Well, life has been stressful but I am starting to get back into reading and reviewing unknown indie authors. And as is my pattern I am targeting what I hope to be hidden gems that have less than ten reviews.
The Violins Played Before Junstan fit the bill perfectly. It was plucked randomly off Twitter as the first in a series. Right off the bat I was transported into a very detailed and robust world with a tinge of steampunky flair. Set in a historic time period the setting was as much of a mood setter and plot device as the characters were. It was very nice to see and gave me a cozy very British Agatha Christie type vibe… but with magicians, and vampires, and goblins…
Set up like a traditional mystery novel it revolves around a rotating cast of eccentric characters that include but are not limited to a wizard-like magician with powers to bend the mind, an automaton so realistic people believe he’s human, a robotic parrot, a murderous shape shifter, two scrappy street urchins, a goblin, some vampires and witches, and the customary mad scientist.
The plot revolves around the magician being framed for murder several times as he’s on the run riding a train through exotic locals, all while gathering this merry band of misfits to help out.
Although the characters are on the creative side they all serve a very traditionally paced slow but suspenseful plot. There is A LOT of dialgue but fortunately this large cast of characters are all vividly defined and easy to remember. It’s a well rounded and very polished piece with an action packed ending and the next in the series has already been published if you want to just keep going.
This is everything I want to see in an independently published book. It’s professional, smoothly edited, and has a plot and characters the reader will really care about. I am very happy to have found it and wish it the best of luck in the future.
And if you’d like to check it out for yourself you can purchase it in ebook, audio book, or paperback on Amazon (and yes, I will get a small commission for making you click such a tantalizing link so buy away my pretties!)