Bartered Brides

The Bartered Brides (Elemental Masters)- Mercedes Lackey
DAW Books/Penguin Group
Release Date: October 16, 2018

Rating:
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Warning: Spoilers Ahead!

Synopsis: The threat of Moriarty is gone—but so is Sherlock Holmes.

Even as they mourn the loss of their colleague, psychic Nan Killian, medium Sarah Lyon-White, and Elemental Masters John and Mary Watson must be vigilant, for members of Moriarty’s network are still at large. And their troubles are far from over: in a matter of weeks, two headless bodies of young brides wash up in major waterways. A couple who fears for their own recently-wedded daughter hires the group to investigate, but with each new body, the mystery only deepens. 

The more bodies emerge, the more the gang suspects that there is dangerous magic at work, and that Moriarty’s associates are somehow involved. But as they race against the clock to uncover the killer, it will take all their talents, Magic, and Psychic Powers—and perhaps some help from a dearly departed friend—to bring the murderer to justice.

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Returning to the world of Elemental Magicians, psychics, and Sherlock Holmes, The Bartered Brides takes the series to its next logical step: what if Professor Moriarty had a necromancer in his organization and, after Reichenbach Falls, that necromancer tried to bring Moriarty back in a new body?  With Holmes in hiding to keep up the presence of being dead so he can track down remaining members of Moriarty's crew, it is up to the Watsons, Nan Killian, Sarah Lyon-White, the parrot Grey and the raven Neville to deal with a case Sherlock wouldn't be able to handle anyway.  But can they track down the villain who is murdering innocent girls to power seriously dark magic before he can bring the Napoleon of Crime back from the dead?

The idea behind The Bartered Brides is a classic, and fits perfectly into Lackey's Elemental/Holmes universe.  It also provides a good showcase for John and Mary Watson, who get overshadowed in the more 'traditional' Holmes world.  As Elemental Masters, John and Mary have always worked to deal with the cases Holmes couldn't, and to try to provide magical insight when his own cases seemed to need it.  Here they are recognized as powerful Masters in their elements, willing to take risks when needed and devoted to hunting down the man responsible for headless corpses turning up in the Thames.  Brides in particular also celebrates the close bond between them.

While John and Mary shine here, Nan and Sarah- the theoretical heroines of the series- fade a bit.  Unless they are using their particular talents (Nan as a mind reader, Sarah a medium) the two girls are pretty interchangeable in Brides.  They think the same way, act the same way, plot the same way, and half of the time I could only remember who was who because of the birds.  As brave and dedicated as all the heroes were, Brides pretty much stars the necromancer Spencer.  Our heroes chase leads and dead ends while Spencer gets all the action.  The reader is horrified by what Spencer is doing, and cheers his (eventual) failure, but he is still the stand out in the book.  I spent most of the book waiting for something to happen.  Which was also what our heroes were doing for most of the book.  With what seemed to me a rather uncharacteristically hurried ending, I didn't feel like I got quite the payoff I was hoping for.

Unlike Lackey's earlier books (The Black Gryphon for example) Brides spends most of its time wandering.  Loosely written, with largely mediocre and forgettable characters (although I greatly enjoyed meeting Caro!), this was not one of Lackey's best efforts.  Devoted Mercedes Lackey fans will be willing to spend an afternoon with these familiar characters and in this familiar world, but I wouldn't recommend it as a starting point for those new to the works of a usually stellar author.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review