Deadly Spells

In the jumbled third Prospero’s War magical mystery (after Cursed Moon), detective Kate Prospero finds that balancing work with her personal life is becoming increasingly challenging. When the leader of her former coven is murdered by a Brazilian shapeshifter, Kate and her colleagues at the Magical Enforcement Agency must battle to keep the cartels out of the magical underworld city of Babylon. Tensions between magical and nonmagical residents are already high with the election of the city’s first Adept mayor, Kate’s former boyfriend John Volos. The parallels of magic and drug addiction are still present, but less prominent than the relation of magic to organized violence. Wells also attempts to continue some strands from the previous two volumes, resulting in a somewhat disjointed structure and perfunctory mention of previously key relationships. The valiant attempts to deal with the Adept versus Mundane discrimination, particularly in Kate’s love life and her brother’s school life, end with a more idealistic than realistic resolution. Agent: Rebecca Strauss, DeFiore and Co. (Feb.)