The Mystery at Dunvegan Castle

March 1, 2023

In this continuation of Hucha's USA Today best-selling "Edinburgh Nights" series, launched with the Nommo Award-winning The Library of the Dead, 15-year-old ghosttalker Ropa arrives at Dunvegan Castle for the biennial conference of the Society of Skeptical Enquirers and finds herself chatting with lots of ghosts when a magical attendee steals a valuable scroll. Edinburgh-based Zimbabwean author Huchu has also published under the name Tendai Huchu (e.g., The Hairdresser of Harare). Prepub Alert.

Copyright 2023 Library Journal

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 24, 2023
Ropa Moyo, an unpaid intern with Scotland’s premier magical professional organization, is tasked with helping to put together a conference at Dunvegan castle in Huchu’s entertaining third Edinburgh Nights urban fantasy (after Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments). The conference’s attendees and presenters come from far and wide, including two delegates from Ethiopia, who bring a scroll of teachings highly important to their country to exchange for a Scottish book as a symbol of trust between their nations. When a conference-goer turns up murdered and the scroll is stolen, it’s up to Ropa to solve the mystery. With the fate of national alliances and the dislike of the privileged members of the magical aristocracy weighing on her, Ropa must navigate big personalities and complex politics if she hopes to deliver justice. Ropa’s investigation is thrilling, but Huchu’s real skill lies in crafting a magical contemporary world that feels familiar yet filled with its own secrets, replete with analogous political situations and pop culture references that never feel out of place. This is good fun.

Starred review from August 1, 2023

The stakes have never been higher for either intrepid 15-year-old ghostalker Ropa Moyo or the independence of Scottish magic in this urban-fantasy/alternate-history thriller. The mystery is too big for a mere locked room and requires an entire locked castle for its deadly story of family secrets, grieving ghosts, ancient betrayals, and viciously underhanded politics. Ropa is caught in the middle with her besties Priya and Jomo, as she tries her hardest to protect her country, her mentor, and her future. When her world falls apart just as she's pulling it all together, Ropa does what she does best--picks up the pieces and moves on into the jaws of yet another adversary. Totally out of her element, Ropa still throws herself into this case that no one believes she can possibly solve. Because everything rides on Ropa's still young shoulders, she pushes forward anyway. VERDICT This third entry in the series, after Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments, takes Ropa out of her city and drops her into the deep end of the political pond far away from home. Readers won't be able to resist following this compelling character every step of her fraught way. Highly recommended.--Marlene Harris

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.