Rosemary and Rue

Today's post is on 'Rosemary and Rue' by Seanan McGuire. It is the first in the October Daye series and is published by DAW. It is 358 pages long including the first chapter of the second book 'A Local Habitation'. The cover as the main Character Toby on looking over the reader's shoulder with blood, police tape, and a feeling of despair. The intended reader is adult but other than some violence there is nothing too mature for anyone over the age of about fifteen. It is urban fantasy in the vein of the Dresden Files. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- The world of Faerie never disappeared: it merely went into hiding, continuing to exist parallel to our own. Secrecy is the key to Faerie's survival- but no secret can be kept forever, and when the fae and mortal worlds collide, changelings are born. Half-human, half-fae, outsiders from birth, these second-class children of Faerie spend their lives fighting for the respect of their immortal relations. Or, in the case of October "Toby" Daye, rejecting it completely. After getting burned by both sides of her heritage, Toby has denied the fae world, retreating into a "normal" life. Unfortunately for her, Faerie has other ideas.
The murder of Countess Evening Winterrose, one of the secret regents of the San Francisco Bay Area, pulls Toby back into the fae world. Unable to resist Evening's dying curse, which binds her to investigate, Toby is forced to resume her old position as knight errant to the Duke of Shadowed Hills and begin renewing old alliances that may prove her only ope of solving the mystery... before the curse catches up with her.

Review- McGuire did her research on all Fae lore and that is the first thing that really impressed me about this book. It is well-written and is loved by the author. The little details tell me that, the way that the author writes about Toby and the world that she created, it is full of love. It is written in the first person but McGuire is good enough to give the reader little clues about the world outside of Toby's POV. Like the fact that the King of Cats Tybalt does not hate Toby but she is just being thick about it. I did not guess who the killer was until the end when Toby does. This book takes place in three days and you feel everyday of it because Toby does. The world of the Fae is not easy to understand but McGuire gives it to us in manageable bites. It is surreal but the Fae should be. A nice solid story and I look forward to reading the next one.

Four out of five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my spouse to read.