The Toymaker's Curse

Glass and Steele #11

by C.J. Archer

Are curses real?

After a toymaker magician gives a lecture at a collector’s club soiree, an important spell is stolen and a man is found strangled. The investigation into his murder leads India and Matt to the colorful and dangerous world of the Romany gypsy where curses are used as weapons against their enemies.

But nobody seems to know if curses are real or not.

As Matt and India close in on the killer, old foes bring trouble into their lives. With the threat of exposure hanging over London’s magicians, disaster is never far away. Then one fateful day, catastrophe strikes the Park Street household.

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

280 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 2, 2021

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.

Subscribe to C.J.'s newsletter to be notified when she releases a new book. Join via her website: www.cjarcher.com

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Reviews

[Louise E Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whilst the characters are engaging and the overarching arc moved slightly the Glass and Steele books are becoming formulaic. Not surprising when you think that they’re quite short, I read this in about half a day, and this is number 11. Hopefully this series will wrap up soon whilst it’s still going relatively strong and not fizzle out to a point where I don’t want to read the books anymore.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this is the worst one of the series so far. A few things just don’t work for me.

1. It’s ridiculous that they can’t remember the spell they made. India had just recently been repeating it over and over when flying the carpet and now she can’t remember. Not to mention they have all those individual words worked out and written down. If she knows the watch flying spell she would know the one stolen.
2. Prior to this book it was a flying spell. The watch, iron and carpet all flew. None of them rolled, slid, or crawled, but now they call it a moving spell. Why doesn’t it make the toys fly?
3. How did the toy maker know how to use the spell, they would have to replace the object with the word for toy, and need to know which word to replace and that would be making a new spell which supposedly only India can do.
4. Why were they so insistent on not selling the magic carpet to Coil, it’s not like he can do anything with it.

Many of the other books in this series were less than great, but this one is terrible with too many plot holes for me.

[Michelle Schroeder · Rating 3 out of 5]

My expectations for this series were really high. I absolutely loved "The Ministry of Curiosities." Unfortunately, when I stop reading and plug in the headphones, it's a done deal. I'll finish the series only because I've come this far. I'm not at all invested in the characters or the story at this point. I'm just disappointed.

[Joi Darling · Rating 3 out of 5]

I get so tired of reading “India bristled” and “Matt growled”. It’s the 11th book and this is just one example of how redundant the series is. I keep up with Glass and Steele because I’m looking for an ending, quite frankly. If you’re looking for an easy fantasy read with some quirky characters this series is for you.

[Karen Langolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

India's character has been degrading since she married. Perfect quote from the detective Inspector. "You confronted him without me? India, this is police business. You could have jeopardized the investigation." Yes, oh yes she always does. Confront the suspect without any real proof and only conjecture because you are emotional and not thinking clearly. Not to mention that you paint this suspect as a villain from book 2 only to be proven wrong and wrong again. Feels like Fred from Scooby Doo.

[Charmaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Series is in danger of becoming formulaic. One of the few things that kept my interest was the interplay between ancillary characters in this book, not the main ones (India and Matt).

[Zen · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of the same for this series.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can see why #13 was the last of the series. It feels like the momentum and story ideas were slowing down. Shame. Nothing terribly wrong with the book - just falls short of the prior ones.

[Quick · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Audiobook) (3.5)

[Bernadette Rowley · Rating 5 out of 5]

As usual, I loved this latest installment in the adventures of India and Matt and their delightful host of friends and relatives. And just when I thought our heroes were in charge of their magical world, desperate danger intervenes. I'm really concerned about the future for India as her magic brings her to the attention of the authorities. Can't wait to read book 12 for more intrigue, adventure and magic.

[Jonnae Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may be my favorite so far! All sorts of twists and turns and everything is a lie. 🤣 We learn further aspects of magic. For example, additional characters add another layer to magic. Just felt like so many layers upon layers were unfolded all the way to the end. Who’s bad? Who’s good? Who’s on whose side? Moral dilemmas. Magical lineages. Etc etc.
I’m excited to keep going!

[heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anothet great read in the glass and steele series. Loved the book so much ive lost hours of sleep!
Cant wait for the next book

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Aimee · Rating 5 out of 5]

And this is why we can’t have nice things…like new spells. Jerks steal them and use them in a nefarious way. This one was a good one but it did set up the next two boos more than break new ground.

[Marie Wikle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely in love with this series

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book better than the last one. The motive of the killer made a bit more sense.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series still has me enthralled. Only two more to go after this one though :(

[Shannon P · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to come

[Ka · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book better than a lot of the ones before it because the magic-in-society, non-relationship-drama part of the story is FINALLY taking center stage and it's about damn time. The world the author has created is interesting and fun despite her efforts to make it about Willie's sexual proclivities.

Unfortunately, I had to knock half a star off for how incompetent India and Matt are when it comes to interviewing people. They are frustratingly bad at it given how much they do it. They are okay when it comes to covertly spying, tricking people, stealing evidence, etc, but when they directly interrogate people, they're terrible at it. The fact that people confess anyhow is sometimes difficult to believe. If someone came and asked ME a bunch of aggressive questions that make it clear that they suspect the truth but also have so many misconceptions that obviously they've got no real evidence, I would not confess to crimes. I might flee knowing they're on the right path, but I wouldn't just blurt out the truth. Geez.

If I were investigating, I also wouldn't go around telling my suspects all my suspicions when I have no proof, antagonizing them for no real reason, etc. I haven't put India and Matt on my "main character sucks" list, because I don't DISLIKE them, I just think they are idiots with big mouths. They are trying their best, it's just that their best is kind of dumb.

Oh and they sold Lord Coyle a fake magic carpet FOR NO REASON. This is the most completely idiotic thing they have done. They KNOW he knows lots of magicians who can verify if an item is magic, they know he is both smart and suspicious, AND for once they don't owe him anything, and when motivated to help them, he's actually a very useful ally... So why on earth would they believe he WOULDN'T check the magic in a valuable purchase, or take the chance that lying to him would piss him off? It's not like it's much effort for India to make the thing float for a few seconds, which would make it feel magical; casting spells doesn't even seem to make her tired, let alone COST her anything. Even if they didn't have the real carpet anymore, making a "fake" would have been dead simple and taken about 10 seconds, but they didn't do it? MORONS.

FURTHERMORE, as someone who isn't a magician, what does it even matter if they give him the real thing? It's not like it flies on its own without India and Fabian, and in the situation that somehow, another ridiculously strong magician like India is found to cast the spell, it could be cast on ANY CARPET. I literally can't understand why they care about keeping it from him. Is it just out of spite? I don't LIKE Coyle, since he's clearly an unpleasant evil person, but it's hard to not sympathize with him sometimes... Why SHOULD he help these stupid, self-sabotaging, rude people who tried to cheat him, and are constantly accusing him of all sorts of shit hoping some of it will stick? Hope is just a greedy, selfish bitch, but Coyle is actually a kind of interesting person (also greedy and selfish, of course, but at least he's smart, unlike pretty much everyone else in these books).

SUMMARY AND THOUGHTS ON THE PLOT, FOR MY MEMORY WHEN I READ THE NEXT BOOK:
India meets a toymaker magician at a magic collectors' meeting, and later that night, her flying carpet spell is stolen. Then the toymaker magician turns up dead soon after, so they are drawn to investigate. Ultimately it turns out his wife (also a toymaker magician) stole the spell and cast it on a large automaton, which then strangled her husband... it's unclear if she made it do this on purpose or it happened because she subconsciously wanted him dead, but either way, it murdered him and then it ran away (why?? honestly this lends some credence to her claim that she wasn't consciously controlling it) and collapsed in an alley when the magic ran out.

Apparently she did all this because she suspected her husband is infertile and she wanted magic children, so she asked Lord Coyle for help. India and Matt suspect that he told her about the spell and also was somehow involved in the deaths of the guy's first wife as well as the recently deceased wife of the only other toymaker magician in town. (Who, randomly, was also a gypsy lady who put a magic curse on the first guy.)

The author suggests that because the wife went to a fertility doctor and he told her he didn't see anything wrong with her hoohah and did not know why they didn't have kids, this was somehow the doctor "blaming the woman" or "letting her believe it's her fault" but what the fuck was he supposed to tell her? He did NOT say "this is your fault", he said he didn't know and they should keep trying. She hadn't TOLD him her husband was previously married and had no kids, and when she DID come back and tell him that, he agreed that it could be because the guy is infertile... it's not like he ever tried to claim otherwise. I have no idea why both the author's narrative AND India are like "he allowed her to blame herself!" No he didn't. What the fuck. If she DID blame herself, that's on her... nothing that the doctor said indicated it is her fault. Was he supposed to actively accuse her husband with no information? Or are we supposed to agree that if she's too dumb to wonder if the other person in a 2-person situation might be responsible, that it's some other dude's fault for not pointing out the obvious to her? Bah.

I'm all for women's rights and smashing the patriarchy and such, but stuff like this just makes women seem petty and stupid. No doctor's gonna randomly speculate about theoreticals like that unless you demand they do so. She asked if something was wrong with her, he told her he didn't see anything indicating that was the case, and that's it.

In any case, after the world's most incompetent interrogation, she confesses to enchanting the automaton and that it killed her husband, but claims it went out of control and smashed stuff and murdered him on its own. She says she didn't kill the former wife or the gypsy lady, and since they have zero evidence that she'd even ever met those people, they let it go. Brockwell arrests her for murdering her husband (on circumstantial evidence alone? why would she not just retract her confession later like Mr Hendry?). Later, she escapes from prison by somehow getting the automaton to break her free. Someone must have brought it close to her cell and the new constable who was on duty that night is missing, so that mystery is instantly solved. Then she's found dead a few days later with a bullet in her head... clearly someone murdered her to keep her from talking, and didn't even TRY to make it look like that wasn't the case. Could it have been Lord Coyle?????

In the meantime India visits Lord Coyle, accuses him of a load of stuff she's got no proof for (basically giving away all their suspicions and everything they know while learning nothing in return), then threatens to get revenge on him if anything happens to Matt, which is the only moderately bright thing she DOES say. SIGH.

The REAL mystery is how magic works in this world... does it require a spell, or not? What's the point of the spell when it seems the real control is in the mind if you know how to do it? Why do they all think only India can "create" new spells, when even some random toymaker magician lady with zero education can apparently look at the spell that moved the carpet and figure out that she just needs to substitute the correct word for "toy" instead of "wool" or whatever? How did she even know what word that is, when supposedly only India and Fabian know the "language" of magic? This part of the story made zero sense and really riled me. Minus another half a star!!

Oh and also curses are real and the gypsy lady really DID curse the toymaker magician to be infertile, which lead in a roundabout way to her own death. While they're visiting her gypsy family, the grandmother reads Willie's palm and predicts she will marry twice but have no kids (which makes me sad for both her husbands, who were great guys whose genes the world could have used). She offers to read India's palm but India refuses because she just doesn't want to know (what?? why not, you weirdo?). The family leaves London but I do wonder if the curse magic (basically a kind of reverse medical magic that affects someone's physical body, probably the same as voodoo in this universe) will reappear in a later book. The author has some interesting ideas buried amongst all the nonsense and I wish she'd expand on that stuff instead of all the relationship intrigue.

[June Zappia · Rating 4 out of 5]

C J Archer is a highly talented author. I have read all her books and really enjoyed each one.
The characters in the Glass and Steele series are extremely easy to warm to or to dislike depending upon their actions. My only criticism of this book and the reason that I gave it 🌟🌟🌟🌟 instead of 5 was because I have waited months for this book and finally you sit down to read it hardly participating in any other activity until you have finished and then within the day it’s read and not a real lot happened. A very short space of time passed in the book. You feel so comfortable going through the pages. The novel is warm and inviting but over too quickly.

[Mari · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ***

Hoopla audio.

Entertaining yet predictable. It didn't hold my interest well. I kept having to stop and back up the audio.

The series does have a diverse and interesting set of characters and that makes up for the story arc repetition. Even so a few of the sub plots have been drawn out too long. All roads lead to Lord Coyle is bogging the series down. Abercrombie is one character who seems to pop up in every book for his sinister cameo. Thankfully, it's over quickly but it leaves me wondering why his character is till around at all. He doesn't add to any storyline, IMO.

Narration was excellent.

[Groucho42 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yawn. I like the character progressions, but the stories are just too repetitive. In this one a toymaker is murders and the standard things happen. It's made dumb by the fact that, even with India being a powerful magician, it doesn't hit any off them, until they are clubbed over the head with it, that the widow might be a magician. Even to me that was obvious way earlier. I don't know that I'll continue with the series.

[Yvonne Parker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the creation of spells was going to be a really interesting. But it fell flat. The book was good enough but there were a few opportunities for the story to progress and I feel like they just kept pulling back and puttering along.

[Heather Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok so maybe by book 11 I’d have learned the plot will be fairly similar to previous books. I enjoyed the first 7 but now I’m kind of reading simply to finish the series...if that happens

[Juanita · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series is getting more and more absurd. One of their most used crime solving tactics is to rush to the suspect's house and ask them point blank if they did it...

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dissappintment came quickly in the form of two things being discussed like they were new information. I know, after so many books, you can forget what you wrote. I'd totally be that way. But someone should have caught this. I've edited series and things like this stick out. Was there an editor?


We already know the paper magician is getting married to a magician as a way to not be hung. It was mentioned it was the plan, in whichever book that was. I was perplexed the second time it had been mentioned in that book, when she was told he was getting married, to a magician, and that it was payment, she seemed shocked, but I waved it off as a, it was confirmed, and she was shocked to find out the thing she was told would happen happened because she's naive and thick headed. But in this book, it's presented as brand new news, and she asks, is she magical? Yes. You know this. Then she says she suspects it's payment. But you already know! And since the series takes place in a year, I don't get how it's forgotten. I actually thought he'd already gotten married, but I'm too lazy to go back and check.


The other thing was the book. Matt came up with the plan to pretend the book is no longer being worked on but still presses for him to actually give up cause Matt would rather supress his wife's magic than let her be free with it. Despite knowing a magician needs to use their magic for their well-being. Calls it being protective but comes off as controlling. Anyway, India hopes he really will give up on the book but knows it's a lie. Yet in this book, she says he did give it up. She thinks. What?


India is so all over the place. Her ego has exploded. She's terrible at hiding and keeps forgetting.


There's inconsistencies, knowledge they have is forgotten, we knew that Coil wants magic lines to continue from a previous book, they were told as much, yet in this one Inda is sure he doesn't want magic lines to continue and he plays it off like he doesn't care about magic lines.


This is prevelent through all the books, but info is often given, then repeated, but as an assumption despite the truth being spoken.


I think India is prejudiced against her own people. She's always so against them since getting and thinks they should be on a tight leash. Before the marriage, she thought magic getting out was a good idea. It makes it feel like her husband has changed her way of thinking. What really baffles me is that I thought the whole spellcaster thing would lead to her making new spells for the good and for Matt. But she seems to want magic to die out. She's a hypocrite.

[Wendy Knox · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful read! This was my second series for this author and she has a fan. To start with, I’m not a big fantasy reader. But this was gifted this and I thought, “why not?!” The main male character brought me visions of Henry Cavill. How can you put that down?

The only thing that I found annoying was the character of Willy. She’s an American who possesses all the stereotypes that a Brit could come up with. Kind of annoying. But it did not stop me from reading through the entire Glass Library series and then picking up the this prequel to the series. Willy is in both. Wouldn’t get rid of the character as she does add to the whimsy. But I’d like her better if she wasn’t so rough and tumble.

I have read most of the CJ Archer’s books now and loved them all with the exception of the Cleopatra Fox series which I haven’t found as interesting as the others. They aren’t magical.

Each series does stand on its own. But, I have enjoyed them in order. I’ve plowed through all of these one after another. I was so satisfied with them I was disappointed to be done! Thank goodness this author is so prolific.

I think my favorite series is the After the Rift series. I have enjoyed both audio and ebook formats. The readers are wonderful with exception of Book 1 of the Freak House series. I’m glad I pushed through as the reader was replaced with a much much better one. Seriously i stopped listening to book one initially because I disliked her so much. I only went back and put up with it because I bought the three-book series via audible. What can I say, I’m cheap.

[Quiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read before?: No

Initial Thoughts: I was excited to delve back into Matt and India's world in an easy, but fun read.

Voice Acting: 4/5 luckily this is the same voice actress we've had most, but not all, of the series. She does a proficient job, but some of her voices sometimes tend to bleed together.

Book Review: 4/5 These books have definitely begun to be formulaic. However, that is the nature of these sort of mystery/romance books and, to me, this doesn't make them less entertaining.

Again, the strongest part of this book is the characters and the way they work with each other. It's interesting to see their arcs and the subtle ways they are growing and changing as they continue on these adventures. My favorite is definitely still Willie, but there isn't really a character that I dislike.

I think what especially works well is now that India and Matt's romance is a for-sure thing, we are moving on to Cyclop's and Willie's respective romances. I don't normally seek out romance novels or novels that have that strong undercurrent, but I do tend to get sucked in when the author does it in a slowburn kind of way. I think what also works about this is that it's not only gratuitous lovey-dovey material all the time, it's sprinkled in naturally with the mysteries and adventures.

Overall, this series is a fun, entertaining one and I'll continue to read it. I think the 12th is out already, but I haven't seen it on audiobook so I'll wait for it.

[Lissa Notreallywolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just a quick note on this novel, look at the first one for a more generalized take on the series. I wasn't wild about the travellers depicted. I also felt a little slighted by the toymaker tradecraft, like this wasn't as well fleshed out. It did answer one question I had hanging since Matt bought India a toy train and some other things in one of the earliest novels. I thought India, an accomplished watchmaker, might go forth and build some clockwork marvels to keep her magical hungers sated. They only have so many watches and clocks she can play with, and she is not allowed to practice her craft by the guild, at least not in London. Briefly I envisioned her being like a travelling mechanic, someone who visits your country estate and fixes all the time pieces and clockwork mechanisms in the place. And realized that this would be a difficult position for a woman because of the need for chaperonage. She isn't going to become a toymaker because that guild won't allow her in either, now with the additional disqualifier of being known as a magician, as well as female. A further plot refinement on magic is that it is apparently keyed to certain materials. A toymaker deals in many materials, whereas I presume watches are made from a few different metals. A fuzzy part of the paradigm is the basic magics related to gold, wool, iron, and the anthropomorphic ones like ink (a formula), vinegar, fireworks and clockwork.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Thrilling Blend of Mystery and Magic – 4.25 Stars

The Toymaker’s Curse by C.J. Archer is another captivating installment in the Glass and Steele series, filled with intrigue, danger, and a touch of the supernatural. When a valuable spell is stolen and a man is found murdered, India and Matt find themselves drawn into the enigmatic world of Romany gypsies, where curses are whispered threats—but are they real or just superstition?

As the duo unravels the mystery, old adversaries resurface, and the tension escalates. The novel masterfully balances its murder investigation with the ever-present risk of exposure for London’s magicians. Just when it seems they are gaining control, an unexpected disaster shakes their world, raising the stakes even higher.

Archer’s storytelling is as engaging as ever, with well-drawn characters, clever twists, and immersive historical detail. While the mystery keeps the pages turning, the book leans heavily on previous installments, which might leave new readers feeling a bit lost. Some plot points resolve a bit too neatly, but the blend of suspense and magic more than makes up for it.

For fans of historical fantasy and cozy mysteries, The Toymaker’s Curse is a delight—an atmospheric and fast-paced read that keeps you guessing until the very end.