A magical detective dives into the affairs of Chicago’s divine monsters to secure a future with the love of her life. This sapphic period piece will dazzle anyone looking for mystery, intrigue, romance, magic, or all of the above.

An exiled augur who sold her soul to save her brother’s life is offered one last job before serving an eternity in hell. When she turns it down, her client sweetens the pot by offering up the one payment she can’t resist—the chance to have a future where she grows old with the woman she loves.

To succeed, she is given three days to track down the White City Vampire, Chicago’s most notorious serial killer. If she fails, only hell and heartbreak await.

Even Though I Knew the End by C.L.Polk is a stunning supernatural noir. The story immediately jumps into the action, engaging you with the characters, including the love story between Helen and her love Edith. It shows its emotional cards quickly and doesn’t pull any punches, hooking you with its heart and its characters. 

It is fast paced and the detective noir elements are well developed, including the magical aspects. I loved the worldbuilding, the mystery that the story explores and truly loved the ending. The magic is the key and that piece is well designed, allowing the reader to follow along and make their own guesses as to what’s going on in the story. The ending is surprising but also completely fitting. 

What puzzled me was that the terminology, especially in the beginning, was not well explained. Once the novel took off, more was explained but it left me confused at the start. Also the pacing is so quick and a bit off to fully explore the various relationships and characters. I felt Ted ending up not getting enough development in particular and I would have liked either a longer novel or I want a sequel. I still enjoyed the story and the relationship. The story has a stunning supernatural noir element but I wished I’d gotten just more depth from all the characters.

Rating: 4 out of 5 angels.