The Mystery at Dunvegan Castle by T.L. Huchu (Tor, 2023)
Review by Warner Holme: T.L. Huchu’s The Mystery at Dunvegan Castle is a continuation of the author’s Edinburgh Nights series, once again following Ropa as she attempts to deal with the rich and powerful in the Scottish magical scene while also pleasing her personal patron, only for bodies to start piling up. It’s an obvious but quite enjoyable setup which can easily expand in any number of different ways.
Class, race, and other excuses for bigotry are a major portion of this story. Ropa is attacked and looked down upon for it of course, a continuing theme throughout the book yet that is only the beginning of the use of themes in this particular story. The continued presence of characters like Francis Cockburn as individuals with a personal hatred of Ropa on such grounds is only reinforced by such characters as Montgomery Wedderburn.
More than even the previous volumes in the series, there is a strong anti-Scottish cultural streak in this book. That is not to say it is bigoted or jingoistic, but instead merely that any Scottish organization is depicted as both out of date and corrupt. While there may be some truth to this, there is for most organizations that are significantly old and have any level of power, the introduction of new branches to help make this point has a mixed effect. Specifically, Ropa finds a new Council of sorts complicating her life when she has the allegedly leading figure of the Society of skeptical inquirers as her personal patron. Sir Ian Callander is, suddenly, not nearly as powerful as depicted previously. The idea of organizational changes causing this might be interesting, but a group called The Extraordinary Committee are instead responsible, and it seems they have suddenly always existed.
Given that this is the third book in the series, and Ropa began the series as a teenager it does seem strange she hasn’t managed to learn any significant facts like this. Really, it’s something equivalent to discovering after living in a place for a couple of years that there is a court system, with the idea you would have been completely unaware of it simply because you were friends with the Prime Minister. Odd, foolish, and with a character who’s supposed to be frequently skeptical and experienced about the regular world it’s utterly bizarre that she wouldn’t have considered such a possibility.
The book very much reminds how an author and series can grow. The first book in the series, The Library of the Dead, is far more flawed and difficult read in comparison, while in several ways sporting much the same structure and better characters. The social commentary in it is stronger, with fewer negative and probably unintentional implications, then in the proceeding books as well. The lead has become a more likeable individual, and her support for her friends more understandable.
Fans of the series should definitely check this book out, however new readers might find themselves a little lost. The book takes a little time to catch readers up, just as it gives hints to a potential new status quo in the following upcoming volume. However even on its own it’s a decent read, merely one with a lot of orphaned references. To someone looking for a book that isn’t traditional urban fantasy but never steps far outside of it, easy to recommend.
