Court Human

By: Hawkings Austin

Narrated by: Aaron Smith, Sarah Kay Peters

A cup of murder with your coffee?

Severn doesn't need the Summer Court's money and frankly, there's more intellectual stimulation to be found in an old history book and a good cup of coffee than in the tawdry backstabbing affairs of the Elves. But now the local folk of Karagut are coming to him for help.

Could these marketplace murders be somehow connected to the rarified halls of the Fairy Palace? Severn knows digging deeper could kill him. But he can't resist a good murder mystery.

©2024 Hawkings Austin (P)2025 Hawkings Austin

Cozy Mystery

A reluctant, somewhat nerdy, detective has to find a murderer that moves between the Elven court and the lawless streets of Karagut. The voices are amazing, I listened all day and I'm just sorry I finished it.

Well-done genre-blending tale

This is a new genre, Fae Noir, perhaps, or Paranormal Detective. In this very engaging book, Mr. Austin has taken the familiar tropes of a hard-boiled detective novel and placed them in a parallel magical land, where the death of a ward of the Faerie Court calls for an investigation.

That elevator pitch description hardly does the book justice. This is a well-crafted, carefully thought out and subtly revealed world, with its own political system ("court is murder" seems inarguably universal, ask any of the wives of Henry the VIII), and commensurate criminal enterprises fighting for their own piece of the paranormal pie.

The book has action, intrigue, love, a sly sense of humor, and a wounded hero who is determined to discover the (often painful) truth. Then there is the magic, uniquely presented and entirely consistent within it's own rules. There is no lazy writing in this book, no deus ex machina discoveries that someone with no training can suddenly control the Force and the save the day, for example. Everything action is earned, and every consequence has weight.

The voice acting is excellent, as well. A very pleasant and compelling novel. Again, high praise to Mr. Austin for very skillfully blending these two genres, and in the process giving us a new way to experience both.

Well-done, sir!