A Study in Aether

A Baker City Mystery #1

by Eric Desmarais

Elizabeth Coderre has always known that there was something strange about her home town, Baker Ontario, but it isn't until her English teacher disappears that she starts to find out how strange. Getting through classes, killer kitten swarms, and bullies are going to be the easy parts of surviving at Sir Arthur Conan Doyle High. Elizabeth and her best friends, Jackie and Angela, are up to the challenge... they hope.

Genres: Fantasy

248 pages, Paperback

Published June 29, 2016

About the author

Éric has had an eclectic career which ranges from casino dealer to canal boat captain to radio station DJ. Since 2009, he’s worked as a desktop publisher for the federal government. During his off time, he works as a freelance typesetter for various Canadian-based authors and publishers, roasts gourmet flavoured coffee, runs several pen-and-paper role-playing games, writes, and helps run JenEric-Designs.ca (Home of the TravellingTARDIS.com).

He lives in Ottawa, Ontario with his author wife, daughter, and son. Visit him at www.EricDesmarais.ca.

Reviews

[Cait Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this debut novel from Éric Desmarais about the city of Baker, a place full of mystery and magic. When people start going missing in droves, Elizabeth Coderre is determined to put the pieces of the puzzle together, even at her own risk. She's a strong protagonist and I love stories with intelligent young women. Great young adult fiction. I can't wait to read the next book in the series!

[Nathan Frechette · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Study in Aether is a great cross-genre YA read with a Veronica Mars meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer feel, steeped in the classic tones of Sherlock Holmes. It has a wonderfully diverse cast of well fleshed out, three-dimensional characters, and a well-paced plot that has a lot of great twists. I'm really looking forward to the rest of the series!

[Marjo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A captivating story, with a lot of moving pieces. I do have to take off a star for the swarm of killer kittens (shut up! I'm entitled to my biases), but if that kind of detail doesn't bother you, then there is no reason for you not to enjoy this.

[DB (DB's Guide to the Galaxy) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Technically it's 3-and-a-half, but Goodreads doesn't know how to play nicely.

CHARACTERS: Boom! Elizabeth is damn right awesome and yass!! Female character!!! Elizabeth comes so prepared I should ask her to summarise my college subjects. Wowee, Elizabeth figures things out so wonderfully I want to ask her to figure out why data is so expensive in South Africa (no really, tell me how much you guys have to pay for 1GB) and why the hell Donald Trump is still running, much less alive.
Received a copy of this eBook as a thank you for beta reading it. Then proceeded to promptly forget about it until I saw it a few days ago. Managed to find time amongst all my crying and stressing about college to read this.
One can never have enough Sherlock Holmes inspired books. I mean, sure, you can say no, but you know you’ll be reading it.
Who stops while running from a murderer/downright weirdo to write down a few paragraphs of your thoughts? Unless she was using a text-to-speech app (if you have one that doesn’t need constant data to work, please message me), which would actually prove to be harmful, as the weirdo can hear you and kill you. But I do like the fact that she’s recording everything.
ACDH – I’ll try not to call it ACDC
What kind of gym class do you have if they teach you archery? We had a basic of swimming and running (though sometime we did ‘rounders’) and weird summery games (hoops, bok in die hok – a type of dodgeball – and in the winter, P.E/P.T was inside, and we mostly did Aerobics or something like that. I would have given my left arm to learn archery (though I’d probably hurt a few people in the process).
People in American get detentions for the weirdest things. I mean, what Cassy said wouldn’t bet worth a detention in my high school (it’s not even that bad, that’s something I would tell my friend in the hallway even with teachers around me and they would probably just laugh.
If Elizabeth doesn’t think the police chief doesn’t have the skills, how would she have them? I mean, I’m sure people would raise an eyebrow if you buy the same equipment police stuff.
The writing is at times boring, but stilly good.
Elizabeth has a very good and realistic relationship with her father. It’s actually interesting because if this book were a YA, you’d see a case of absent parents and odd relationships with the protagonist’s parents. Perhaps it’s changed because it’s an MG novel? Or maybe it’s just the author’ doing? So well done on this. Half a star added for the whole parent-daughter relationship and it feeling real.
Professor Martin sighed. He looked like someone about to do something he knew he would hate. “The whole building is encased in a powerful lockdown spell. There’s no way to get out without breaking through the spell and I need some time to sit and study it carefully. If I’m not careful, the person who put it there will know.” Seeing Elizabeth’s mouth start to open, he cut her off, “I know you have questions; I talked to Albert, and we’ll give you a history lesson after we get out of here. For now, let’s get dessert and I’ll do my best.”
: Oh yeah sure. Let’s just go from not wanting to tell them things to let’s just tell them everything. I’m sure if Professor Martin just said, “Some security problems” it would be okay, but let’s go with it for plot and exposition.
So if the runes were enchantment runes and not locking runes, hence the reason why everyone’s so calm, why is Elizabeth so against it and awake/aware? Did she not drink from the Kool-Aid as it passed through the crowd? Is she more aware of magic than others? And if she is, then why does she still ‘drink the Kool-Aid’?
Even though the action’s good, there are times when there’s a sentence of action and then that’s it. Like a character does something that’ll usually be an entire paragraph worth of imagery, is only one or two sentences. It’s not much of an annoyance, but I’m pretty sure you want your readers to imagine a lot of the world.
So yes, this book is good. It’s interesting and it’s about magic and mystery and female characters doing things. Add it to your list for a good, quick read.

[Ann Birdgenaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read for fans of Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie. Fun mystery with a smart and courageous heroine, lots of action and intrigue! Must read

[Robert Dowsett · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Full disclosure: I BETA-read this book a handful of revisions ago.*

Although the teen/YA urban fantasy genre is not typically my thing, I enjoyed this first-of-the-series outing from Eric Desmarais.

The characters are well fleshed-out and having realistic reactions to their bizarre circumstances, which is something that often gets implemented poorly, but is greatly appreciated when done right.

Overall, the story was well-paced and has a satisfying conclusion. Interested to see where this goes in future books!

[Elyse T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

originally published on TheNerdistheWord.ca

Local Writers

Headed to your local chain bookstore to purchase the current bestselling novel converted high budget film? If you feel like literature aimed at young adults has been over hyped lately, why not look for something a little closer to home? Ottawa is home to many authors who travel our streets incognito. We, their fellow residents, are mostly unaware of their existence, as they strive in silence to publish quality works that the over saturated and largely foreign market rarely notices. It is up to us to nourish the local nerdy culture and encourage writers to continue creating.



A Study in Aether

The imaginary town of Baker, Ontario is obsessed with The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. What used to be an in-depth tourism stunt takes on a perilous new significance when a real mystery, worthy of an Arthur Conan Doyle novel, strikes the small city. A missing English teacher, swarms of killer kittens, a cafeteria condemned under strange circumstances? Elizabeth Coderre is a prodigy mystery solver who, despite her elders encouraging her to stay away, can’t ignore these weird events. Alongside her loyal friends, Jackie and Angela, she must delve into Baker’s secrets and discover a world where detective work meets magical power.



The Ontarian Landscape

A Canadian writer often holds perspectives into traditional and philosophical views of our region that can truly speak to us as readers. This experience of seeing and feeling ‘home’ in a novel is both a cozy and refreshing experience for local bookworms. Éric Desmarais creates a small Ontarian municipality that Ottawa residents can easily slip into. The Victorian architecture in the urban areas in Baker seem date back to the Confederation, giving the town a strictly “Canadian” Sherlockian feel. Much of the mythology surrounding Baker is built from an environment a Canadian reader can easily identify with. On your travels through an urban centre’s snow saturated winter, have you ever noticed the large number of abandoned gloves and mittens left around? Desmarais has a magical explanation for that!



Real Young Adults

The characters of Elizabeth, Jackie and Angela feel like true teenagers. If you are tired of seeing 15 year old characters unrealistically portrayed as devoted soldiers and revolutionaries in mainstream young adult fiction, Desmarais’ story is for you. Elizabeth is firstly a 9th grade student who struggles with genuine issues that affect the youth of today, such as obesity, bullies and homework. Meanwhile, strange grizzly bears and cackling evil witches roam the streets as more Baker residents mysteriously disappear. Even when magical evil-doers threaten her entire town, Elizabeth’s more down to earth problems don’t simply cease to be. She still spends mental energy wondering what to wear to the school dance, or whether her crush might return her feelings. This jumping back and forth between real life and magical complications is understandably difficult to juggle, yet Desmarais expertly shows us that even though magical realms exist, the world still keeps on turning.

Elizabeth, like any teen, is somewhat trapped between childhood and adulthood; wanting to be included in grown-up discussions, but still benefitting from the protection and oversight of her elders. This is an issue Desmarais’ target audience can easily relate to; the frustration of being kept in the dark for your own good, while not fully trusting that adults can solve your problems for you. This is what makes this heroine special! Despite her many flaws, when adults fail to unravel the alarming menace in Baker City, Elizabeth steps up with every intent of defeating the dangers that threaten her town, and saving everyone.



Let’s be Honest

Éric Desmarais’, A Study in Aether: A Baker City Mystery is remarkable, but hits a few snags. A few more clichés than this reviewer can handle seem to populate this little mystery. Desmarais is quite adept at creating exciting and detailed scenes, but the transition between these events can be a bit awkward. In some cases, the plot’s tension seems to be poorly managed and revelations that should be exciting instead fall flat. For a first novel, this author has done a stupendous job, yet some of the cheesy dialogue and predictable, inelegantly-worded passages could, in future works, be polished a bit better.

Despite these little drawbacks, we at The Nerd is the Word find ourselves eager to find out more about Elizabeth and her friends. Many little loose ends and hints make this reviewer very curious. Theories as to the true identity of characters, possible future events and unexplained appearances have already begun forming.



More to Come!

The Baker City Mysteries are not anywhere close to being finished! Eric Desmarais has supposedly two more novels in the final editing stages and would like to see the character of Elizabeth continue to grow up and solve magical mysteries for a possible total of nine novels. Keep your eyes peeled!

The Nerd is the Word recommends A Study in Aether for young readers and adults alike!

[Rae Roy · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a slight Buffy and Veronica Mars feel to the story. I found the story fun, but the characters are a little too wholesome for me to believe that they are in highschool. Elizabeth's inner dialogue talked about what she felt, but didn't always make me feel how she felt. I don't want Elizabeth to tell me she's tired, I want her to describe how her legs are jelly and might buckle at any moment. I don't want to hear someone started crying. I want to see their lashes become heavy with tears, their body shake as they mourn, a friend put their arm around them to comfort them in their grief. He does it on occasion, but it could be more consistent and I feel this would improve his writing. I really liked that the story was unpredictable. The author executed the mystery portion of it well. He laid clues, but had twists and turns that kept me guessing. I also found the way one becomes a wizard to be fascinating. The action scenes were also enjoyable. Ultimately, I would give it a 3.5 if it were possible. It's a good story despite those things I mentioned, especially since it's a first novel. I look forward to seeing this author's writing evolve.

[Alexhalebooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a wonderful first effort. It shows a lot of creativity and promise for the author.

That said, there are quite a few problems with the book, ranging from unrealistic background details to perplexing action sequences. Characters felt as if they barely cared about what was going on, and their interactions felt incredibly scripted. Dialogue was robotic and gave all the proceedings a feeling of weightlessness, that is, as if nothing had any impact. The greatest fault, by far, is the heavy and withering reliance on telling over showing.

The first chapter made me think the book was over-written, but the rest of it made it clear that it was actually UNDER-written. It needed to be about 100 pages longer, with more developed characters and all the action scenes redone to flow better and add more real emotion and tension.

Bottom line: This was not a good book. You can see the silver through the tarnish, though, and with some good polishing I'm certain the author's second work will truly shine.

[David Lamb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book (3), but might have really liked it (4) if I were the intended audience. So since reviews ought to be for the intended audience, I've rated it 4 (an upgrade for my original post).

The basic idea, which you'll get most of from the blurb, is kids faced with a supernatural mystery they need to solve and resolve. I liked the characters, and the plot was interesting. I was happy the setting was in a fictional Ontario town instead of some generic American one, since I've heard some publishers push non-American authors into re-siting their stories. Kudos to Renaissance Press.

I had the privilege of speaking to the author at Limestone Genre Expo in early June 2017, and he said he aimed it at middle grade, although his publisher thought the small amount of violence later in the book rated it as YA. I enjoy YA, but the writing style and tone of a middle grade book isn't quite to my taste. Nevertheless the character, setting, and plot were interesting, and I'll probably read the sequels when they come out.

[Jen Desmarais · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book! Well-fleshed out characters, great action, and a mystery thrown in? It's a perfect set-up that delivered all the way through. Highly recommended read!