Title: The Conductors
Author: Nicole Glover
Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery
Plot: Hetty is a former underground railroad conductor and escaped slave. Her and her husband, Benji, now live in Philadelphia. They live a quiet life, trying to stay out of trouble, and helping friends when they can. Both Hetty and Benji can preform magic, but have to be careful. Magic is strictly controlled and limited from before the Civil War. When one of their friends dies, Hetty and Benji suspect foul play. They use their magic to help look for clues to what happened to their friend. But whoever’s behind their friend’s death is smart and desperate. There are more deaths, all with the same cursed mark as their friend. When Hetty and Benji get close to a suspect, the killer starts making it look like Benji did it. On top of that, someone is sneaking into their home, and other friend’s homes. Can they find the killer in time? Will others get hurt, or killed? Or will Benji get the blame? Is one of their friends to blame? Or someone else?
Rating: 3.5 – a different take on post Civil War life of former slaves
Opinion: This was an interesting book. I really enjoyed this new take of post Civil War life for former slaves. It’s a great a take on historical fiction and fantasy. While the book tries to be a mystery as well, it doesn’t keep me guessing as some of the other mystery books I’ve read. It’s a slow and steady read, not an edge of your seat book. The rules for the magic systems aren’t as well explained as some other magical fantasy books I’ve read, either. Though this was still an interesting idea for a magic system and I can understand why the author used this method for the magic. The book mentions that there’s a difference between magic and sorcery, but was never explained well enough for me. There were also a lot of people introduced at one time in the book. It took me a while afterwards to get everyone straight. While this was a good book overall, I wasn’t terribly impressed with it. I just felt it bit off a little more than it could chew. Still, it’s a good take on historical fiction laced with magic.
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