Death by Silver

Good book! I've already bought the second. But I have to admit that I had trouble telling the MCs apart for a good portion of the book.

Despite glowing recommendations from two of my favorite authors, I was underwhelmed by this book. It was well-written, with lots of dry British humor (although the authors are American), but the pace was slow, the mystery seemed obvious to me, and the two MCs spent 75% of the book kept apart by a Big Misunderstanding that could have been overcome if either of them had just spoken up about how they felt. I get that Victorian gentlemen didn't easily disclose their deepest emotions, but it fed into my least favorite trope: each MC bemoans separately that he would be so happy if only the other reciprocated his feelings...but there's no way he feels the same as me...Grrr!

I liked the idea of magical metaphysicians, but the emphasis was on explaining the technical and academic sides, to the point where the enchantments were, well, not as magical. Little tidbits like the carnivorous plant that likes fresh ham when no insects were available should have been played up more instead of the grammar of Latin vs. Eastern style ancient metaphysics.

Death by Silver wasn't a bad book by any means, and I did enjoy it. The MCs were appealing but flawed, and the flashbacks to the torment they suffered as schoolboys help the reader understand both their bond and their distaste for the man they end up defending from murder charges. But especially at such a high price point I feel let down and don't plan to read the sequel anytime soon. YMMV, especially if you like to focus more on the mystery than the MC relationship.