Title: The Hexologists
Author: Josiah Bancroft
Release Date: Sept. 26, 2023
Format: Paperback
My Rating: 4/5
Synopsis
The Hexologists, Iz and Warren Wilby, are quite accustomed to helping desperate clients with the bugbears of city life. Aided by hexes and a bag of charmed relics, the Wilbies have recovered children abducted by chimney-wraiths, removed infestations of barb-nosed incubi, and ventured into the Gray Plains of the Unmade to soothe a troubled ghost. Well-acquainted with the weird, they never shy away from a challenging case.
But when they are approached by the royal secretary and told the king pleads to be baked into a cake—going so far as to wedge himself inside a lit oven—the Wilbies soon find themselves embroiled in a mystery that could very well see the nation turned on its head. Their effort to expose a royal secret buried under forty years of lies brings them nose to nose with a violent anti-royalist gang, avaricious ghouls, alchemists who draw their power from a hell-like dimension, and a bookish dragon who only occasionally eats people.
Armed with a love toughened by adversity and a stick of chalk that can conjure light from the darkness, hope from the hopeless, Iz and Warren Wilby are ready for whatever springs from the alleys, graves, and shadows next.
My Review
I picked up The Hexologists last month on a whim at the bookstore. I didn’t know what to really expect, but was hoping for magic and mystery. I think I was looking for something with The Ninth House vibes. This did not have those vibes but it was a really fantastic read nevertheless.
The first thing that pulled me in was the cover. I wish it weren’t true but I am a sucker for a good cover. I have read some of Josiah Bancroft’s writing in the past and I was pleased that it is just as good as I remembered it.
I sincerely enjoyed the characters and the world that Bancroft created. We got to spend time with husband and wife, Warren and Iz. Iz comes off a bit cold and reserved. She is certainly the brains of the operation where Warren is a bit of the brawn. Thankfully Bancroft also makes Warren the cook and the more emotional of the two. We love a burly lumberjack, in touch with his emotions that can befriend anyone.
Novels that combine magic and mystery can strike an interesting balance between the genres. Some are a bit heavier on the mystery and focus less on the world building. Others focus more on the magic and the mystery is just the way to reveal it all. I found there was a very good balance in this book. I definitely want to know more about the world that The Hexologists live in. I am beyond excited to learn more about the magic and why the Wizards are basically outlawed.
I thought the mystery that they were hired to investigate was fantastic. Without giving anything away, I was wildly surprised by how the mystery turned out. I loved that the mystery was a bit multilayered. I also really enjoyed the magic system that Bancroft created. We have Hexologists, Alchemists, Necromancers and Wizards. Necromancy and wizardry are effectively not active anymore (and the circumstances are a bit mysterious). Hexology is an active discipline but falling out of favor. Learning that Iz dabbled with wizardry in the past was extremely intriguing. Learning who the wizard was that was following them was even more interesting. It certainly set us up for some really great stories in the future.
I’m really excited to see how Bancroft continues to develop and broaden this new world that he has created. There is a lot of potential and I expect the mysteries will get even better.
