Book Review: A Moth in Darkness

A Moth in Darkness

By:  Frances Pauli

Publisher:  Mundania Press

Publish Date:  February 2011

Format:  Paperback 207pgs, 5"x8"

Genre:  Fantasy

Series:  1st book of Trilogy, The Changeling Race

Recommendation:  Yes.  A mystery read filled with the fey world created to get lost in joined with our world.

Book Synopsis:
The boundaries between the worlds have fallen.  Forced to integrate the creatures of fantasy into real life, humanity struggles against its disillusionment, prejudice and an inevitable feeling of inadequacy.

Once an agent for the embassy that mediates between the worlds, Elizabeth Larson has abandoned her past and slipped into a world of nostalgic addiction to fairy revels, dancing, and the dark lure of her own memories.  But when her former partner and lover goes missing, she is pulled reluctantly back into service.  She must venture once more across the borders, into the land that haunts her, facing a string of gruesome murders, the imposing Sidhe rulers and her own addiction in the process.

When the Embassy's agents attempt to soothe tensions between the races, Liz and her new partner search the fairy realm for Lockland Sheen.  Fighting the constant temptation of the revels, they piece together the trail of an unknown enemy.  But the longer they follow it, the more it appears that the man they came to rescue is more villain than victim.  And the more they rely on Elizabeth's ties to the fairies, the closer she inches toward the madness that lurks behind her fantasies.

First Sentence:
The dancing would kill her eventually.

My Thoughts and Summary:
Liz is one of three women to create the first doorway for the fey to cross into our world.  For a while she worked at the Embassy tending to fey/human relations.  But she left the job after something happened with her partner, and now she ushers fey into the world at a place not so different of feel than a tram station.  Liz seems to be trying to escape, or maybe remember, something inside herself as she goes with the fairies who call to her every night into the Middle World.  Here is where she eats their snacks and drinks their juices, and dances the night away.  But, now the agent friend that Liz trained, Bev, shows up with a warning that her name is being tossed around the Embassy and something is a buzz...  There's a rogue elf killing other elves and Liz is drawn back into the service of the Embassy because of who it is.  Maybe her addiction to the fairy dancing will help with the case, or maybe not...  Will her new temporary partner go with his instincts or follow orders?

I have to say the world created here is really a great one full of Fey of all kinds; elves, pixies, fairies, trolls, and gnomes.  The connection between the fey world and human on is neat with the portals that takes an ability and power to help open the doorway, on both sides.  Now the fey come to our world openly, but they are not always accepted here.  And vice versa.

But the fairies where an attraction to me.  I liked how they came to Liz every night as they loved the way she danced.  But they left me wondering if there wasn't more behind that visiting than I was aware of.  And they always seemed adorable with the way they looked.  And there is one fairy in particular I'm curious about.

I liked the way I got the story of Liz and her past partner through out the book.  I wanted to get more of that connection and see them together, but he is to be dead.  We learn of Liz and her past partner through her memories and it is a wonderful way to bring you to love a character that's not physically present in the story.  Then we have a new friendship that starts to bloom with her new temporary partner as the characters start to relate and care for each other.

We do get a few different view points in the book as the different characters learn different pieces of the puzzle, and it adds to the anxiety you start to feel for the characters and the situation they are in.  I left the book wanting more.  I'm hoping there is a second book with these characters as I want to follow the story line further and see what happens.  Really a fun fey-magic mystery read!

You can check out the book and the author over at the Mundania Press site, or the Author, Frances Pauli's, site.


I received this book from the publisher for review.


This book qualifies for my Speculative Fiction Reading Challenge, hosted by Floor to Ceiling Books.