Brought to you by OBS reviewer Jerjen

Angel Killer by Andrew Mayne is unlike any book I have ever read before.  It combines magic and detective work, and I found this combination not only unique but intriguing.

Jessica Blackwell is a FBI agent who was a former magician in her younger years.  She gave up her life of magic to pursue a law enforcement career.  Little did she know that she would need all the tricks that she learned to try to catch a serial killer.

The Warlock is a computer hacker who has compromised a FBI website and leaves GPS coordinates.  When the coordinates are checked out, a body of a young woman is found at a grave.  It appears as though the body crawled out of the grave but that is not possible since it appears to be the body of a woman who died many years ago.  When they attempt to remove the body, the body bursts into flames and all the evidence and proof of who it was is destroyed.  This begins a series of illusions that the Warlock performs while committing murder.  Each one is more spectacular than the previous one and everyone is afraid to see what the grand finale will be.

When it comes to the attention of the FBI that Jessica has spent a vast majority of her life performing magic and illusions, she is asked to put what she has learned to good use and try to catch the killer.  The feeling is that is takes an illusionist to catch an illusionist.  Jessica must try to figure out how the spectacles are performed to try to get an insight as to the identity of the killer.

The writing style flows smoothly and this is a quick easy read.  The plot is cleverly crafted and the characters add much depth to the plot.  The uniqueness of the murders had me turning the pages very quickly.  There were so many ingenious twists and turns and it kept me off-balance throughout the entire book.   The mystery continues throughout the entire book and I did not see that ending coming. I enjoy magic and I enjoy mysteries and the two were blended together expertly.  That is what set this book apart from other mysteries, and set it apart in a very good way.

It is obvious that the author is very knowledgeable about the art of magic.  It is now very obvious that he knows a lot about the art of writing, too.  I am not surprised to see that he is well known in the world of magic.  I enjoyed the fact that after reading this book, I now know more about magic and even a little more about how some of the tricks are performed.  That is a real plus for me.

The characters are well developed, well rounded and three dimensional.  Jessica tried to appear like a tough strong woman but at times you could see her vulnerability and humanness.  You could tell that she still had strong feelings for her family even though she had little interaction with them now.  You could see how her relationship with her family shaped her into the person she presently is.  I really like the depth that this character shows.  The other characters added to the story but Jessica’s character pulled me in and keep me reading.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a unique murder/mystery.  The premise of this book is so different than any other book I have read and I love that.  If you enjoy watching magic (as I do) and you enjoy mysteries, this book is a must read.

*OBS would like to thank the author and TLC tours for supplying a free copy in exchange for an honest review as part of their ongoing blog tour*