Snake-Oil Pursuit - Caskey-Demaret Reads

English language

Published April 13, 2022 by Independently Published.

ISBN:: 979-8-8431-6651-9

No rating (1 review)

"Doctor" Mary, the wayward daughter of the frontier's most notorious crime family, has traded their grim business for the humble life of a traveling alchemist. However, selling fake potions to gullible yokels isn't without complications. After an agent of the Five Deities implicates her in brutal murders, she stumbles upon the true culprit — a face-changing sorcerer seeking genuine alchemy — and unwittingly recommends her former mentor's shop. Realizing her mistake, she's torn, unable to return home to warn him without repaying the gold she "borrowed" years ago from her unforgiving family.

A solution appears in the form of Nette, a devout blacksmith who has braved the horrors of the wilderness alone to avenge her parents' murder. Like the mysterious killer she pursues, Nette wields a rare talent for magical illusions. A profitable talent. And with nowhere else to turn, she'll pay a steep price for help.

So Mary concocts …

"Doctor" Mary, the wayward daughter of the frontier's most notorious crime family, has traded their grim business for the humble life of a traveling alchemist. However, selling fake potions to gullible yokels isn't without complications. After an agent of the Five Deities implicates her in brutal murders, she stumbles upon the true culprit — a face-changing sorcerer seeking genuine alchemy — and unwittingly recommends her former mentor's shop. Realizing her mistake, she's torn, unable to return home to warn him without repaying the gold she "borrowed" years ago from her unforgiving family.

A solution appears in the form of Nette, a devout blacksmith who has braved the horrors of the wilderness alone to avenge her parents' murder. Like the mysterious killer she pursues, Nette wields a rare talent for magical illusions. A profitable talent. And with nowhere else to turn, she'll pay a steep price for help.

So Mary concocts a daring scheme to extort Nette, settle old family debts, protect her mentor, catch the killer, and collect a tidy profit. It all sounds simple enough, but in a sordid city full of cold-blooded murderers and deadly secrets, her silver tongue will have to work overtime to keep the stubborn hayseed alive.

1 edition

MH Thaung reviewed Snake-Oil Pursuit by Philip Folk

Enteraining murder mystery in a weird/steampunk setting

No rating

I had the pleasure of first reading this book as an early draft, and it’s been a privilege to follow its development over the years.

In this murder mystery in a weird/steampunk setting, we follow devout blacksmith Nette and irreverent charlatan Mary as they try to achieve their conflicting goals. While Nette strives to bring her parents’ killer to justice, Mary just aims to turn a profit and rid herself of some old familial debts.

The world feels very “frontier”, with dollops of magic and infrequent godly intervention (or maybe that should be interference). However, magic isn’t used casually, and so the characters have to be devious rather than handwaving their escapes after they get themselves (and each other) into trouble.

As you might imagine, Nette and Mary have distinct personalities, and they’re haunted by different issues. It was greatly satisfying to see how their disparate stories came together as …

I had the pleasure of first reading this book as an early draft, and it’s been a privilege to follow its development over the years.

In this murder mystery in a weird/steampunk setting, we follow devout blacksmith Nette and irreverent charlatan Mary as they try to achieve their conflicting goals. While Nette strives to bring her parents’ killer to justice, Mary just aims to turn a profit and rid herself of some old familial debts.

The world feels very “frontier”, with dollops of magic and infrequent godly intervention (or maybe that should be interference). However, magic isn’t used casually, and so the characters have to be devious rather than handwaving their escapes after they get themselves (and each other) into trouble.

As you might imagine, Nette and Mary have distinct personalities, and they’re haunted by different issues. It was greatly satisfying to see how their disparate stories came together as the story progressed.

Highly recommended.