Widdershins by Jordan L. Hawk

4.5 STARS

Whyborne & Griffin - Book 1

I was ready to be disappointed by this book because I'd heard so much great about it and indeed the whole series, but I was not disappointed one bit! I loved it!

Set in what feels to me like Victorian-era New England in the town of Widdershins, we first meet one Percival Endicott Whyborne, an introverted scholar of dead languages. He's a long, tall, gangly sort with few friends. Then we meet Griffin Flaherty, handsome, charming ex-Pinkerton agent who needs Whyborne's help on a case. And so it begins...

What takes place is a well-plotted, intriguing mystery dealing with things occult and dark, resurrections and creatures from the abyss. And while Whyborne and Griffin go about trying to solve the mystery, they find time to fall in love with each other and while the initial attraction is pretty instantaneous, they do take their time at it. :)

We also meet Whyborne's only real friend, Christine, another out of the ordinary scholar - and while there are those who might offer up that she's the usual BFF trope, I couldn't help but really like her, so trope or not, she was well done. Whyborne's family, we meet briefly and more towards the end of the book but there was also much to find interesting there too.

I really, really enjoyed this book . The characters are nicely-rounded and engaging and I sense that there is still a lot to learn about them. The plot was well-thought out and logical and held my attention throughout. The romance made sense, was fun, and hot, and paid attention to the mores of the era.

There are more books in the series and they are already in my TBR pile. If you liked K.J. Charles' Charm of Magpies series, you will definitely like this. I totally recommend it!