Suzanne McLeod – The cold kiss of Death

The second book in the Spellcrackers series, published in paper form July 16, 2009.
Genre: Urban Fantasy.



I’m Genny Taylor. My job is to make magic safe. My life is anything but. Wish me luck…
Given her sidhe bloodline and her job at Spellcrackers, Genny Taylor is accustomed to seeing ghosts. But rarely has she been haunted by one so persistent. Who – or what – ever it is, is trying to help her, she knows. Only she doesn’t know how.
Then a friend of Genny’s is murdered, and she stops worrying about the meddlesome spirit and starts worrying about the fact that all the evidence points to … her.
Now she’s on the run, with some of the most powerful supernaturals in town on her trail – and one of them is most certainly the killer…


Welcome to London, a city filled with most known and unknown paranormal creatures, like Fae, vampires, witches, trolls, goblins, dryads, naiads, a kelpie, satyrs, and whatever else you can think of from fairytales.
Genevieve, Genny, is Fae. The only Fae in London. She is also half vampire, something not many people know. When she was 14, she was bitten by a vampire, and became addicted to the vampire venom. She has been fighting to give in to it ever since, as she really does not want to become someone’s bloodslave. Unfortunately, that is something all the vampires in London do want! Her Fae blood makes her very powerful, and her healing powers would mean they can almost kill her on a daily basis and she will keep on healing, and keep on being addicted to their bite. Genny is the only Fae on London, as the Fae Queen sealed the portals after her son died. Dooming all the lesser fae, as they can only have halfblood children. And for some strange reason they all suddenly think that Genny is ready to become a mother and have a fullblooded Fae child, and they all want her to mate with one of them. A Fae mother is capable to determine the race of her child, be it Fae or whatever the father is. Being pursued through the streets of London by some dryads is not a fun thing, especially not when all the trees keep telling them where she is. Luckily, her fairy dogmother saves her this time.
Then there is the ghost of a young girl haunting Genny, but she can’t communicate with it. Fortunately, it appears to be helping her on a few occasions.

A young bakerfriend of Genny’s is found by Genny and her vampire ally Malik al Khan in his bakershop, killed while having sex. Sex with a Fae and Fae sexmagic. And as Genny is the only Fae in London, all the evidence points to her. But she did not do it, someone is framing her. But who, and why? To clear her name, she needs all the help she can get. But nothing is as it seems, and she has no idea who is her friend or ally, and who is only pretending to be, and is her mortal enemy.


I took a break while reading this book, which was not a smart idea. I should have kept on reading, even though it is a bit darker than I am used to. A lot of strange things keep happening in this book, and it is hard to figure it all out while it is happening. But in the end, everything is wrapped up nicely, and a lot of things make sense.
I really like books with lots of supernatural creatures in it, it make for a richness in the story with all their different appearances and customs and desires.

For those of you, who really need romance in their reading, there are no real kisses or smexy scenes, except some kisses when she is under the influence of Malik, and that is not really willing in my opinion. There are possible mates though. A kelpie, a satyr, and a vampire. So who knows what will happen, who will Genny choose? Or perhaps someone we have not yet met.

Even though this series is darker than I am used to, and a lot confusing at times, I really like it. Suzanne McLeod has a great writing voice, and her imagination and worldbuilding is superb. I have no idea where this series is going to take me, but I will be there for the thrill ride.

9 stars.

© 2012 Reviews by Aurian