The Book Witch

Rainy March is a Book Witch. What does that mean? It means she's tasked with protecting the fidelity of books, both from interlopers who find their way into a story and threaten to permanently change it, as well as characters who somehow wander out of (or escape from) their books. Armed with a magic umbrella that allows her to drop into any story, and accompanied by her trusty familiar, a cat named Koshka, Rainy is wildly successful at the only job she's ever known.

There are a number of rules that govern Book Witch behavior, but perhaps the most critical is the eighth and final rule: "Never fall in love with a fictional character." Rainy is a rule-follower by nature, just as her mother (also a Book Witch) was, but Rule Eight becomes a challenge when she finally receives an assignment for one of the Duke of Chicago's mysteries. Rainy has never met the Duke before, but she's an avid fan of the books, and when she finally comes face-to-face with the hero she's admired from afar, the sparks fly.

Before long, a mystery in Rainy's own life takes hold: her grandfather—with whom Rainy lives after her mother passed away shortly after Rainy's birth— goes missing, as does her most prized possession (a copy of the first Nancy Drew book, The Secret of the Old Clock, the one thing left for her by her mother before she died). Rainy must solve her own mystery, and to do so, she seeks help from the best detective she knows: the Duke of Chicago.

The pair must unravel the mystery, and they journey through a series of novels to do so. The concept was surprisingly similar to Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series, a parallel that diminished what would otherwise have felt like a novel concept. As mysteries go, I was also a bit disappointed by the plot choices for the path the pair must take to reach their conclusion. With a universe of books within which to hide clues, the settings the characters traverse are disappointingly bland.

Aside from those small shortcomings, there were also some bright points. The novel finds its footing later, and while bits get muddied among the rules of leaping between worlds, it generally improves during the final third of the book. The novel is a love letter to literature and to the power of books to impact thousands (or millions) well beyond the lifetime of their author. It successfully delivers that message, but the path to get there was at times a bit convoluted and forced. Overall, it's a better-than-average tale, but didn't fully hit the mark for me.