author : Daniel O'Malley

Myfanwy Thomas wakes up in a London park surrounded by bodies, with no memory of who she is, or how she got there. She needs to find out in a hurry, as unknown people are trying to kill her. She has three advantages: letters from her previous hyper-efficient self explaining the situation, a senior position in a sinister secret organisation, and superpowers no-one believes she can use.

It is difficult to categorise this, but I enjoyed this immensely. The puzzle of what is going on, explained in turns by the letters and Myfanwy’s own investigations, is interesting. The sarcastic tone of the protagonist as she encounters her colleagues’ attitude to her previous timid self, and the increasingly bizarre situations and revelations, make this in turns intriguing, a little scary, very funny, and occasionally a bit gross (in a good way).

The single off note for me is that this is written in the third person, but from the style I kept feeling it should be first person. But I assume the author knows best.

Just as I was finishing this, I was delighted to discover a sequel had just been published. Reader, I bought it. On the one hand, I don’t have to wait the five years that readers who discovered The Rook in 2012 have had to wait. On the other hand, can O’Malley keep up the clever and bizarre content? I do hope so.

Stiletto starts off where The Rook ends: Rook Myfanwy Thomas and the Checquy have declared a truce with Graaf van Suchtlen and the Grafters, and they have started the delicate process of working together. But not only are there centuries of well-stoked fear and suspicion on both sides impeding progress, there is a hidden faction actively out to sabotage the deal.

The bulk of the book alternates the viewpoint between Felicity Clements, a Chequay Pawn with aspirations to be a warrior Barghest, and Odette Leliefeld, a high ranking Grafter. After some typical Checquy-style horrors, Felicity is assigned as Odette’s bodyguard. Neither will be the same again.

I am slightly disappointed that this time round we don’t get Myfanwy’s viewpoint, except in a few scenes. And there is one scene from her point of view that doesn’t ring true for me. Myfanwy is at the Races investigating a gruesome murder, when she bumps into her brother Jonathan, and agrees to go up to his box to meet his friends later. After he leaves, she is attacked. The plot promptly proceeds to forget everything about this promised visit. Poor Jonathan, he must be worried sick!

Apart from this minor plot oversight (or maybe it is something incredibly subtle that will come back to haunt her later?) we get to see Myfanwy as others see her, in all her fearsome sarcastic efficiency. We are still in the wonderfully bizarre, dangerous, gross, complicated, surreal world of the Chequay, as two groups of people struggle to overcome perfectly understandable hatred and fear of each other, whilst surrounded by extraordinary and incomprehensible goings-on.

This is a great second book in the series. I hope it won’t be a four year wait for the third one! (There is going to be a third one, is there?)

This third tale of the Chequy is two interlinked tales, one set in London during the Blitz of the Second World War, and one in the present day, with initially unclear links. Both show Chequy agents at work, to combat supernatural threats, and to protect themselves from backlash from the Chequy itself.

This is a long book, 650-odd pages, and for the first 300 or so, not that much happens to advance the plot. Rather, there is a lot of background material, showing how the protagonists got to where they are, and how the Chequy works. Some of this is quite funny, as O’Malley is clearly having a blast coming up with ever more bizarre examples of supernatural powers, but most of it is gritty, especially the scenes in London during and after bombing raids. Once this background is laid, the plot starts in earnest, all Hell breaks loose, and there is no rest for the characters, or the reader.

The links between the tales gradually become clear, that background material has some important clues, and all is resolved satisfactorily. It is particularly affecting to see the world through the eyes of the Blitz characters, who of course do not know how the war will pan out, and definitely fear the worst. There is also an interesting distinction drawn between the modern world, where new technology is both a help and a hindrance, with the less sophisticated world of the past. And O’Malley’s characters are as well drawn as ever. Great stuff.