the works of some of the most well known authors of the 20th century for many years. Authors such as C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and Agatha Christie, all of which make appearances in this work of historical fiction. Needless to say, my excitement was elevated when I got accepted to read it. After having completed this book, I enjoyed some aspects of the story but struggled to connect with others.

The two main POVs in this story was C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. While I do love these authors quite a bit, I was a bit disappointed in how they seemed to overshadow all the other historical figures. The fact the other characters were consistently showering these two with praise due to their accolades was overshadowing the whole mystery aspect at times. All the historical information that is given on any of the characters felt really forced to me since those conversations felt artificial and solely for the sake of the reader. It felt like a historical fiction book trying too hard to be biographical at times.

In regards to the historical significances within the story, John does add some context at the end of the story. He explains which aspects were more accurate and whis parts he took more creative liberty with. As with any fiction based on actual history, I always appreciate those extra tidbits of clarification.

One characteristic this book does really well is sucking you into the time period and setting. The majority of this book takes place in various places in England, particularly Oxford and London, with a few chapters being within Scotland. Due to the range of settings, the reader gets to experience a variety of lifestyles throughout the story. London is obviously a bustling city full of people, whereas Loch Ness is much more slower paced and isolated if you will. It was very interesting to read how these places not only affected the case but the characters as well.

Being an American myself, I have always known Oxford as a massive university town where academics and secret societies run rampant. This culture was very prominent in this story which connected to the mystery case quite well in my opinion.

The Christian genre is mainly due to the main characters being of Christian faith. Their beliefs do effect their opinions and profiles they create for certain individuals throughout the story. I did enjoy this connection since it made them feel more realistic as actual people and not just characters in a made up story. I will say, some of the opinions did come off as more prejudiced, particularly from Lewis who himself went from atheism to Christianity. I feel as though he should have been more loving instead of coming off as holier than thou at times. There were some healthy debate concerning spiritual matters and an individual’s walk that I found extremely interesting and insightful.

As far as the mystery is concerned, I enjoyed the fact The Inklings were all involved in trying to solve the case. There were groups that dealt with paranormal and criminal investigations back in the day so this was enjoyable to experience. That being said, I thought the investigation as a whole felt scattered. Due to the POVs, it felt as though the majority of the investigation was being conducted by the same few members which was a bit disappointing.

The actual investigation was conducted mainly through talking with various people and researching. While this felt more realistic, it did get a bit repetitive after a while. The whole process was basically, travel to a specific location, talk with a particular individual concerning the case, travel back to deliberate the findings amongst the other Inklings, repeat. I feel like the flow would have been more consistent if all the traveling scenes and blatant character historical information would have been cut down a bit.

At the end of the investigation, I am happy to say that I honestly did not connect the dots as to who committed the crimes. I was pleasantly surprised which is always a huge plus in mystery books for sure! There were the typical red herrings which were honestly some of my favorite characters in the whole story. While I am not going to spoil my favorite character since I was shocked to see him make an appearance, this particular infamous occult leader made the book so much more interesting for sure.

All in all, if you enjoy reading about well-known authors and spearheads of mystery and the macabre, this book may be for you! I personally would go into this book with the understanding that it is not solely a mystery but also a biography of sorts with plenty of personal information of the characters. Overall, a good read if a bit slow at times.

-About the Author-

John R. Kelly has studied history and spirituality for most of his life, which led to a career in teaching Church History and Biblical Studies at True North College, including courses on the occult, history of world religions and also the real-life Inklings. He currently lives in New Jersey with his wife and eight children.