Review for Accused: Book One of the KC Warlock Weekly

It’s not often an urban fantasy story catches me by surprise. It seems like many great authors have explored all the corners of the potential for a hidden magical world alongside our own modern existence. Then Max Jolley’s new book came along and melded a great UF story with another genre favorite of mine, a fantastic noir mystery.

Levi Lawson (Lee-vee), an investigative journalist from a startup newspaper covering the supernatural side of Kansas City, stumbles on a murder. But that’s the least of his problems as he soon finds out he’s been tagged as the killer. Add in a great good cop/bad cop duo, gritty interrogations, vampires, wizards, and even a bridge troll, and you’ve got a rollicking urban fantasy adventure. 

As the mystery around the murder expands into an even bigger story, our intrepid investigator pulls out every trick in his limited mundane collection. Somehow, he manages to stay one step ahead of the multitude of people and creatures out to get him. He can’t afford to get caught. He has to get to the bottom of the mystery, solve the crime, and print the next newspaper. 

The story grabbed me from the beginning and pulled me in right away. Before I knew it, I wanted to know how Levi was going to solve the crime while somehow saving his failing newspaper. I couldn’t stop and had to read to the end. And, I never saw the twist coming.

I stumbled a little keeping all the characters straight that Levi meets along the way. But that’s because the world Jolley crafts is deep and rich with many textures and diversity. Fairies and vampires, mages and potion masters, and many others all come together atop an underlying magical bureaucracy. There’s a lot more of this world to explore. I’m looking forward to more editions and stories from the KC Warlock Weekly and reporter Levi Lawson.

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Jamie Davis, author of Fun Fantasy Reads, writes urban and epic fantasy stories for teens and adults. You can find out more about him at https://jamiedavisbooks.com.