The case of the spellbound child by Mercedes Lackey

The case of the spellbound child is the latest book in the Elemental Masters series, and while you can read it as a standalone novel you will get the best out of it by reading the books in the series that also feature Nan and Sarah.  This review contains ***SPOILERS*** for the rest of the series, so I highly recommend that you read these books in the series first: The Wizard of London, Home from the sea, A study in sable, A scandal in Battersea, and The bartered brides.

Nan Killian and Sarah Lyon-White have proven themselves to be shrewd and tenacious investigators for their patron Lord Alderscroft, combining their psychic and medium talents with good old fashioned detective skills learnt through their association with Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson.  Their reputation of being skilled investigators has spread beyond their own social circle, and with the general public believing that the great Sherlock Holmes is dead, people are coming to Watson to solve their cases.  

Their association with Holmes leads them to Dartmoor, where a mother and father are desperate to find their missing children.  The children were sent out onto the moor to forage for food after they spilled the limited food the family had to share for dinner, but they never returned.  Searching for the children in the close knit communities of Dartmoor will be a challenge, because not only is magic involved but also because everyone knows one another and looks out for their neighbours.  As the team from London tries to untangle the mystery of what has happened to the children, they don't realise that they are in a race against time because the children are in danger, and their very lives are at stake.

The case of the spellbound child was a much anticipated treat after I started reading the series in December and read from start to finish in publication order - and it was much easier reading with the rest of the series so fresh in my mind.  This is another book in the series that features Sherlock Holmes and John and Mary Watson, and it is interesting how the series has split into two very distinct styles - the ones that are very much fractured fairytales with elementals and elemental magic as the focus, and these books in the series which are more about mysteries and untangling the mysteries with ghosts and mind reading as the main skills.  

The relationships between Nan and Sarah, their ward Suki, and their friends is interesting, but I can't help but think about the original books in the series a little wistfully as they were closer to traditional fairytales and just seemed to be about Lackey's imaghination and her world rather than borrowing from the world of Sherlock Holmes.  I have to say this was also another book where it was a struggle at times to figure out what was being said at times because of the 'accents' the people were speaking in and how they were written - this has bugged me with other series but seemed worse in this one.  A good addition to the series, especially after having read them all in the weeks leading up to reading it, but I hope we get a few more of the other half of the series again soon.

If you like this book then try:

• The Fire rose by Mercedes Lackey (not officially part of the series)
• The serpent's shadow by Mercedes Lackey
• The gates of sleep by Mercedes Lackey
• Phoenix and ashes by Mercedes Lackey
• The wizard of London by Mercedes Lackey
• Reserved for the cat by Mercedes Lackey
• Unnatural issue by Mercedes Lackey
• Home from the sea by Mercedes Lackey
• Steadfast by Mercedes Lackey
• Blood red by Mercedes Lackey
• From a high tower by Mercedes Lackey
• A study in sable by Mercedes Lackey
• A scandal in Battersea by Mercedes Lackey
• The bartered brides by Mercedes Lackey

Reviewed by Brilla