The Undetectables

by Courtney Smyth

Synopsis:

Be gay, solve crime, take naps—A witty and quirky fantasy murder mystery in a folkloric world of witches, faeires, vampires, trolls and ghosts, for fans of Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey and T. J. Klune’s Under the Whispering Door.

A magical serial killer is stalking the Occult town of Wrackton. Hypnotic whistling causes victims to chew their own tongues off, leading to the killer being dubbed the Whistler (original, right?). But outside the lack of taste buds and the strange magical carvings on the victims’ torsos, the murderer leaves no evidence. No obvious clues. No reason – or so it seems.

Enter the Undetectables, a detective agency run by three witches and a ghost in a cat costume (don’t ask). They are hired to investigate the murders, but with their only case so far left unsolved, will they be up to the task? Mallory, the forensic science expert, is struggling with pain and fatigue from her recently diagnosed fibromyalgia. Cornelia, the team member most likely to go rogue and punch a police officer, is suddenly stirring all sorts of feelings in Mallory. Diana, the social butterfly of the group, is hitting up all of her ex-girlfriends for information. And not forgetting ghostly Theodore – deceased, dramatic, and also the agency’s first dead body and unsolved murder case.

With bodies stacking up and the case leading them to mysteries at the very heart of magical society, can the Undetectables find the Whistler before they become the killer’s next victims?

In the end, Courtney Smyth’s The Undetectables didn’t really prove to be my thing. I loved the tagline (“be gay, solve crimes, take naps”), and I loved the fact that Mallory has a serious and potentially limiting disability, which is never ignored in the course of the story even when she has to do heroics. I don’t know from experience whether her fibro was portrayed accurately, but I appreciated the inclusion — along with the various flavours of queerness, too.

However, it just felt a bit… lacklustre? Obviously, because I’m a mystery fan, the mystery element was pretty important to me, and it felt like the girls kept missing really obvious clues — and then I hated the villain monologue section, with all the super-manufactured clues. The narrative lampshaded that a bit, in that Mallory very much thinks the puzzles are stupid, but… ugh, so many pages taken up with that.

And then there was just a certain immaturity to the relationships. In a way it makes sense for the main character, who has felt left behind by the others, but it wasn’t just that. Cornelia’s relationship with Beckett is transparently bad. Not that older people don’t get into bad relationships, or that it’s about maturity or intelligence exactly, it’s just… not the kind of situation I enjoy reading about, and makes me feel like I’m back in school.

I did like the relationship between the three girls, and the deep friendship between Theodore and Mallory. There were definitely good elements. But I finished it and thought… I’m not sure that was a good use of my time.

I am sure, however, that it is the perfect read for many people! I mean, look at that tagline.

Rating: 2/5 (“it was okay”)