Skin Deep

Murder, mayhem and multiple identities merge in this electric series opener. In an alternate present where fey and human entities coexist more or less peacefully, Janice Crawford, a druid working for Washington, D.C., SWAT, is nearly killed in a mission gone awry. Mariel Tate, a high-ranking agent within a global security firm, InterSec, investigates, finding ties to a fey history exhibit at the National Archives curated by Laura Blackstone, the PR director for the Fey Guild. The catch is that Janice, Mariel and Laura are all one woman who keeps her personas separate by magic and sheer willpower. Readers will sometimes stumble back and forth to remember who is interacting with whom, but Del Franco (Unquiet Dreams ) does a commendable job of blending each of Laura’s different personas into the addictively fast-paced narrative and fully believable setting. (Aug.)