The Dead Letter Delivery

Glass Library #4

by C.J. Archer

The discovery of long-lost mail delivers a marriage proposal, a missing person, and a magical mystery.

A road trip with Gabe and her friends leads Sylvia to discover more about her mother’s veiled past yet throws up several questions, too. The stack of unopened letters addressed to her family will hopefully provide answers. As she delves into the contents, a startling revelation the letters allude to a clandestine union between two magician families, hinting at the elusive identity of Sylvia’s father.

Full of hope, she embarks on a quest to find the author of the letters, only to discover an artless youth who vanished decades ago, a dead man with the wrong name, and a hospital for former soldiers that connects them. The further Sylvia and Gabe delve into these mysteries, the more lies they expose, including long-buried secrets that certain individuals will stop at nothing to protect.

When danger strikes, Sylvia wonders if finding answers is worth the risk.

Genres: Fantasy, Mystery, Audiobook, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Romance, Magic

264 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 5, 2024

About the author

C.J. Archer is the USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of historical mystery and historical fantasy novels including the GLASS AND STEELE series, the CLEOPATRA FOX MYSTERIES, the MINISTRY OF CURIOSITIES and THE GLASS LIBRARY series.

She has loved history and books for as long as she can remember and feels fortunate that she found a way to combine the two. She has at various times worked as a librarian, IT support person and technical writer but in her heart has always been a fiction writer. She lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her husband, 2 children and Coco the black and white cat.

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Reviews

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sadly, this is my first less than stellar review of this series. Makes me long for India and Matt to retire to England. Actually, I keep hoping for a reunion. I think that would be so much fun. As for this one, while it tackled important social topics, as usual, it was simply less fun than the others.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Didn’t love the hospital stuff as much but that’s just personal preference. Loved Sylvia’s continued discovery of her magic and journey to find out about her parents. Love the cast of characters, as usual.

[Vesna Farrar · Rating 4 out of 5]

As her other series… simple and lighthearted.

Murderous doctor (lighthearted see?!) with a goody troup of post world war young londoners and a fmc who can NOT quit crushing on a “dashing” man.

It sadly doesn’t answer the main questions about the protagonist’s family lineage (we are on the 3rd book of her actually being curious). This one has more interactions that are funny and enjoyable. Less descriptive clothing thankfully.

Overall, not sure I’d read this on paper but audiobook is really enjoyable. And I’ll say it again… I love Marion Hussey’s voice!

[Wendy Darling · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars 4 books in, this is still incredibly light on magic—and what magic is fleetingly present seems mostly useless.

Apparently no one associated with this series cares about grammar, either. I think I’m done.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

THIS IS AN (ACCIDENTAL) KISSING BOOK!!! Ugh, I like these dummies so much. Excited for Sylvia that she's gradually finding out more of her heritage even if it's not all good.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marching on!

I am still quite enjoying these books and my only few laments are that they are never long enough, out quickly enough between books (even if they do come out fairly quickly for the work involved), and my broken record complaint with books these days again that unfortunately along with the quick turnaround there tends to come ample editing errors.

I do also get a little tired of the almost ridiculous amount of occasions where Sylvia acts like an absolute brick wall regarding Gabe, even though she's a miraculously excellent detective.

Otherwise, I have very little to complain about such fun adventures this whole crew gets themselves into. I look forward to more discoveries about Sylvia's parentage and the eventual coming to terms with romantic interests in the next book.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Home sick and read it in a day.

CJ Archer has such a lovely way of making you fall in love with these characters. I loved the Glass and Steele series and I knew I’d love this one too.

Ummmm so:

1. OMG - now we know who Sylvia’s mom is….. won’t post the spoiler
2. Could Daisy and Alex just get together - the the tension is killing me!
3. I need to know ASAP what kind of magician Sylvia is…. She has to have several affinities I’m sure of it. Can she project her thoughts?


Hurry, I can’t wait till September!

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

After jumping back to the original series and then reading this one, I actually fell back into the storyline easily. However, I thought this book felt way too short, like nothing truly pushed the storyline further. It just felt like filler, which is a bummer honestly...

[Kimberley Stafford · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Dead Letter Delivery continues the story of Sylvia and her search for her father and her magic. It’s a good addition to the series, which propels the various storylines forward. Marian Hussey’s narration is excellent as always and makes the book better.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love that this book sucks me in and adds new clues so I have to wait for the next book!! ❤️

[Paulette · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Glass Library series is magical historical fiction set in 1920. It's after the Great War and before the Depression. The rare magicians have been accepted into society and their creations are greatly valued. Most magicians only know one or two spells and have magic in only one area. So, for example, one person might be an ink magician and one might be a graphite magician. Our heroine spent her childhood with her mother and brother, running from some unspecified threat. After her mother died, Sylvia realizes she knows nothing about her family and so embarks on a quest to find out who she is. This is the fourth book in that quest. I'm enjoying this series. I like the magic limitations, the group of people involved in Sylvia's life, Professor Nash and Sylvia's job at the Glass Library, the very cool cars and the mystery at the center of each novel. Very readable and fun.

[Haley]

This had the potential to be my favorite of the series so far… While I am glad the doctor got his comeuppance to an extent, and I appreciate the author touching on the theme of asylums during this period, I honestly thought Thurlow was going to turn out to be Robin Reed.

Besides that, this series is fun and lighthearted, and I’ve been thoroughly enjoying it!

[Katie Utterly Unashamed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still enjoying this series. On to the last one that is published so far.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series and I love how frequently they're published! Romance is slow, like all of the Archer series I've read. Not a bad thing, but starting to drag. The only thing that bothered me in this book and just in case I'm going to put a spoiler warning when Sylvia and Daisy are with Petra and Sylvia is showing them her paper spell, the paper burns Daisy. So she felt the magic. I can't tell if this was an editing issue or a clue? Or if I missed something. With the information we have now she shouldn't be able to feel magic, right? Besides that, I'm anxiously awaiting the next book!

[Dawn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Muddled through. Need to figure out a way to remind myself why I didn’t like the previous book and had decided not to continue this series. One big reason is the over done dragging out of the romantic relationship between the two main characters. Another is the world view that promotes acceptance of immorality as “normal”.

[Carlye Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one left me wanting. Nothing really progressed in the storyline and no real development with the characters.

[Kathy Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fourth book in the Glass Library continues threads begun in earlier books. Sylvia is still on a quest to find out more about her mysterious mother and the magical gift for paper that she has discovered in herself.

A road trip with Gabe and her friends leads her to discover who her mother was but not what she did in the years before she died. A cache of dead letters reveals a possible suitor for her mother who could have potentially been her father.

Most of the story is spent trying to track down this mysterious suitor which leads to stolen identities and a shady doctor running a hospital which is now trying to cure shell-shocked World War I victimes but which had earlier been a site for the artless of magical families who wanted to see if their magic could be activated by medical treatment.

Sylvia learns to use a paper spell which strengthens paper and proves (mostly to herself) that she is an actual paper magician. However, questions about who her father was are still left unresolved.

Also unresolved is her growing relationship with Gabe.

This was an engaging episode in the series even with the slowest of slow-burn romances. I like the worldbuilding and the setting of an England in an alternate 1920 which is mostly like our own but with the addition of magic.

[Isa (Pages Full of Stars) · Rating 4 out of 5]

After having mixed feelings about book 3 in the series, I can say that I enjoyed this one more. It still stands true that I wish we had more progress of the certain relationships between our characters, but the mystery was intriguing, we found out more about Sylvia's past and I highly enjoyed all of the humorous parts.

I do really wonder how the next books are going to be, because I've read that this series will end with book 6 and it seems like there's still so many unanswered questions and so much to develop. But I'm hopeful and book 5 is supposed to be published this year, so I'll be waiting for the audiobook :)

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved! As I mentioned before, I was have issues with my Kobo, so I ended up only being able to find large print book from the Library.

You know how only a couple of reviews ago, I wrote about how I can't stand books that are essentially romance novels. Well this series is not like this. This is book 4 and they are still not together. Which for me, is great!

It means that the book has been able to look back on Sylvia, and actually really solve the "whodunnit", but also go further into Sylvia's past. Who was her father?! Its keeps going, and keeps on being enjoyable.

Although some may complain about there not being enough magic, I think that's really great. Who actually finds out they have magic, and can suddenly do every single spell from the beginning of time? I love that its taking time to discover magic, instead "boom, boom" book/series done. The only real problem I have with the series, is that the novel is always over far to quickly!

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m going to keep reading these because I want to know the ending, but I wish she’d answer more of the core mysteries in each book. It feels like it’s dragging on too long. I like the characters and each of the individual book mysteries but they need to be trimmed, there is too much unnecessary information and scenes that don’t add anything to the plot.

[Jessica Nybeck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still loving this series! The mystery unfolds at just the right pace, with each new clue pulling you deeper into the story. The characters continue to grow in ways that feel real and rewarding. With a perfect blend of magic, romance, and mystery, the author delivers another fun and satisfying read. Can’t wait for the next one!

[Carissa Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series. The precious romantic intrigue, the two generations of characters I've "known" for so many books, the magical realism and mystery - it's just *chefs kiss* for an enjoyable read that flies by.

[Victoria Gilbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still enjoying this ‘cosy’ series. Has a little bit of bite though. Great humour, great characters and enjoyable mysteries in each book. Narrator is excellent

[Riley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love that Olive is slowly learning who she is and where she comes from. The loose ends from the Glass and Steele series are getting tied up!

The sexual tension between Gabe and Olive is killing me!!! I can’t wait until the next book.

[Lindap · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars

***Libby Audio***

MC's: Sylvia & Gabe

I really enjoyed this story....kept me wanting to go to the next chapter. Will say I'm ready for Sylvia and Gabe to move forward in their relationship. Also...let's get moving on finding her dad...which may give the reason why her mom was constantly moving them.

[Mary J Starry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun reads!!

[Natasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

DUDE IF THEY DON'T KISS IN THE NEXT ONE I'M GOING TO LOSE IT

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew it!!!!

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful, easy to read series

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how wholesome this book (series) is. in an age of so much smut and spice it is a relief to read something where the people aren't throwing themselves at each other and courtship occurs at a slower, sweeter pace. The mystery of this one was just as intriguing as the last books. I enjoyed it immensely, not being able to determine the culprit straight away. the characters are so wholesome. Hold that thought while I go have some tea and biscuits.