All the hidden monsters by Amie Jordan

What more could mystery aficionados and lovers of the paranormal want than a murder to solve, with a detective team of a girl who turns into a werewolf at the full moon, a handsome warlock and a poltergeist who is a great cook? All set in Manchester, with its Upside for people who are normal and Downside for those with supernatural powers. Sage lives with her poltergeist friend P and is trying to make sense of her life. Oren Rinallis is a warlock, notorious for the way he upholds the law for the Arcanum, the institution that keeps order in the supernatural world. He is sent to investigate the murder of a young woman in her apartment and there encounters Sage who has come to visit her. Together with P they set out to discover who is murdering young werewolves in the city.

This is a clever combination of crime, the supernatural and found family. The twists and turns of the plot around the murders will keep readers glued to their seats, wanting to find out who the murderer is. Who is leaving a bunch of the herb sage as a warning? Will Sage be the next victim? The Downside, the home of the supernatural creatures is vividly described, with a Yuletide Ball as a fascinating culmination, while the everyday activities of Sage’s teenage friends contrast with the grisly murders that she and Oren are investigating. The back stories of Oren who is feared by everyone in Downside and Sage who is unable to accept her werewolf side will tug at the heart strings and readers will want to see their personal growth as much as they want to solve the mystery.

All the hidden monsters is a riveting novel and I look forward to the next in the series All the lost souls. Readers who enjoy books by Cassandra Clare are certain to want to pick this up, while readers might like to try the Edinburgh nights series by Tendai Huchu or Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch.

Themes: Werewolves, Warlocks, Murder, Found family.

Pat Pledger