Unnatural Issue-Mercedes Lackey

Unnatural Issue
Mercedes Lackey
Daw, Jun 7 2011, $25.95
ISBN: 9780756405755

Following the death of his beloved wife Rebecca in childbirth, Elemental Earth Master Sir Richard Whitestone vows to never see his newborn daughter. He becomes a hermit while servants raise his offspring Susanne.

Two decades later, Sir Richard comes to London for the first time since the death of his beloved because the Master of the Council Lord Alderscroft urged him to do so. There he sees his daughter for the first time ever. He is stunned as she is the twin image of his late spouse. The Earth Master now wants Susanne in his life, but not as his daughter. His plan is to use her body to host the spirit of his late wife. Susanne realizes why her father suddenly wants her in his life. To avoid being the vessel for her mother’s spirit, she flees from her father and his ominous plan. Susanne obtains a position as a servant in the household of Charles Kerridge. When Lord Peter Almsley visits Kerridge, he and Susanne meet; neither they nor others in their circle will be the same as her insane father is arranging the Second Coming of his wife.

The sixth Elemental Masters urban fantasy is an engaging tale as this time the trademark homage spin is to Dorothy L. Sayers’ Lord Peter Wimsey (see Reserved for the Cat; respect to Puss N Boots). Though a bit over the top of Big Ben, the story is fast-paced from the moment an acrimonious Richard meets the offspring he holds culpable for his beloved’s death. Series fans will enjoy this father and child reunion as he has finally found a use for his adult daughter who he ignored except in his loathing of her.

Harriet Klausner