The mystery of what binds Maggie and Boudreaux is resolved in three surprising parts throughout the first 5-6 books, and each scene and dialogue between Maggie and Boudreaux is superb. The strange and powerful attraction between Maggie and Bennett Boudreaux.īoudreaux is the town 'kingpin', ascribed with various crimes including murder, but his charm and eloquence make him impressive and attractive. There is a sub-plot which, to me, drives everything: The dialogue is good, and the characters speak with (mostly) distinct voices. The pacing is always good, and the prose also improves substantially over time. In fact, I would say characters and emotions are the lead attraction of these books for me now, well ahead of the mystery/plots (which get better). There is a commanding feminine demeanour throughout these books, perhaps the best I've ever seen.

These books cannot really be read separately, they must be read in order (at least books 1-5).įirstly, McKenna shines at character development and description. Which leads to a second problem: Endless repetition of character descriptions (including animals), and plot updates in each new volume (which you can skim over) but. I speculate that publishing 5x 200 page volumes might provide better income for her than a single large volume. I'm going to review the first five books as if they were one large volume, since the first few books end suddenly and mid-plot, frustratingly. In reality, the way she is behaving, she and Wyatt would be kaput except that Wyatt understands she is distressed and confused, but not why. Over these first five books Maggie continues to fail to choose Wyatt over Boudreaux. The whole competition/hatred between Wyatt and Boudreaux is very uncomfortable, but perhaps expected as 'continuing colour' for the Maggie-Wyatt-Boudreaux situation. I must say, the brief but astonishing revelation in the thoughts of Bennett Boudreaux in the previous book are driving me forward in this series.

Deadwake