This second installment in the exciting Cin Craven series begins thirteen years after the first, Wages of Sin, leaves off. Fiona, Cin’s close friend, is now married and has three children. During their yearly two-week visit to Ravenwood, Cin’s ancestral home she deeded to Fiona, Michael breaks the news that they have an assignment. The Righteous, the group of vampire enforcers formed of Cin, Michael, Devlin, and Justine, must appear in Edinburgh to investigate charges against the vampire queen of the West, Marrakesh. Humans are being murdered, and one of the court vampires reports seeing the queen with one of the bodies. Since these incidents coincide with Marrakesh exhibiting very odd behavior, suspicion easily falls upon her.

Upon the group’s arrival, Cin immediately suspects that something else is going on as she detects traces of magic, though she is unable to ascertain the source or what type it is. The presence of Drake, the high king’s sentinel, complicates matters as he and Michael have an uneasy past that neither has quite forgotten, due to Drake taking an interest in Cin. At the same time they are attempting to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding the queen and the murders, Cin and Michael are also navigating a rough patch in their relationship.

At first, the romantic issues between Cin and Michael seem distracting, but after finishing the book, it becomes obvious that the author is actually addressing the intriguing question of what does eternal love really mean to someone who can, at least in theory, live forever. One of Maclaine’s greatest strengths is her facility in melding the historical period of the nineteenth century she so tactilely portrays with the detailed vampire world she has created. This book explores further the vampire hierarchy and politics with which Cin and the others must contend while also co-existing in the human world. The success with which this goal is accomplished demonstrates how this series earns a distinguished spot in the historical urban fantasy category. This reviewer anxiously awaits Cin’s next adventure.

Book Stats:

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks; Original edition (February 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312946171
• ISBN-13: 978-0312946173

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Books in the Cin Craven series in the order they should be read:
Wages of Sin
Grave Sins
Bound By Sin

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