Magic and the Shinigami Detective

The Case Files of Henri Davenforth, Book 1

By: Honor Raconteur

Narrated by: Donovan Hughes, Dallas Boudreaux

When the Night Foxes boldly break into the Fourth Precinct’s Evidence Building, it causes quite the stir. The break-in is daring enough, but their method shreds the magical wards and protections on the building like confetti paper. To say the police are ‘alarmed’ by this is the understatement of the century.

As a Magical Examiner, Henri Davenforth is, of course, immediately called in. Quite to his astonishment, Captain Gregson has him work the case like a detective. Even more astounding, he assigns Henri a partner - The Shinigami Detective.

The woman is famous for killing the most destructive rogue witch of the century, and no one is quite certain where she’s from. Every officer in the precinct is either in awe of her, or a little frightened by her. Henri is just baffled. What is he supposed to do with a partner?

Hopefully, killing one witch makes Jamie Edwards enough of an expert on magic to be helpful, as the thieves aren’t content to just break into one building. They, in fact, seem to have an agenda - as with each theft, they take magical objects. It’s all mounting to a dangerously powerful, magical construct, capable of toppling the wards on any building.

And no one has any idea what the thieves true target is.

©2018 Alisha Yockey (P)2022 Alisha Yockey

Creative world building

The story was a fun listen and the narrators did a great job with the characters.

Great Steampunk series!

Witty and well written series. Likable and amusing characters. Enjoyed the narrators who voiced the characters. Looking forward to the rest of the books on Audible.

Dual Narration done right

I listened to Magic and the Shinigami Detective: The Case Files of Henri Davenforth, Book 1 a couple of months ago, and it’s one of those audiobooks that clearly stuck with me, because I’ve since listened to all three available books in the series.

One of my favorite aspects is the dual narration. The male and female narrators play off each other beautifully, with the female narrator frequently interrupting in a teasing, playful way that made the experience feel incredibly natural—almost like overhearing a real conversation rather than listening to a standard audiobook. It added so much personality and charm.

The characters are truly fantastic. I loved Jamie and Henri from the very beginning, and their dynamic is what kept me fully invested. Jamie, in particular, feels like a contemporary character dropped into a magical, alternate-reality world, and I loved watching her adapt. She brings pieces of her own world into this one—using her knowledge to recreate things she misses—which added a clever, grounded touch to an otherwise fantastical setting.

The story itself is a wonderfully strange mix of genres—part mystery, part magic, part portal fantasy—and it all works together seamlessly. If you enjoy audiobooks with strong character chemistry, inventive world-building, and narrators who elevate the material, this series is absolutely worth a listen.

A great addition to the kindle version.

I've read the book a few times but this made the whole exerience come alive.

Great series

Love the world building. My only complaint is that the Female MC has to explain a lot of earth culture to Dr Davenforth, but then he will use idioms or proverbs that are typical in earth culture. Hope they continue with the series on Audible. I’ve read all the books. The narrators do a wonderful job.