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Pick of the Week: Surprise Extra Volumes

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MICHELLE: Since I cannot decide between an epilogue volume of My Love Story!! and the debut of A Star Brighter Than The Sun, this week I will award my pick to Kazune Kawahara herself! I have loved everything I’ve read that she was involved in.

SEAN: It’s definitely a tie for me between My Love Story!! and Skip Beat!. Manga with exclamation points for the pick.

KATE: I’m with Michelle: My Love Story!! is one of my all-time favorite shojo manga, so put me down for another installment.

ASH: Likewise! I was not expecting a continuation of My Love Story!!, but I am absolutely here for it; I loved the original.

ANNA: My Love Story!! for me as well, what a nice surprise!

Heroine? Saint? No, I’m an All-Works Maid (And Proud of It)!, Vol. 2

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By Atekichi and Yukiko. Released in Japan as “Heroine? Seijo? Iie, All Works Maid desu (ko)!” by TO Books. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Matthew Jackson. Adapted by Michelle McGuinness.

If anyone still reads the site TV Tropes, there is a page devoted to what is known as a “Gambit Pileup”, where a storyline is derailed by multiple people who each have their own plan to take control of the narrative. This is frequently used for comedic purposes, but All-Works Maid really takes it to a higher level, as everyone is desperately trying to resolve the plot of the otome game they’ve found themslves in, only to see that Melody has solved everything, done every romantic route, and taken the main villain as her pet puppy. And that’s just in the first volume. This second one gives us an additional reincarnation from Japan, but also shows us that things have not completely been solved. The first villainess boss may now be Melody’s mistress, but the world still needs a first villainess boss, even if it has to use dark powers to create one. Worst of all, though, Melody has a crisis of faith. Maid faith.

We open back in Japan, where a grandmother in hospital, Maika, is talking to her granddaughter about a revival of an old otome game from years and years ago. Maika is upset, as said game was her obsession… until it took the life of her brother and his not girlfriend, who went missing in a plane disaster. Maika then goes to sleep… and wakes up as a little girl in a slum, completely confused. And then gets even more confused when her memories regress to her teenage self. Will she be able to find her brother and interact with the plot? Meanwhile, school has started and Luciana has made a friend… well, one or two. Most everyone else still seems to think of her family’s reputation first. And villain and love interest Bjork has to find a new jealous witch to make violently happy, and uses his knowledge of human behavior to do so. (I’m so sorry.)

The most interesting parts of this book are Melody and new character Micah (as she is spelled in this new world). Melody is at her best when using her talents to do things like resurrect an ancient temple with the power of horrifying magic, or accidentally resurrecting her mother into the spirit of an android maid (the latter is left vague). But at one point she’s asked “what is a perfect maid anyway?”, and trying to find the answer causes her to almost fall to bits, until she realizes how she can move forward and still be happy, even if it does disobey orders. As for Micah, she’s responsible for most of the funny bits in this book, as she goes from desperately trying to resolve plot points that everyone else resolved to simply screaming tsukkomi all the time. It’s good tsukkomi, I like her. I wish her well with her former savior turned evil possessed villain turned butler.

The ending promises we’re still not QUITE done with the main plotline, even if the Big Bad can’t decide whether to destroy the world or play fetch. Whatever he chooses, I’m sure Melody will effortlessly stop it. Very silly fun.

Lucia and the Loom: Weaving Her Way to Happiness, Vol. 3

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By Hisaya Amagishi and Esora Amaichi. Released in Japan as “Fukushokushi Lucia wa Akiramenai: Kyō kara Hajimeru Kōfuku Keikaku” by MF Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by A.M. Cola.

As with its parent series Dahlia in Bloom, Lucia and the Loom is an ongoing narrative that also can work as a short story collection. The “plot” of the series, such as it is, is seeing Lucia’s relationships with the various men in her life, and seeing her blithely reject them all (consciously or not) for her one true love, clothing. We get that here, and this book showcases some events from the seventh Dahlia book (without, thankfully, much repeating). And then we get the “short story” chapters, which basically show Lucia getting work for the business. Sometimes this ties to previous books, with former villainesses trying to reform. Sometimes it ties back to Dahlia’s main storyline, such as the kotatsu being invented, and the tailor’s guild determined to make the most beautiful, luxury coverings. And then there’s the story where Lucia is asked to handle a very delicate matter… which, honestly, is *so* good it blows away the rest.

This is actually the second story in the book that opens with Lucia being told she does not have to take the assignment if she doesn’t want to. A 13-year-old girl has died, and her family are asking a female couturier (because it will involve dressing her body) to make an outfit the for funeral. Lucia, who has seen her grandmother pass on, is OK with this, and goes to meet the father, who an Earl and also from a family of knights. As she finds out more and more about Enrica, their late daughter, she starts to realize what she was like (which is not very much like her father imagined her to be) and worked round the clock, enduring the cold of the mausoleum, to dress her in the most appropriate outfit. I have to tell you, it was hard not to tear up at this chapter. It was fantastic, and easily Lucia’s finest hour in this book.

Other highlights for Lucia include protecting Hestia from a leering noble who wants her to become his mistress; making pajamas for Lotto, which includes allowance for his tail (please note Lucia does not remotely consider the idea that making pajamas for a single man, in this world, is at all romantic); getting an assignment to make raincoats for Dante’s ex-girlfriend, which is heartwarming and bittersweet and possibly the second best story in this book; and making a new suit for Jonas, who is Lucia’s childhood hero but who she still doesn’t quite recognize. Dahlia and Volf, in the main series, are in a shonen romance, mostly consisting of food, drink, and willful blindness on both sides. But Lucia is in a shoujo series, with multiple love interests, all of whom seem doomed. Like Dahlia, Lucia needs to be protected. But… that’s gonna be tough, gotta admit.

We’ve caught up with Japan, but fortunately, Dahlia has resolved its issues and we get a new volume of it in just a few weeks. That should have a bit more Lucia as well. This was excellent.

The Manga Review: Thawing Out

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Hi, everyone! I’m still trying to work out a posting schedule for The Manga Review. Historically, I’ve published the column on Fridays, but my teaching schedule this semester has made that more challenging. I’m also discovering that fewer sites are publishing regular manga reviews; a lot of that discussion has moved to YouTube, TikTok, and podcasts. As someone who prefers to read about manga, I remain committed to covering websites and blogs. I’m open to exploring other ways to distributing The Manga Review, however, and am considering alternatives (e.g. weekly newsletter). Suggestions welcome!

NEWS AND VIEWS

Good news for Mushishi fans: Kodansha will publish a special collector’s edition this fall. Also on deck is a new edition of Dragon Head, a dark disaster series that’s been out of print for more than a decade. [The Fandom Post]

Brigid Alverson runs down the Circana Bookscan data for January 2025. [ICv2]

Will Junji Ito be inducted into the Eisner Hall of Fame this year? [ICv2]

If you’re a fantasy fan, Kara Dennison has you covered with the low-down on The Brilliant Healer’s New Life in the Shadows, The Beginning After the End, and From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman. [Otaku USA]

Art lovers, take note: UNIQLO just teamed up with the Louvre to produce a line of Doraemon t-shirts. [Otaku USA]

Kathryn Hemmann reviews Keita Katsushika’s manga Higashi Tōkyō Machi Machi, which they describe as “a leisurely walking tour of East Tokyo.” [Contemporary Japanese Literature]

And last but not least, please congratulate blogger Tony Yao for fifteen years of insightful, interesting reviews! Here’s hoping for fifteen more. [Drop-In to Manga]

REVIEWS

Jackson P. Brown gives high marks to Legs That Won’t Walk, a “compelling, shocking” and “spicy” gangster drama… Erica Friedman reviews a recent issue of Galette… Megan D. checks out the first volume of Yakuza Fiance… and the latest installment of The Reader’s Corner offers succinct reviews of Ako and Bambi, Mujina into the Deep, and Hirayasumi.

New and Noteworthy

Continuing, Complete, and OOP Manga

Management of a Novice Alchemist, Vol. 4

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By Mizuho Itsuki and fuumi. Released in Japan as “Shinmai Renkinjutsushi no Tenpo Keiei” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Sean McCann.

So remember that angry local lord plot I said would probably happen in this book? Nah. Not even brought up, aside from a brief bit where Sarasa notes that there really should not be as many bandits attacking this village as there are. Instead we get a return to the Salamander plot, and also a return to the marriage subplot. as, even though Lorea says she’s not into girls either, and Sarasa in fact seems to be quite ignorant about most everything sexual (not a surprise given her life), it’s very clear that Sarasa is an amazing catch. A powerful alchemist who is the apprentice of the Master Alchemist, and looks like she’ll surpass her one day. A woman – well, still girl – who can fill the “wife” role in the family and also be Sarasa’a apprentice, who looks to be a very quick study. A powerful knight who’s also pretty and practical. And Zoidberg… erm, and Iris. Who tries very hard. Mostly to seduce Sarasa, which she thinks is the way to get this going. It feels like the author read about yuri in a book once years ago.

A monster researcher, Nordrad, has arrived at the village looking for bodyguards to help him with his latest research project – examining the nest of the Salamander that Sarasa took out last time. Now that the salamander is gone, it’s the perfect time to get a lot more details about it that are otherwise impossible. And he really is offering a lot of gold to just stay with him while he does this, so Iris (happily) and Kate (reluctantly) agree to help him. While they’re gone, Lorea and Sarasa, des;pite both saying they’re not into women that way, propose to each other, Lorea moves in, and Sarasa essentially has a “please be good to my daughter” discussion with her parents. Also, Lorea asks to be her apprentice, but that seems to be secondary to her moving in. And it may just be the two of them, as Iris and Kate are… in trouble.

In a series that already features a very, very eccentric lead character in Sarasa, it would take a lot to top her, and Nord, trust me, is a lot. You want to punch him about eighty times in this book, and I was disappointed that he mostly got what he wanted and then took off, despite trapping himself, along with Iris and Kate, inside a volcanic mountain for over a month because of his research stupidity that said things like “what if I got another salamander to come here, what would happen then?”. That said, there is one benefit, which is that it allows Sarasa to show that, even if she pretends not to be all that interested in them, she will absolutely move heaven and earth to help them if their lives are in danger. She spends a LOT of money and makes a LOT of things in this book, most of which we only hear about in passing, all for the sake of finding her two other not-yet-wives and getting them out of Certain Death Cavern. It’s sweet.

I suspect this book requires a lot more tolerance of weird bullshit than most light novel series, but if you can put up with it, and don’t mind the author avoiding everyone’s barely disguised fetish, it’s quite good.

Manga the Week of 3/5/25

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SEAN: It’s March! The time when all the AO3 writers get out their Lion/Lamb omegaverse stories.

MICHELLE: It had not occurred to me that this existed, but surely it must.

ASH: Of course it does.

SEAN: Yen On has Brunhild and Kriemhild, the third in the Brunhild series, as well as Hollow Regalia 5.

And Yen Press gives us the 2nd Lycoris Recoil and Uncle from Another World 11.

Two debuts from Viz, though the first is a one-shot. Four Lives Remain: Tatsuya Endo Before Spy x Family (Shihou Yuugi) is a short story collection featuring some of Endo’s earliest work that ran in Weekly Shonen Jump and Akamaru Jump. Expect it to be darker than Spy x Family, and probably have more elves too.

ASH: Definitely curious about this one!

SEAN: A Star Brighter than the Sun (Taiyou Yori mo Mabushii Hoshi) is the latest series from High School Debut/My Love Story!! author Kazune Kawahara, and of course it runs in Betsuma. A girl realizes that her weak childhood friend has grown up and is not so weak any more. Does she like him?

MICHELLE: I love Kazune Kawahara, and am so here for this.

ANNA: Me too!

ASH: Same!

SEAN: Also from Viz: Blue Box 14, Dark Gathering 12, Let’s Do It Already! 4, Like a Butterfly 11, My Hero Academia: Team-Up Missions 6, My Love Story!! 14 (a one-shot epilogue showing the cast in college), My Special One 9, One Piece 108, Sakamoto Days 16, Skip Beat! 50, and Wolf Girl and Black Prince 12.

MICHELLE: The only thing that could possibly overshadow a new volume of Skip Beat! is a My Love Story!! epilogue!

ANNA: This is an unusually good week!

ASH: I’m looking forward to it.

Tokyopop has My Beautiful Man 3 and World’s End Blue Bird 3.

Steamship has a 2nd volume of Guilty Smile.

Square Enix Manga debuts The Emperor’s Caretaker (Koutei Heika no Osewagakari – Jokan Kurashi ga Shiawase sugite Koukyuu kara Deraremasen), a manga adaptation of an as-yet unlicensed light novel. Do you like Ancient China once removed stories that take place in the Inner Palace with lots of court intrigue? This is another one. It runs in Manga Up!.

ASH: That does sound like something I would read.

SEAN: Also coming out from Square Enix: The Apothecary Diaries 13, Daemons of the Shadow Realm 7, and Mr. Villain’s Day Off 6.

Two debuts from Seven Seas. I Got Married to the Girl I Hate Most in Class (Class no Daikirai na Joshi to Kekkon suru Koto ni Natta) is a manga based on a light novel that Seven Seas will release this fall. It runs in Shonen Ace +. Two high schoolers who hate each other are forced to marry to save his family business. His only worry… why did she agree to this? This also has an anime currently airing.

Rozen Maiden Collector’s Edition is a new omnibus of the classic manga Tokyopop released almost 20 years ago. Now it’s back, and it’s 450 pages. A weird combination of death game and battle manga, its main appeal is the gothic lolita fashion.

ASH: Everything old is new again.

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Asumi-chan is Interested in Lesbian Brothels! 5, D-Frag! 18, Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation 9, I Think I Turned My Childhood Friend Into a Girl 8, The Invisible Man and His Soon-to-Be Wife 5, Killer Shark in Another World 3, Monster Guild: The Dark Lord’s (No-Good) Comeback! 8, and Re-Living My Life with a Boyfriend Who Doesn’t Remember Me 3.

And in… not light novel, not danmei, but Korean novel news, we get Lout of Count’s Family 3.

A debut from One Peace Books. You Talk Too Much, So Just Shut It Already! (Kimi wa Yakamashi Tojite yo Kuchi wo!) is a shonen title from Dra-Dra-Sharp#. A deaf girl is surprised that the guy in her class keeps talking to her… then, as she reads his lips, realizes he’s talking nonsense!

Kodansha Manga debuts DEAD ROCK, the latest series from Fairy Tail creator Hiro Mashima. This Weekly Shonen Magazine series is about a school for demon kings, but mostly it’s an excuse for Mashima to draw more Mashima stuff.

Also in print: A-DO 7, Anyway, I’m Falling in Love with You 6, Initial D Omnibus 5, Medalist 7, Rent-A-Girlfriend 29, and Thunder 3 3.

Digitally we get Blue Lock 30, The Café Terrace and Its Goddesses 16, How to Grill Our Love 13, Those Snow White Notes 26, and Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister 17.

One light novel debut for J-Novel Club: Imperial Reincarnation: I Came, I Saw, I Survived (Tensei Shitara Koutei deshita – Umare Nagara no Koutei wa Kono Saki Ikinokoreru ka), whose manga JNC released a little bit ago. A history nerd reincarnates as a child emperor… and he knows how long child emperors tend to live. If he wants to avoid assassination, he’ll have to be both clever AND adorable.

ASH: It’s not a bad strategy.

SEAN: Also in light novels: The Dorky NPC Mercenary Knows His Place 3, No One Gets Past This Gatekeeper 3, and Zilbagias the Demon Prince: How the Seventh Prince Brought Down the Kingdom 4.

No manga debuts, but J-Novel Club does have The Coppersmith’s Bride 5, The Invincible Little Lady 7, Safe & Sound in the Arms of an Elite Knight 3, and Stuck in a Time Loop 3.

Ghost Ship has The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You 13 and Becoming a Princess Knight and Working at a Yuri Brothel 4.

Dark Horse Comics is going back to one of their bestsellers. Gunsmith Cats: Omnibus Edition is a collection of the first three volumes of this Guns, Cars, and Girls (in order of importance) series. Yes, digital as well. No, I don’t know if it will have THAT scene. Please move on, 2000s manga fandom. In any case, recommended if you like girls blowing things up and shooting things, and if you don’t mind a lot of fanservice.

ASH: Somehow, I’ve never actually read Gunsmith Cats.

SEAN: Also from Dark Horse: Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! 7.

And Airship, in print, has the second volume of Witch and Mercenary.

While digitally we get The Case Files of Jeweler Richard 10.

Lots of old favorites being released anew. Anything catch your eye?

Fiancée No More: The Forsaken Lady, the Prince, and Their Make-Believe Love, Vol. 3

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By Mari Morikawa and Bodax. Released in Japan as “Konyaku Haki no Sono Saki ni: Suterare Reijō, Ōji-sama ni Dekiai (Engi) Sareru” by DRE Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Adam.

It had been a while since the last volume of this series, and so I had forgotten about its vibe, which is “serious”. Most of these villainess or villainess-adjacent books tend to have a tongue at least somewhat in cheek, but this one is absolutely here to tell you that Estelle’s life has not been great, her new life is fine but still features miscommunication and anxiety, and, oh yes, someone is still trying to sabotage Arcrayne. Even the honeymoon, which we get at the end of this book, is called off briefly once they arrive due to an errant dragon attack, and the wedding features worries that she won’t be able to fulfill her role in bearing Arcrayne’s child. That said, everything in this series has been pretty straightforward, and so I’m sure the payoff here will… oh look, there are some genuinely surprising twists and turns. The author definitely wrote this with three books in mind.

After the events of the second book, Estelle is rapidly becoming a heroic story, which she’s not wild about, but that’s what happens when you shoot a dragon with your gun that explodes when you shoot a dragon. Fortunately, her engagement ring is remade and everything seems to be hunky dory. (record scratch) So she’s now locked in a tower prison, where accommodations are good but she’s been arrested for supposedly helping her fiance to try to assassinate the king, who is allegedly at death’s door. Needless to say this is a lie concocted by the Queen and her evil father (more on them later). Fortunately, things are not quite as desperate as they seem, but Estelle very much has to go from “I’m about to be executed because I was forcibly engaged to this guy” to “I’m going to be the next queen” pretty darn quick.

The most interesting part of the book is after the failed coup itself, where we get to see the double reverse Uno that was apparently going on while Estelle and Arcrayne were suffering a bit. I will try not to spoil too much, but it turns out that the Queen, who I had really disliked in previous books, has a backstory that… well, let’s just say they make it BETTER by saying “he hit her”. Daddy Dearest was a real piece of work. As a result, we get to hear about how a lot of everything in Arcrayne’s life was faked in order to appease different factions, and that he knew none of this. I like the twists, but I wish we’d gotten the chance to figure them out before they’re dropped on us. OK, while I said that everything was written to be a perfect three volumes, maybe it was a bit rushed. A few more flashbacks might have done wonders.

Still, overall this series wasn’t bad, and is a good one to recommend to those who want a “disgraced noble” sort of book without any deconstruction or parody.

Goodbye, Overtime! This Reincarnated Villainess Is Living for Her New Big Brother, Vol. 3

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By Chidori Hama and Wan Hachipisu. Released in Japan as “Akuyaku Reijō, Brocon ni Job Change Shimasu” by Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Rymane Tsouria.

One of the things that you see a lot in villainess books, and especially this one, is having your cake and eating it, too. Our protagonist is a villainess trying to avoid her doom, and turns out to now be smart, sweet, and beloved? That’s all very well and good, but you still need an ACTUAL arrogant girl in the book, preferably with drill curls. The brother and sister are wonderful nobles who are working hard to recover their family’s reputation and work for the sake of their people? Sure, but better show some stupid, evil nobles as well, because stupid, evil nobles are what this genre does. Ekaterina may be changing her fate, but the world itself still inspires bad actors to be around, and it’s implied that the nobles that flitter around the royal family are even worse. Fortunately, neither she not her brother have to worry about that, as they’re far too busy making everyone stare with their G-rated brocon/siscon shenanigans.

School’s out, after final exams show Ekaterina coming in… third! (It’s fine, the prince and the “heroine” are first and second, so this works for her not-so-secret agenda.) Now she and her brother are returning to their ancestral home for the first time in a long time… and for her, the first time since she got her memories from Japan/became a massive Alexei otaku. Back home she finds some servants who don’t like her, but that’s balanced out by the people who have been hired back after the death of her grandmother, who turn out to be fantastic. This will culminate in a ball where Ekaterina will make her debut as the head of house. Unfortunately, there are also a lot of scheming nobles who want to get their hands on Alexei’s power and fortune. Luckily, those scheming nobles are complete idiots.

I know I keep bringing up the incest, but it really is impossible to avoid – it’s the premise. And yet I still applaud the author for somehow managing to make it so these two are disgustingly in love with each other, and also that he is impossibly handsome (something she notices all the time) and that she is voluptuous and beautiful (something every male around her notices all the time), and yet it STILL is as sexless as you could possibly want. These two adore each other yet absolutely are not down to fuck, and that’s terrific. It’s terrific mostly because their shameless pawing and flirting, when contrasted with, say, the drill curled noble throwing a tantrum, is so sickeningly sweet it’s hilarious. They’ve somehow weaponized incest subtext, and are using it to kill off their enemies. Amazing.

I’m not sure where the series is going next, except that, as implied by the ending section, Ekaterina will be getting a horse soon. But as long as it continues to have these two lovey-dovey siblings be not remotely sexual, I’ll stick around for it.

The Otome Heroine’s Fight for Survival, Vol. 4

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By Harunori Biyori and Hitaki Yuu. Released in Japan as “Otome Game no Heroine de Saikyō Survival” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Camilla L.

After spending the last four books ignoring the otome game aspect of this world for the most part and being devoted to showing pages of stat upgrades and lots of monster fighting, we will finally be getting around to the actual game in the next volume, with academy hijinks and everything. That said, some aspects of the game still shine through, and one of them is that, though she doesn’t really notice it herself, everyone and their brother is falling head over heels for Alia. Random passersby on the street gawk at her. Royal knights all vow to protect her. Elena thinks they’re soulmates. And Karla… well, we’ll talk about Karla later. Alia’s got that heroine energy for sure. Heck, at the climax of this book she’s forced to get rid of having ash in her hair and let her peach flag fly. The trouble is, Alia does NOT think of herself as the heroine of an otome game, so all of this, with the exception of protecting Elena, is irrelevant to her.

Alis is finally, somewhat reluctantly, joining the Rainbow Blade, mostly as that’s the only way she’ll be able to help Elena, who is going to a very difficult dungeon, along with her brother, her brother’s fiancee candidates, an annoying uncle, and various retainers, in order to gain the fantastic “any wish” reward the dungeon can offer. After officially leveling up, and dodging a murder attempt, Alia and the rest of the adventuring party arrive and head through a secret door that allows you to skip seventy floors of the dungeon – which still leaves us with the most dangerous floors. Can Alia keep Elena and the rest of the royal family safe without getting murdered by dangerous ogres, terrifying minotaurs, and the scariest being of all, Karla?

As with the last book she appeared in, Karla is absolutely one of the best reasons to read this, as she is legitimately mentally disturbed in a way very few anime villains really manage to pull off. “Yandere” is a word I hate because it gets abused, but there’s no denying that Karla’s death wish revolves around her obsession with Alia, and her desire to level up – even if it means murdering piles of people, which she does here – is solely so that she can achieve her wish of fighting Alia in the ruins of the entire kingdom until Alia kills her. It is a grand guignol death wish, and I have no doubt it will be the series finale – hopefully NOT in the ruins of the capital. As for Clara, the other villainess in this story… meh. Even her name is easy to mistype when I mean Karla. I get that she’s sort of trapped, but she needs to get more interesting. (Arguably Elena does as well, but at least she manages to solve the worst of her problems by the end of this book.)

With a big YMMV reminder over the series, which always reminds us how young these girls really are, this remains a strangely compelling narrative. I’m hoping spending time at the academy with petty nobles and classwork might mean a few less stat screens, though.

Duchess in the Attic, Vol. 3

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By Mori and Huyuko Aoi. Released in Japan as “Yane Urabeya no Kōshaku Fujin” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by piyo.

(This review discusses a plot twist near the end of the book, but I will wait till paragraph three to do so.)

This is a very odd series, in that it’s technically meant to be a thriller of sorts, where we see Opal struggle against events that are conspiring against her. But she’s never seriously in danger, and knows it. And we, the reader, are fine with that. We’re not reading this series to see Opal being threatened by goons, we’re reading this to see Opal being smug, and boy howdy do we get that here. We also get another attic, and this time she stays in it for an extended period. I sometimes wonder if the author thinks of Opal in the attic, and then writes a plot to get her into it, rather than the other way around. As for the book itself, well, it’s taking the events of Books 1 and 2 and telling the reader we should have been paying far closer attention to them.

After the events of the last volume, which ended with someone trying to break up Opal and Claude, she heads off to their new lands without him. There she finds an old-fashioned, Satan-hating land maintainer, a butler who screams “I am evil”, and a footman that she immediately dislikes on sight. Fortunately, she does have her loyal maid Nadja. Unfortunately, while on her way to inspect mines, which requires her staying at a ludicrously opulent mansion that looms over a poor neighborhood, she finds herself kidnapped, locked in an attic, and held for ransom, along with Nadja. At least she gets things to read from that footman she dislikes. As for why she’s been kidnapped, well, the anti-royal faction have decided to have their revolution, and she makes a great hostage. Supposedly. If their revolution were going well.

So, one mystery I love is The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, by Agatha Christie. It’s not loved by everyone, however, and gets into “is it OK to withhold vital information when you are a first-person narrator?”. This book does the same thing, with Julian, the footman. I already knew he was going to be more than just one of the three bad guys. For one thing, he’s on the cover, pictured happily next to Claude and Opal. For another, he gets a big interior illustration the moment he first appears. That said, I assumed that he would be, y’know, an old friend of Claude’s who’s being a spy. Which, admittedly, is 100% true. But he’s also someone we’ve been hearing about since the very, very start of the series, always present by his absence, and Opal’s immediate dislike of him should have been a bigger clue. No one fights quite like a brother and sister, after all. This also makes the climax of the book, which should be tense and anxious, hilarious, as the two cannot stop sniping at each other. It’s glorious.

The first book had a definite ending, and then it continued. This third book also has a definite ending, and yet there is more. I’m looking forward to it a great deal, though.