A LOCAL HABITATION: October Daye #2 - Seanan McGuire

From the back of the book: October "Toby" Daye is a changeling, the daughter of Amandine of the fae and a mortal man. Like her mother, she is gifted in blood magic, able to read what has happened to a person through a mere taste of blood.

Half-human, half-fae, outsiders from birth, most changelings are second-class children of Faerie spending their lives fighting for the respect of their immortal relations. Toby is the only changeling who has earned knighthood, and she re-earns that position every day, undertaking assignments for her liege, Sylvester, the Duke of the Shadowed Hills.

Now Sylvester has asked her to go to the County of Tamed Lightning---otherwise known as Fremont, CA--to make sure that all is well with his niece, Countess January O'Leary, whom he has not been able to contact. It seems like a simple enough assignment--but when dealing with the realm of Faerie nothing is ever as easy as it seems. January runs a company that produces computer fantasy games, and her domain is a buffer between Sylvester's realm and a rival duchy whose ruler is looking for an opportunity to seize control. And that is the least of January's problems. For Tamed Lightning has somehow been cut off from te other domains, and now someone has begun to murder January's key people. If Toby can't find and stop the killer soon, she may well become the next victim.....

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I loved the first in the series, ROSEMARY AND RUE, but this one made me holler! It was like reading an Agatha Christie, like 10 LITTLE INDIANS, but on hellah steroids. The suspense was killer, the murders were intense, and October on the job was classic.

Toby keeps it together somehow. I really don't know how she does it. She's had to deal with being a changeling and she could easily have a big ol' chip on her shoulder. She doesn't let it all get to her though. Or that's the appearance anyway.

All I know, Toby kicks ass, takes care of her peeps and makes sure no one gets left behind if she can help it.

Five intense beans....