"*Video review coming on US release day*

I was filled with nervous excitement when beginning this series because I was thinking The First Law was just too big of shoes to fill. Shattered Sea was a letdown and I feared I would just be longing for what Joe established with First Law and always feel like I’d just be comparing it. This didn’t happen, but in the best way. Because this will most likely be my book of the year for 2025.

What Joe remains the master of is his character work and the dialogue. He’s the only author out there able to give you such damaged and, in most cases, reprehensible characters that you simply fall in love with and want to see achieve their goals. Also, the only author who can get away with the dialogue he does and it leaves you laughing (and usually when something very dark is happening in the story).

The Devils is like the fantasy Suicide Squad with a group of misfits that keep fudging up everything they touch, but somehow get the job done. Sorta. Guess we will have to wait for book 2 to see. I cannot wait."

"Victoria comes from old money.
But all that money is long gone.
So, when an old servant recognizes her and asks if she will play detective to help protect the assets of a young boy in his charge, she perks up. A job is a job, but this job sounds far more interesting than anything else she has available to her.



And it is!
Victoria uses her old socialite status to worm her way into the home of the new supposed heir to a family's fortune, and sniffs out the impostor. And maybe finds a new career, too.



Fun short! I don't know if Bailey ever wrote any further adventures with Victoria, but I would certainly read them if he did.
I read this as part of the short story detective anthology Bodies from the Library."

Guilherme Smee is currently reading Heróis e Maravilhas da Idade Média (Vozes de Bolso)