Fatma el-Sha’arawi is an agent for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities. Although she is the youngest woman serving in the agency, she already has an impressive track record for preventing magical entities (djinn) from upsetting the carefully negotiated balance of power between humanity and magical beings in the city of Cairo. After al-Jahiz established the current political structure and recognized magical beings and entities in Cairo, the Ministry, founded in 1885, was charged with maintaining order among magical beings and entities and to solve crimes caused by magic or magical entities. Now almost 30 years later, through its vigilance, recent advancements in science and agents like Fatma, the Ministry has been able to keep the peace. That is, until now.

When all twenty four members of a secret brotherhood devoted to the memory of the famous al-Jahiz, are found burned beyond all recognition, the horror of it galvanizes the police and the Ministry to determine what caused this horrific attack. Fatma and her new partner, Hadia, are assigned to the case. As they try to sift through the ashes, and follow up on clues, Fatma and Hadia begin to suspect the son of the leader of the brotherhood, but his alibi seems unbreakable and he, alone, is clearly not capable of performing the magic that caused these deaths. While they try to find a connection, an entity claiming be the reincarnation of al-Jahiz begins stalking the streets causing unrest and trouble. It seems clear to Fatma and Hadia that there is some connection to the brotherhood murders but they struggle to find a clear motive or evidence to prove it. As Fatma and Hadia try to negotiate the complicated world of the djinn, they receive help from unexpected sources and begin to unravel the complicated motives that resulted in the deaths. But the murderer is powerful and Fatma and Hadia must hurry before they too become victims of this powerful killer.

Clark has created a truly unique world with a whole host of characters based on Egyptian mythology and folklore. This book won several well deserved awards for its distinctive world and characters. Fatma and Hadia, as young women in an agency that is mostly male, face discrimination and are discounted in their work. Fatma, whose love interest is half djinn, gives us an opportunity to explore gender identity and speciesism in a empathetic and thoughtful way. This is the first book in a series and I look forward to reading more from this intriguing and gifted author!

Brenda’s Rating: ***1/2 (31/2 Stars Out of 5)

Recommend this book to: Lauren and Marian

Book Study Worthy? Yes

Read in ebook format.