Magic & Mystery

by Travis Baldree (Author, Narrator), Sarah Beth Durst, Robert Jackson Bennett

Fantasy Authors Turn to Crime

Whodunit? The answer is absolutely spellbinding. In this genre-blending collection of short stories, seven award-winning and bestselling fantasy authors work their signature magic on the puzzle-box plot. Whether unfolding in realities far-flung or deceptively familiar, these mysteries leave an irresistible trail of clues. Curated by John Joseph Adams, New York Times bestselling anthologist.

Miss Gentle and the Case of the Very Flat Monk by Travis Baldree
A peculiar detective takes on a monastic murder mystery in a darkly funny fantasy short story by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Legends and Lattes series.

The Wednesday Witches Book Club by Sarah Beth Durst
A book-loving witch finds magic and mystery in a whimsical short story about the transformative power of friendship and community by the New York Times bestselling author of The Spellshop.

The Lion’s Tusk by Robert Jackson Bennett
An eccentric detective turns to the fantastical to solve a cold case in a short story by the Hugo Award-winning author of The Tainted Cup.

A Labyrinth of Honeybees by Heather Fawcett
New rulers meddle with the whims of the old gods in a lush and twisty short story of devotion, intrigue, and murder by the New York Times bestselling author of the Emily Wilde series.

The Wizard Who Kept Himself Suspicious by Scott Lynch
When egos clash during an assemblage of wizards, grandstanding displays of magic become a matter of murder in a witty and suspenseful short story by a New York Times bestselling author.

Battle of the Round House by Tananarive Due
This spellbinding short story from the award-winning author of The Reformatory reimagines the Wild West through the eyes of a young Black girl with a gift.

The Cairndale Orphan by J. M. Miro
A world-weary detective and a mysterious young boy hunt an unspeakable terror in a haunting short story by the internationally bestselling author of Ordinary Monsters.

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Audiobook, Mystery, Magic, Cozy Fantasy

9 pages, Audiobook

Published July 28, 2026

About the author

#1 New York Times Bestselling Author of Legends & Lattes, Bookshops & Bonedust, and Brigands & Breadknives. Audie-winning. Audiobook narrator. Erstwhile game developer. Made Fate, Torchlight & Rebel Galaxy.

Reviews

[MikaReadsFantasy]

Magic & Mystery by John Joseph Adams and various authors is a delightful collection of fantasy mysteries that proves there are few things better than combining magic with a good old-fashioned whodunit.

Each story takes a different approach to the mystery genre, from eccentric detectives and bickering wizards to witches, ghosts, and gods. The collection is wonderfully varied, although some stories worked much better for me than others.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Miss Gentle and the Case of the Very Flat Monk by Travis Baldree
A wonderfully strange detective investigates a murder at a monastery. Miss Gentle is such a unique protagonist, and I really enjoyed the setting, humor, and overall story. I would happily read more adventures featuring this character!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Wednesday Witches Book Club by Sarah Beth Durst
A witch, a book club, a mystery, and cats. Honestly, what more could you want? I loved the lighthearted setup and the focus on books, friendship, and community. The mystery genuinely had me curious about what was going on.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Lion’s Tusk by Robert Jackson Bennett
Anna gets involved in another wonderfully eccentric mystery, this time set around a wedding. I loved the storytelling, the writing, and the unusual setting. Easily one of my favorites in the collection.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ A Labyrinth of Honeybees by Heather Fawcett
A lush tale of new rulers, old gods, devotion, intrigue, and murder. I really liked the setting and the underlying idea, but the way the story was told didn’t quite work for me.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Wizard Who Kept Himself Suspicious by Scott Lynch
This was SO much fun. A gathering of wizards quickly turns into a murder mystery, with plenty of magical showing off and spectacular bickering. I couldn’t stop smiling while listening to this one, and the mystery itself was great too!

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Battle of the Round House by Tananarive Due
A young Black girl with a supernatural gift faces danger in a magical reimagining of the Wild West. This felt more like magical realism than fantasy to me, and the constant sense of looming doom made it quite an intense read. It was exciting, but also exhausting, and I struggled to see how the story fit the mystery theme of the anthology.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Cairndale Orphan by J. M. Miro
A weary detective and a mysterious boy investigate a terrifying supernatural threat in a wonderfully atmospheric wintery London filled with ghosts. The setting and writing reminded me of one of my favorite series, and I was completely hooked by the unique characters and eerie atmosphere. I’ll definitely be checking out more from this author!

Overall, Magic & Mystery was a great collection, with several stories that I absolutely loved. So check it out if you like the mix of fantasy and mystery!

[Celeste]

Amazon’s Magic & Mystery Collection is a series of seven short stories from renowned fantasy authors. In these stories, our authors combine their trademark fantastical writing with a puzzle box of a mystery to be solved. Some were more successful in my personal opinion than others, with three that really stood out to me: The Wednesday Witches Book Club by Sarah Beth Durst, The Wizard Who Kept Himself Suspicious by Scott Lynch, and Battle of the Round House by Tananarive Due.

Below are quick thoughts and ratings for each of the seven stories:

Miss Gentle and the Case of the Very Flat Monk by Travis Baldtree - 3.5 stars

This story brought to mind The Name of the Rose, but make it wacky. There is a little mystery to be solved, one that—combined with the setting—was largely responsible for my recollection of Than Name of the Rose. But the solution was almost as outlandish as the detective: Miss Gentle, who seems to be an old woman in a suit of armor, adorned with a necklace of holy relics. She was completely off the wall. I was just as baffled by her as the abbot.

The Wednesday Witches Book Club by Sarah Beth Durst - 5 stars

What an absolutely delightful story. Imagine a world where reading a book that means something to you could end up triggering your magic. That book—be it A Wrinkle in Time, Where the Wild Things Are, Emma, Anne of Green Gables, or any other beloved novel—then becomes your grimoire, with new spells appearing within it inspired by other books you encounter. Which makes book clubs vital to witches. When Ashley attends a new book club in a new town, only to see that book club imploding as its members keep randomly turning into cats, she is determined to solve the mystery and save the book club. I was charmed from start to finish. If you’re at all bookish, this story is for you.

The Lion’s Tusk by Robert Jackson Bennett - 4 stars

A short-story entry into the Shadow of the Leviathan series. The mystery to be solved revolves around a couple of gruesome deaths that immediately brought the horrific death at the beginning of The Tainted Cup back to mind. This case was darkly fascinating and honestly kind of sad with the motivations so many had to perpetrate the crime. Power and wealth almost always seem to be corrupting agents, don’t they?

A Labyrinth of Honeybees by Heather Fawcett - 3.5 stars

This is a world where ghosts are somewhat corporeal, where one set of gods is replacing another. The priests and priestesses of the former gods must be dealt with, of course. Permanently. Only servants of the old gods can see the ghosts, and those ghosts only follow their murderers. Murder is pretty rampant in this world, but so is beauty. I think too large a percent of the story was spent on the worldbuilding which, while lovely, left very little room for story. It also felt like a pretty on-the-nose critique of religion, of Christianity and paganism alike. While it wasn’t a bad story at all, I just kind of found it forgettable.

The Wizard Who Kept Himself Suspicious by Scott Lynch - 5 stars

Every thirteen years, a conclave of nine wizards assembles on a vanishing beach to share offerings with their magical colleagues. And what a wacky, amusing cast of characters they are. One such wizard, Gyrax, is obsessed with discovering once and for all if Shiverick, our perspective wizard, is even a wizard at all. Shiverick has never once cast a spell in view of any of the other wizards, and Gyrax has finally had enough of his dodging the issue. Things go completely bonkers from there. The writing was delightful, and had me laughing out loud more than once. I had forgotten how wonderfully clever Lynch can be with his dialogue, and the rediscovery was a joy.

Battle of the Round House by Tananarive Due - 4.5 stars

The longest story in the collection, as well as the most serious. It’s also the only story featuring a real historical figure, even if that figure looms as large as an American tall tale: “Wild Bill” Hickok. In 1871, we are follow Lucy Freeman, the gifted eldest child of a colored family on the run from a wrongful bounty placed on her father’s head. They find refuge at Zipporah Ranch—a hidden, thriving settlement of Black women and children whose men are gone on their own cattle run. It is at Zipporah, this beautiful, secret paradise, that the magic comes in. Hot on the Freeman’s trail, bounty hunters are now a looming threat to all who call Zipporah home. The setting in both time and place was vibrant and captivating. Of all the stories in this collection, this is the one that felt most fleshed out, and most life a novel in miniature.

The Cairndale Orphan by J.M. Miro - 2.5 stars

This story is set in the same world as Miro’s Talents trilogy, which I’ve yet to read. And that lack of exposure is likely why this was my least favorite story in the collection. While I appreciated the worldbuilding and character work, the mystery was lost and muddy beneath them. If you’re a fan of the Talents trilogy, you will likely enjoy this story. It simply didn’t have enough plot to stand well on its own.

[Kevin]

Magic & Mystery is a collection of short stories blending fantasy and mystery. I’ve actually already previously read books by 6 out of the 7 featured fantasy authors (except Tananarive Due) so I was interested in checking it out.

Miss Gentle and the Case of the Very Flat Monk by Travis Baldree is a largely unremarkable mystery about the death of an unpopular brother in a monestary and the peculiar armored investigator called by the abbot to investigate that had a more interesting investigator than the case itself. 3.5⭐️

The Wednesday Witches Book Club by Sarah Beth Durst is a contemporary cozy fantasy about a book club/coven of witches who are somehow turning into cats with an interesting take on witches and books, but I was not a fan of the characterizations unfortunately. 3.5⭐️

The Lion’s Tusk by Robert Jackson Bennett is a short story set in his murder mystery fantasy series Shadow of the Leviathan in which Ana recounts to Din a ancient murders of two noble newlyweds that she has solved that has a distinct voice, a macabre crime, and a clever mystery. 5⭐️

A Labyrinth of Honeybees by Heather Fawcett is a really interesting fantasy about a priestess and a royal inquisitor investigating the deaths of the king’s tax collectors that feels like a set-up to a bigger story that I’d be interested in reading. 4.5⭐️

The Wizard Who Kept Himself Suspicious by Scott Lynch is a clever sort-of mystery set during a wizard’s conclave involving a wizard who may or may not have magic and a murder that I found to be more style than substance and took too long to get to the point. 3⭐️

Battle of the Round House by Tananarive Due is a genuinely harrowing western about a black family of freed slaves fleeing to a frontier homestead as they are pursued by bandits that does not really fit the theme much with little magic and mystery. 4⭐️

The Cairndale Orphan by JM Miro is a historical horror fantasy set in his Talents trilogy following a grieving Scotland Yard detective and a child with a talent who doight his help to find a dark creature that is dark, atmospheric, and intriguing. 4.5⭐️

[Eric]

I've read all seven stories from this collection, and have some thoughts on each story, as well as some thoughts on the collection overall. The stories are:

'Miss Gentle and the Case of the Very Flat Monk,' by Travis Baldree

This short story felt more young adult, or even middle grade, than it did as one for adults. But, viewed through that lens, it was a charming little modern fairy tale. I did love the character of Miss Gentle, and the explanation of why she wanted the treasures she was after, as her form of payment for solving the mystery. As for the mystery, it was not particularly interesting, although it wasn't really meant to be the reader's focus — which was more focused on the mystery of Miss Gentle herself.

'The Wednesday Witches Book Club,' by Sarah Beth Durst

The premise here — some people read a book and it activates latent witchcraft powers in them, and becomes their grimoire — is super interesting, and the story around it was as fun as it was cute. I did have a minor issue with where it was placed in the Magic & Mystery collection by the editor, however: After the cat was revealed as the murderer in the first story, I was primed to (correctly) suspect the cat in this second story. I actually wondered at this point if this was going to be an entire collection of short stories featuring feline culprits..

In the acknowledgements after the story, Sarah Beth Durst noted that everyone has "that book," the one "you carry in your heart always." I immediately thought of David Eddings' The Belgariad, the book mostly responsible for my love of fantasy, which of course, immediately made me a bit ashamed, because of the author's sordid personal history. In the next paragraph, Durst thanked the authors that shaped who she is — and listed David Eddings among them. And it was honestly a nice reminder that, while he may have been a rubbish person, his actions can't negate the positive impact his stories had on readers. Of course, this line of thinking is helped by the fact that he is very dead, and his literary estate benefits Reed College instead of any unsavory causes. I struggle more with still living authors, including Neil Gaiman, Orson Scott Card, and JK Rowling, among others (why are so many wonderfully creative people also such terrible humans?).

'The Lion's Tusk,' by Robert Jackson Bennett

The Ana and Din Mysteries are my current favorite fantasy series, so I was delightfully surprised to see an unexpected short story featuring them release. And while Ana and Din only briefly appear as the narrator and audience in the recanting of a centuries-old unsolved mystery — which Ana, naturally, has figured out — that mystery was still a captivating story. Framing it as a tale told to Din by Ana over a long carriage ride only added to the story's charm, as you could so clearly hear her voice in the telling of it. The added background on the historical Empire was also a nice detail for fans of the series.

'A Labyrinth of Honeybees,' by Heather Fawcett

This story read like an old folklore tale, where people's fates were intertwined with the gods, who maintained a worldly presence and regularly interfered in their lives. Like the word labyrinth implies in the title, this story was rather twisty and had a few solid surprises in it for its length. I came away quite impressed by it, and it's make me strongly consider reading other works by Heather Fawcett, who I was not familiar with beforehand.

'The Wizard Who Kept Himself Suspicious,' by Scott Lynch

I absolutely loved the artfully absurdist tone of this story. The entire conceit of a wizard called Shiverick attending a wizarding convention, but then refusing to perform any magic to prove he's a wizard to the other wizards in attendance because he basically thinks it's lazy and gauche — or because he's not actually a wizard — is just too good. The mystery around it, which Shiverick solves in a manner that would make Holmes or Poirot prod, was also quite well executed.

'Battle of the Round House,' by Tananarive Due

While I enjoyed all of the stories in this collection, this was the only one that hit me on a deeper level. The rest entertained me to varying degrees, but this one brought tears to my eyes. The author's ability to weave magical elements with historical aspects of America's late nineteenth century period was deftly crafted, and created a captivating tale that was harrowing to read, as I genuinely feared for the safety of fictional protagonist Lucy Freeman's family as they fled the racist mob of bounty hunters. The framing of the story as an interview many decades later was also a nice literary touch.

'The Cairndale Orphan,' by J.M. Miro

This story was one of two in this collection that were parts of larger series — The Lion's Tusk being the other one — and both worked perfectly well as stand-alones. I was already a fan of the Ana & Din series, and that story was a welcome addition to its lore. This story's author, J.M. Miro, I was not familiar with, but his story has made me want to read the Talents trilogy that it's tied into, especially given how much I love Victorian London, and adding hidden-magically-talented-street-urchins to that setting really piques my interest.

Overall, this was a great collection of short stories, and my only gripe with it involves the order in which the stories were presented, as far as it impacts the flow of the collection as a whole. Personally, I would have led off with 'The Wizard Who Kept Himself Suspicious,' to really set the stage for this collection being about both magic and mystery, and finished the collection with 'Miss Gentle and the Case of the Very Flat Monk,' as a palette cleanser after 'Battle of the Round House' and 'The Cairndale Orphan,' both of which were darker and heavier.

[Tristan Belzer]

Apparently people aren’t rating this on here as a whole so here goes nothing. All of these stories were good fun, and I was impressed with the amount of tone and world-building each was able to convey in such a short time. Fantasy and Mystery are both genres that thrive on time to breathe and build, so the prompt to do both at once in a short form is a daunting task. All of these short stories were successful in that, so varying degrees, and I enjoyed my time with each one immensely. Every single one of these stories I would love to read a full novel for, as I think each has immense potential. Anyways, gonna rate each one in order of least to most favorite, but it’s a high floor.

7th: Miss Gentle and the Case of the Very Flat Monk
- Last place has to go to somebody and unfortunately this one took the short straw. Largely due to the fact that I felt like it really under delivered on the mystery. Was barely set up, not really solved in a satisfying way, and is moved on from quickly. The focus is instead mostly on Miss Gentle, who is in fact very cool, but I’d like to see her operate in a more fleshed out mystery that isn’t solved immediately.

6th: Battle of the Round House
- Another one that really struggles with the short format. I’d kill for a full novel with this concept to really explore all that was being set up. But as a whole product, I found there to be wayyy too many dangling threads that I wish were pulled. Really this entire story was introducing intriguing concepts, and then never really following up or expanding on them in any meaningful way, and then ending on a pretty vague happy ending. Also there wasn’t really a mystery. Would love a full novel tho.

5th: The Cairndale Orphan
- Really enjoyed the vibe of this one, and this may influence me to seek out something along these lines in the future. Admirable job at getting a full character arc into a short story where you have to do so much world-building too. Unfortunately, I found the climax a lil lack luster, and the mystery was not really a mystery. However, three for three on ones I’d read a full novel of.

4th: A Labyrinth of Honeybees
- This one is only so low again due to a mid-mystery. However, the world-building in this one was stellar. I loved the vibe of the temple and its surroundings, I loved the take on ghosts and on colonial fantasy politics. I’m a sucker for an Old Gods/New Gods dynamic as well. And all of this was communicated through the two intriguing characters at the core of the story. I found their relationship to be compelling, and the little we learn about them to imply interesting depth. Climax was cool too. Would read full book 4/4.

3rd: The Wizard who Kept Himself Suspicious
- I LOVE PETTY WIZARDS. GIVE ME MORE PETTY WIZARDS. Mystery was fine but the humor and bombast in this one were just sooooo much fun. I really gotta read Lies of Locke Lamora. Would demolish a whole series of petty wizards 5/5.

2nd: The Wednesday Witches Book Club
- Probably the story that is best served by its length. Manages to be fun and include a whole satisfying mystery with good clues and great payoff! Has humor, heart, some character growth and lots of whimsy. While I think I would read a full novel, the short story was honestly perfect, and felt well paced. No notes, would probably be #1 if not for my immense bias.

1st: The Lions Tusk
- This is an Ana and Din mystery which is, frankly, cheating. This builds off the incredible world-building and chemistry between the titular characters, which is such a head start. That being said, Bennet doesn’t waste his lead, and packs the pages full of Ana’s character, and crafts by far the most compelling mystery in the book. The payoff is satisfying, it manages to have themes and reveal a little more about the setting and characters in the same way that I am obsessed with in the books. Bennet just knows how to write a satisfying mystery, with a sprinkle of eldritch plant horror. Luckily, this one already has novels! And they are all 5 stars. I am not ashamed to show my bias.

[Phoebe King]

Magic and Mystery is a collection of short stories written by various fantasy authors with a mystery twist. I listened to the collection as a way to try a few authors that are on my TBR but I’ve never read any of their books. It definitely helped me decide whether I am interested in reading more of their work, which is what I enjoy about these Amazon original series.

Miss Gentle and the Case of the Very Flat Monk by Travis Baldree: 4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. Unique and creative with a twist I saw coming and another I definitely didn’t. I’d like to read more from him.
The Wednesday Witches Book Club by Sarah Beth Durst: 4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. Cozy but mysterious, a great who-dun-it. Another twist ending I didn’t see coming. Her books will move up my TBR.
The Lion’s Tusk by Robert Jackson Bennett. 5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. I really enjoyed this one. It was a mash-up of fantasy, mystery and Asian mythology. I want to read more from this author for sure!
A Labyrinth of Honeybees by Sarah Fawcett. 3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️. It was good with a few surprises but the ending fell a bit flat for me. It is a short story but I wanted a bit more from it.
The Wizard that Kept Himself Suspicious by Scott Lynch. 3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️. It was too confusing to keep track of the characters and their magic. The twist was fun but I don’t want to have to think too much during a short story.
Battle of the Round House by Tananarive Due. 1.5 ⭐️. I had to speed this up to finish it. It was not fantasy at all. I kept waiting for something to happen that was interesting but nothing ever did.

[Summer Connell]

I was so excited for a magical anthology that several of my favorite authors were in, and I also got to buddy read this one with my friend Maci (@thebrightsidegirl)! I mostly enjoyed the reading experience (buddy reading it) more than the collection itself though lol. There were a couple of really good stories and I also got introduced to some new authors that I want to read more from, but there were a few that I didn’t care for and one that I basically immediately dnf’d because of the writing and audio narrator. The last two stories also felt very different in tone from the rest of the collection and didn’t really fit imo. I did like that each story was connected to the previous one by an element (ex. one story had bugs, so the next story had bugs and then an element from that story would be used by the next author in theirs etc). Overall this was an ok collection, but I had a fun time reading!

Here are the individual story ratings:

Miss Gentle and the Case of the Very Flat Monk: 3 stars
The Wednesday Witches Book Club: 3.5 stars
The Lion’s Tusk: 4 stars
A Labyrinth of Honeybees: 4 stars
The Wizard Who Kept Himself Suspicious: dnf
Battle of the Round House: 3.5 stars
The Cairndale Orphan: 2 stars

[Danny Garcia]

 Magic & Mystery is a short story anthology by Audible that gets some of the best fantasy writers working today. It's charming, but also incredibly uneven. 

What Worked

A few of the stories are genuinely great. I particularly enjoyed TJ Klunes and Scott Lynch. I won't spoil the mystery but they all have a whodunnit element in a fantasy world. 

What Didn't

Not every short story is created equal, and while some are charming and funny, others are grim and moody, back to back I felt tonal whiplash. Other than the mood, some stories felt like they were asides in larger universes (looking at you Robert Jackson Bennett), it wasn't a bad story just not really standalone.

Overall Thoughts

It's low commitment and not something you typically see in fantasy. I enjoyed it, but your mileage may vary. Though I'm my opinion, having Scott Lynch write again was worth the price of admission. 

3/5⭐


 

[Michelle G.]

A great short story collection of exactly what the title promises: magic and mystery. There's a little of everything: fantasy, historical, and gothic, and almost all of them worked really well for me. As is usually the case with these collections, the audiobooks were excellent! Every narrator did a wonderful job. All the covers are also fantastic; I would buy this if it came out in print in a heartbeat.

Here's my ranking:

🥇 Battle of the Round House by Tananarive Due - 5⭐
🥈 The Wednesday Witches Book Club by Sarah Beth Durst - 5⭐
🥉 The Lion’s Tusk by Robert Jackson Bennett - 5⭐
🏆 A Labyrinth of Honeybees by Heather Fawcett - 4⭐
🏆 Miss Gentle and the Case of the Very Flat Monk by Travis Baldree - 4⭐
The Cairndale Orphan by J.M. Miro - 3⭐
The Wizard Who Kept Himself Suspicious by Scott Lynch - 2⭐

[Alicia]

I thought I'd like this one more than I did.

My favorite stories were The Lion’s Tusk by Robert Jackson Bennett, The Cairndale Orphan by J. M. Miro & Miss Gentle and the Case of the Very Flat Monk by Travis Baldree.

The Lion's Tusk was not what I was expecting. It's told from Ana Dolabra's point of view as she tells a story to Din as they travel to their next assignment. It's as if we're listening to her tell Din the story of a very, very cold case that she solved and we only hear her side of the conversation. So, it was an interesting listen since it was very different than the other Ana & Din mysteries.

I give this 3.5 stars, rounding up to 4 stars for the excellent narration.

[Amanda Emdin]

As a collection, I think it's great, with something for everyone. That said, I liked some quite a bit more than others:
Miss Gentle and the Case of the Very Flat Monk by Travis Baldree ★★★★☆ 3.5/5 rounded up
The Wednesday Witches Book Club by Sarah Beth Durst ★★★★★ 5/5
The Lion’s Tusk by Robert Jackson Bennett ★★★★☆ 4/5
A Labyrinth of Honeybees by Heather Fawcett ★★★★★ 4.5/5 rounded up
The Wizard Who Kept Himself Suspicious by Scott Lynch ★★☆☆☆ 2/5 - I found the narrator REALLY hard to follow and the story just wasn't for me
Battle of the Round House by Tananarive Due ★★★★☆ 4/5 LOVED the setting
The Cairndale Orphan by J. M. Miro ★★★★☆ 3.5/5 rounded up

[Daniel Nytko]

I have found myself quite enjoying shorter stories recently. Different from the grand narratives across vast swaths of land. Stories that instead have to be carried by the few moments you have with the characters. You don’t have hundreds of pages to fall in love with the world and it gives a different perspective.

A number of authors within this collection have gotten me hooked on their writing before and after, there are a few more that I wish to partake in.

[Cecilia]

A collective 3.5

4.5 the lion’s tusk
3.5 miss gentle and the case of the very flat monk
3.5 a labyrinth of honeybees
3.5 the cairndale orphan
3 battle of the roundhouse
3 the wenesday witches book club
2 the wizard who kept himself suspicious

This last one might be because of personal incompatibility with the va

Missed my usual Ana voice but definitely my favorite of the collection!

[Ilona]

Miss Gentle and the Case of the Very Flat Monk by Travis Baldree ★★☆☆☆
The Wednesday Witches Book Club by Sarah Beth Durst ★★☆☆☆
The Lion’s Tusk by Robert Jackson Bennett ★★★★☆
A Labyrinth of Honeybees by Heather Fawcett ★★★★☆
The Wizard Who Kept Himself Suspicious by Scott Lynch ★★★☆☆
Battle of the Round House by Tananarive Due ★★★★☆
The Cairndale Orphan by J. M. Miro ★★★☆☆

[Evelyn]

Miss Gentle & the Case of the Very Flat Monk - 3/5
The Wednesday Witches Book Club - 4/5
The Lion's Tusk - 4/5
A Labyrinth of Honeybees - 4/5
The Wizard Who Kept Himself Suspicious - 2/5
Battle of the Round House - 2/5
The Cairndale Orphan - 4/5

[Nirkatze]

As a whole, this was a fun collection. Each entry had interesting worldbuilding, though not all the stories grabbed me from the start. The stories by Sarah Beth Durst, Heather Fawcett, and Tananarive Due were my favorites, though the others all had great twists.

[Whitney]

Rating for each story
Miss Gentle and the Case of the Very Flat Monk: 3 ⭐️
The Wizard Who Kept Himself Suspicious: 2 ⭐️
Battle of the Round House: 3 ⭐️
The Cairndale Orphan: 2 ⭐️
A Labyrinth of Honeybees: 4 ⭐️
The Lion’s Tusk: 4 ⭐️
The Wednesday Witches Book Club: 3 ⭐️

[Kristin Boes]

The stories were kind of fun but I thought they'd all be interwoven somehow. Maybe I'm not clever enough to see it.

[Sam Reads Books *Just the Highlights*]

2026: 3.75

[Julie]

A wide variety of authors (most new to me) and pieces. Some I enjoyed quite a lot, and others I did not. Midling overall, but I've got at least 2 I'll try out more from in the future.

[Genevieve]

Normally there are a few short stories in a collection that I don't like or think are "meh" - but I really enjoyed (or was at least entertained by) all of these!

[Whitney]

3.5

[Laura]

2.5 ⭐️

My favorite was the Wednesday Witch Club - the rest didn't really work for me.