Speak Daggers to Her

Bast Mystery #1

by Rosemary Edghill

Working as a freelance graphic designer and reading tarot cards on the side, white witch Karen "Bast" Hightower turns detective to learn why a close friend has died suddenly and must infiltrate New York's occult underground. Reprint.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Fantasy, Witches, Wicca, Cozy, Paranormal

222 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

She was born long enough ago to have seen Classic Trek on its first outing and to remember that she once thought Spock Must Die! to be great literature. As she aged, she put aside her fond dreams of taking over for Batman when he retired, and returned to her first love, writing. Her first SF sale (as Eluki Bes Shahar) was the Hellflower series, in which Damon Runyon meets Doc Smith over at the old Bester place. Between books and short stories in every genre but the Western (several dozen so far), she's held the usual selection of odd and part-time writer jobs, including bookstore clerk, secretary, beta tester for computer software, graphic designer, book illustrator, library clerk, and administrative assistant for a non-profit arts organization. She can truthfully state that she once killed vampires for a living, and that without any knowledge of medicine has illustrated half-a-dozen medical textbooks.


Her last name -- despite the efforts of editors, reviewers, publishing houses, her webmaster, and occasionally her own fingers -- is not spelled 'Edgehill'.


Also writes under the name Eluki Bes Shahar.

Reviews

[Tijana]

Ovo je prvi roman iz trilogije o amaterki-detektivki Bast koja radi kao prelamač (roman je s početka devedesetih, kad se od tog posla još koliko-toliko moglo živeti) a zapravo je posvećena veštica tj. pripada njuejdžerskoj vikanskoj religiji.
Iznenađujuće je koliko je prikaz njene religioznosti i vikanske zajednice u Njujorku devedesetih realističan i ovozemaljski, bez nekog zanošenja ili idealizovanja (čemu verovatno doprinosi pripovedački glas pod ozbiljnim uticajem ciničnog Rejmonda Čendlera). Kao takav je, zapravo, roman mnogo zanimljiviji nego kao krimić jer dosta pravolinijski teži razrešenju a i samo to razrešenje malo podbacuje. Vredi ga čitati ako vas zanimaju ambijent i/ili veštice-prelamačice.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm afraid this has caused me to have a most unproductive weekend. Delightful.

[Watchdogg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Speak Daggers to Her (Bast Mystery #1) by Rosemary Edghill
Published in 1994 by Forge

Thumbnail -
Karen Hightower, a sassy single sorceress from Manhattan, switches from witch to detective to scour the cults and covens of the occult netherworld in search of a friend's killer.

My thoughts -
This mystery has been on my shelves for ages and since one of my goals is to finally get around to books that have been lingering for too long, I decided to give it a go. It was certainly not what I was expecting. What was I expecting? I anticipated a death investigation by police assisted by the neo-pagan community using their "special" talents. Not my usual mystery genre but I wanted to be open-minded.

What I uncovered was an unattended death investigation that gained no police traction because the autopsy didn't reveal a crime had been committed. However, the Wiccan main character, "Bast", a friend of the deceased discovers clues that lead her to believe that black magic played a strong hand in her friend, Miriam's death and she undertakes her own investigation which could also lead to her own harm or demise by the same forces that befell Miriam.

This mystery takes us deep into the neo-pagan community in New York City during the 1990's when there was such a blurring of lines among the New Agers, the Wiccans, the Gaians and the Ceremonial Witches, among others. The author has written a very clever story but I'm afraid it totally missed the mark related to my expectations. Thus, although original and well 'crafted', I can only give it two stars - meaning near good - less than average as denoted in my rating system.

[Jessie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rosemary Edghill, aka Eluki bes Shahar, is one of my favorite authors. I haven't read any of her historical romances but The Warslayer and the Bell, Book, and Murder: The Bast Mysteries are on my "to read over and over" list.

Speak Daggers to Her is the first Bast mystery, written and set in the mid-1990's. It features reluctant sleuth and modern day witch (although she dislikes the term) Karen Hightower, known in the Craft as Bast. Edghill's heroine views the modern Wiccan movement pragmatically and there is no hint of the sentimentality or religious fervour that mars other books in this genre. Bast's no nonsense approach to her spirituality makes the pyschological terror very real and all the more terrifying for its lack of "supernatural" explaination.

Although a murder mystery on the surface, it is also the story of Bast's spiritual reawakening, presenting her with the choice to continue her journey or to stay safely in the comfort zone.

[Carian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh, it was ok. The main character wasn't really that likable and there wasn't a lot of sleuthing.

[Dee Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a thrift store find and an unexpected delight. I thought I might find something campy and silly, but no: this works as a taut, exciting mystery, and also as a plausible, grounded portrait of 90s-era neopagans and New Yorkers (frankly, it was fascinating to revisit a time where people thought of NYC as a big smelly pile of trash and "flyover state" apparently meant "fancy, not like here in Manhattan").

The "setting" of the neopagan community is really interesting. This is a book about the structures of a community and how those structures function - or don't - in a moment of crisis. I've never been a Wiccan or pagan but I felt like I recognized the shapes of my own communities in the bickering factions, loveable members, and sometimes inadequate leaders of of Edghill's pagan New York.

I'm now 2 for 2 in the last two books I picked up used, knowing nothing about them, having interesting queer elements. Several main characters are explicitly, visibly queer, and while Bast doesn't talk much about her sexual identity and only a little about any feelings of attraction, there are a few casual moments where it's pretty clear she's not exactly straight.

I think it would be reasonable for someone reading the description of this book to ask, "Is this urban fantasy?" And my answer to that personally is a strong feeling that no, it very much is not, because it's not a fantasy. It's about magic as practiced in the real world by Wiccans, pagans, and other real magical traditions. It definitely feels very real to Bast, most of the time, but she has to grapple herself with what it means to believe in magic in a world filled with smelly subways and work deadlines as well as mystic circles and mysterious death.

[Todd R · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Bast mysteries are some of my favorite books, they get re-read ever few years, and I've read this one countless times. I own the anthology that has all 3 in one volume, but I recently found 'Speak Daggers to Her' at a (semi)local used book store. I originally had the first 2 when they were printed, and was glad to find the first on it's own again - Rosemary is an author I always look for at any bookstore I happen to find myself.

Anyway, the pacing in this book is perfect, the character is down to earth, she's pragmatic and interesting. The witch stuff is real here, its a moral tale that questions magick and it's ethics, community and friendship are explored honestly. Not only a good mystery, but a good tale of a Wiccan/Pagan living her faith and practicing as best she can.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up largely as a completist - I loved Rosemary Edghill when I was younger, and I could never find these books until now.

I think I would have adored this when I was in college. Unfortunately, by now I'm enough removed from the neopagan lifestyle that I'm not impressed with the mysterious aphorisms of Wicca 101, and all I can see is the self-importance and surprising homophobia.

Still, the prose itself is amazing, and the grit and mood of the story is incredibly well-crafted. I don't know if I'll move on to read the rest of the trilogy, but I'm glad for the sake of 19-year-old me that I did finally find this.

[ribbonknight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written, a book that makes magic feel real, lived-in, and attractive. There’s something trustworthy about Bast, how she opens shades and cleans away bad spirits in the home of the dead.

It felt so strange reading this and thinking almost immediately: OH. This is what so many urban fantasies are trying so hard to emulate. But, her writing is not a thing I’ve seen paralleled within the genre.

I can’t wait to read the rest of the trilogy and have a feeling it’s something I’ll come back to.

[Dayanara Ryelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellently entertaining. A few things I didn't understand (despite being part of Bast's world), but mostly readable and worth continuing with the series.

The only thing I hated (and this should really be illegal in the world of writing) was the dead cat. Seriously, if I was able to smack every author that put a tortured and/or murdered cat in their books, my hand would hurt long before I was done!

[Nina · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of an exploration of the Wiccan subculture of 90s New York than a focus on sleuthing, but there is a murder and a creepy cult, so it was ok.

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this: a mystery set within the Wiccan/Neopagan community of New York City in the 90s. I am excited to read the rest of the Series.

[Peggi Warner-Lalonde]

An interesting start to the series.

[Spuddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

#1 in the Bast mystery series, featuring Karen Hightower, a Wiccan living in New York whose magical name is Bast. When Miriam, a friend from the Pagan Community is found by her lover dead at home with no apparent injuries, the lover panics because of some run-ins with the law and calls Bast. A quick perusal of Miriam and her home reveals that she had gotten involved with some questionable practitioners--she's wearing a chicken claw necklace and Bast finds a strange, small book that looks similar to a Catholic missal, but it's written with blood.

Things get even stranger when Bast checks her answering machine messages later in the day and finds one from Miriam asking for her help. If not for that, Bast might've been willing to let it slide. The police aren't interested in Miriam's death, her sister in the midwest is estranged from her, and how would you convict someone of causing death magically anyway? For that's what Bast believes has happens and sets out to prove it for her own (and Miriam's) peace. Her searches eventually lead her to Ruslan, who heads a group practicing a form of Russian shamanism that involve drugs, submission and black magic. The few people she tells within her own coven and circle of friends at first don't believe her and then are unwilling to help bring justice for Miriam's death. Bast examines her own beliefs and practices as she decides how she will proceed.

I really enjoyed this book, first of all because it's realistic (although, written in the mid-90's, a bit dated) and doesn't treat the idea of Witches and Pagans as a "para"normal thing, but as a real system of beliefs and practices--which it is. I like Bast, I liked her grasp on the whole Pagan Community and I loved the sense of place the author imparted--this is New York, yes, but New York seen from a Pagan point of view. Unfortunately there are only three in this series...fortunately, I have the other two and am looking forward to them!

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rosemary Edghill gets in a lot of work these days co-writing things with Mercedes Lackey, but in the 90's, she did three books in a mystery series featuring a neopagan named Bast in New York. They--or at least, the first two, the only ones I ever got around to reading before--are short but fairly gritty little books. They're also an interesting little window into the neopagan and Dianic community, seen through the eyes of Bast, a.k.a. Karen Hightower.

Speak Daggers to Her starts off with Bast getting the word that an acquaintance of hers has been found dead in her apartment. As she reports the crime, Bast learns that the dead girl had become involved in a coven with far darker intentions than the ones with which she herself is familiar. And when she discovers that Miriam had left her an urgent message on her answering machine before her death, asking her for help, she realizes that that unsavory coven may have brought about Miriam's murder. Bast must risk the censure of her notoriously tolerant Wiccan community, the wrath of the legal authorities, and the vengeance of Miriam's former group as she investigates what truly happened.

As this is a book heavily featuring neopaganism and Wiccan traditions, it arguably skirts the edges of the paranormal mystery realm. Yet nothing in the book is truly paranormal. If anything our protagonist Bast is more academic than anything else, which shows up a lot in Edghill's strewing of the narrative with older literary quotes as well as highly unusual word choices (like 'exophthalmic', 'hele', and 'plosives'). The tension of the crime against Miriam, though, is very real. Overall it's a tight and effective read, albeit slightly dated for mention of BBSes in a pre-Internet time frame. Three and a half stars.

[Dawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This had potential and failed miserably. The protagonist, who seemed intelligent at first, turned out to be one of those too stupid to survive the story even though she does. Too many decisions Bast made should've gotten her dead. Even the character said as much near the end of the story.

The mystery wasn't a surprise as we're given the killer fairly early on and the only "surprise" is how they are brought to justice. The magick in it feels contrived, like the author read a little on a few "celebrities" and built her story around that. The circumstances that draw her into the so-called mystery are also highly unbelievable. I think the thing that bothered me the most was how horribly Bast talked about everyone she supposedly considered her friends. She came across as petty, high-handed, and self-absorbed which should be impossible for someone so stupid, but there you have it.

There are two more books in the series I have no intention of finishing. I can easily find Pagan/Wiccan authors that respect their Craft and know how to tell a realistic story with a likable (and intelligent) protagonist. For starters, Shirley Damsgaard's Abby and Ophelia Mysteries.

p.s. On a side note I just discovered when looking up what else Edghill had written that she also wrote with Marion Zimmer Bradley. That makes the magick in her book even more suspect when I've heard exactly what kind of a person MZB truly was.

[Julie H. Ernstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first title in a three-part series that heavily features Wicca and wider late 20th century pagan culture in and around New York City. In addition to the cultural and historical insights into neo-paganism, the book is respectful and is top quality mystery writing. The main character is irreverent, mouthy, ironic, and has tremendous capacity for self-reflection--I really dig her. For mystery or paranormal fans, these three books are really good. I plan to reread them this summer as it's been well over a decade since I originally read them.

[Rosey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was super excited to read this book and was disappointed. It goes, then falters, then goes, then falters. I really liked this plot but Edghill just goes on and on and on and on about Wicca. I don't care about religion in books but I hate when I feel like they get preachy. About any religion. That aside it was interesting to read about. I will keep reading just because I loved Bast and this series is only a trilogy. I'm hoping the next books won't have so much preach.


http://www.roseysreview.com/2010/12/b...

[Diana Sandberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oooo. I really enjoyed this; a mystery set in the Wiccan/Neopagan world of 90's New York. Main character is x-gen smart and ironic, but still very likeable :>). Her musings about her lifestyle and spiritual condition are interesting and integral to the story; in (only!) this it reminds me of Irene Allen's Quaker stories.

[Oriethyia Crone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ms. Edghill knows whereof she writes. This is a mystery set in New York City in the 90s. Her protagonist, Bast, is a Priestess of the Goddess who can parse sects and ethics and herbs and athames and keep her wits about her. In this excellent book, she needs to do just that.

Does Evil exist? If it shook your hand, what would you do?

[ette · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wasn't loving it. I didn't think it had enough character development, and I thought the ending was very disappointing.

[JL Mohnkern · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok

[Drianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Neopagan/Wiccan-themed mystery set in NYC in the mid 90s. Interesting for the theme, but *painfully* earnest, and a pretty thin-to-non-existent mystery.

[Arlene Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Someone who truly understands Wicca and the community created this articulate mystery. Wish there had been more.

[Pat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Witch is the main character.
She is an editor/graphic designer in NYC.
OK.

[Helen Bassett · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good book. The story was good and Bast was great. The discussion of ethics and morality was interesting. Very glad I read it.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Over all, it was fine, but it focussed a little too heavily on descriptions of wicca for my taste.

[Helen Fleischer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting blend of the strange and the familiar and a well-told tale.