27) Heart of Stone, by C.E. Murphy
28) House of Cards, by C.E. Murphy
29) Hands of Flame, by C.E. Murphy

These three books take ‘s urban fantasies to new territory: specifically New York rather than Seattle, and with her heroine a feisty lawyer rather than a mechanically-minded policewoman. I saw the author summarise the setting of the first book back at P-Con in a sentence: “Margrit’s met the perfect man, except that he’s a gargoyle and he’s wanted for murder” – at which someone sitting behind me called to her, “I do not think that word means what you think it means: ‘Perfect’.”

We have five old races – the gargoyles, djinns, dragons and selkies, each affiliated with one of the four traditional elements, and the vampires which are somehow separate – dealing with the dangerous business of interacting with the contemporary human world. It’s a fairly Buffy-esque setting, with a couple of conscious references, though also a number of important differences.

I think the three books are not sufficiently independent to read other than as a series. The first book treats Margrit’s entry into the parallel world of the Old Races; the second has her negotiating a new deal between them; and the third sees a settling of scores among them, again brokered by Margrit. All very enjoyable, and lightened my trip to Cyprus (and return to rainy Belgium).