Deadly Night

Ageless Mysteries #1

by Vanessa Nelson

Can she serve justice in an unjust world?

Newly-promoted Watch Officer Thea March is assigned her very first death investigation. Someone has brutally killed a young woman and dumped her body in an empty warehouse. The only real clue left at the scene points to one of the elite – the Ageless – as being involved.

The Watch might ignore one anonymous woman’s death, but when more bodies appear, killed in the same way, the deaths attract the attention of the ruling elite, and Mage Niath is assigned to work with Thea to hunt down the killer.

Having spent most of her life trying to avoid attracting the attention of the elite, the last thing that Thea wants is a prominent mage shadowing her every move.

But they will have to depend on each other, and all the skills at their disposal, to hunt down and stop the killer.

Deadly Night is the first book in the now-complete Ageless Mysteries series by Vanessa Nelson.

If you like your fantasy full of mystery and magic, then you will love this series. Get your copy now to start Thea's story.

Genres: Fantasy, Mystery, Urban Fantasy, Magic, Paranormal, High Fantasy, Angels

275 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 13, 2021

About the author

I am a fantasy author living in Scotland, United Kingdom and spending my days juggling the demands of an elderly, spoiled cat, two giant dogs and a host of fictional characters.

As far as the cat is concerned, she’s in charge and should always come first. The older dog’s favourite method of getting my attention is a gentle nudge with his head. At least, he would say it’s gentle. And the younger dog's attention-getting method generally involves playing with the loudest squeaky toy he can find.

You can find out more information at the following places:
Website: www.vanessanelsonwrites.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Taellaneth

Reviews

[✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Normally I wouldn't be caught dead reading a book that's available on KU. Because it is a truth universally acknowledged that 99.99% of KU books are complete, utter crap. And because my two remaining grey cells are damaged enough as it is. BUT, Karen Dunstall recommended this one on her blog so I thought I'd give it a try.



Yeah yeah yeah, I know, but you have to be brave, bold, and audacious sometimes.

Anyhoo and stuff, I started reading the book and, lo and behold, it turned out to be quite the page-turner indeed. The MC isn't even a Mary Sue. Or a special snowflake. Or an immature brat with TSTL tendencies. Shock! Dismay! Discombobulation! The world is pretty unique and refreshing and original (magic + science = yay) and the cast of characters is fairly cool thank you very much. There are crossbow-wielding constables, deliciously weird creatures, winged, condescending overlords assholes galore, and dead, slightly mutilated bodies aplenty (which is always a plus if you ask me). Also, there is absolutely NO romance whatsoever. And that is quite glorious if you ask me.



Yes, it's true, this is Despicably Light Fantasy (DLF™) but it also happens to be entertaining as fish and doesn't require the use of too many grey cells, which is absolutely perfect for those times when one is feeling Certifiably Braindead™. Need I say more? Didn't think so 😬.



[Pre-review nonsense]

Wow, a KU book that isn't complete crap.



➽ Review to come and stuff.

[Jacob Proffitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting fantasy with some unique worldbuilding to setup some class/caste tension. It also borrows a veneer of some modern ideas with magic supplying the technical advances. So we have scientists and logic and a constabulary law-enforcement structure and even some forensics but still have apothecaries and swords as well as the magic some privileged few wield.

And Thea is an interesting protagonist. She's a halfbreed with the dominant Ageless (think angels, only with nothing divine about them) and that makes her less-than in many ways—not least because Ageless-born are subject to conscription until their twenty-fifth birthday. Which brings me to some of the issues I have with the story. I mean, twenty-five is arbitrary and seems to work against the stated purpose of the Ageless overlords. I mean, why stop there? Why give them a free card. Like, if you can hide long enough, you're free from this onerous duty all your kind must otherwise submit, too. And conscription is essentially slavery (though with a twenty-five year term limit). And why is Thea still hiding her heritage when she's past that deadline? The internal answer to this one is that the Ageless are capricious and capable of taking people for their own uses regardless, but that doesn't set with the whole deadline in the first place.

As you can see, I have nits that need picking. What I'm not going to pick on is the plot and characters. Okay, Niath is a bit of an enigma, but I liked him despite popping out with convenient solutions to key problems out of nowhere. And Thea's sciency colleagues were kind of awesome and I liked her mom more than a little (though the whole not kicking out the freeloaders plotline doesn't work, even a little, and was another nitty irritant).

Anyway, this is a great start to a fantasy-with-a-twist series and I'm looking forward to learning more. I'm calling it 3½ stars that I'm rounding up because I liked the original parts and it kept me thoroughly engaged despite nit picking.

A note about Chaste: Thea is something of a loner and is busy establishing herself in her career. So there's no intimate relationships and not time for them. So this is very chaste.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

Someone is killing women in the small town of Brightfield, but no one seems to really care. That is until a sole feather is found at a crime scene- which possibly implicates the cruel ruling class of elites called the Ageless in the murders.




Because the deaths weren't being taken seriously in the first place, new Watch Officer rookie-Thea was put on the case. Due to her background, secrets of her own, and a genuine desire to actually help-Thea is determined to get to the bottom of this crime....even if she has to place herself in the path of opposition and some of the most dangerous Ageless to get answers.

Along the way she is ordered by the Citadel (the place where the Ageless and those they have 'Conscripted' into serving them live)- to be joined by a mage named Niath, who is just as contradictory as he seems powerful.



Can these two (and a small team) figure out who is killing these women when it seems like larger forces at play to keep them in the dark-plus getting along well enough without revealing the secrets they are so desperate to keep?


x--------------------------x

So all In all, I really did enjoy this book! There was interesting world building and unique creatures. Also, I do like the lead h Thea- but I'm hoping in upcoming books we'll get a bit more personality from her.

[Ira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great series from this author.
But as usual, not exactly a romance 😬

I will write the review at the latest book in the series.

❤️

[Ami · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Moved a bit slowly for me because I tried to grasp about the universe. I had questions! Like why age 25 to be the limit? How Edris became Archon? How the gap of the Ageless city vs. human happened? Thea's background and his mother remained a bit muddy. And so on....

BUT, the mystery (look, I have soft spot for murder mystery stories, okay?!) kept me going. I thought, as protagonist, Thea had ability to grow better, either in her power or being more than just a pushover. I liked Thea's tenacity to get answers for the murdered victims though. AND, like my experience with Nelson's more recent series, The Grey Gates, I can see her gathering more friends and allies.

Also looking forward to more information about Niath the Mage (whom I think will end up as Thea's love interest).

So yes, 3.5 stars for now, but I already lined up the next book in this series to read.

Thank you so much to Pixie Pa-rum-pa-pum-pum from Goodreads 2023 Secret Santa Event for this gift

[Mara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite a surprise. Onward to book 2!

[Anna (Bobs Her Hair) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the world of Ageless (Angels?), Dark Kind, humans, and other. The mystery wrapped up too quickly. "Deadly Night" read very much like a novella in terms of plot. There's more in the Ageless Mysteries World to be explored, but I worry the heroine will be overly hindered by her worries, which we were pounded over the head several times. At some point, she has to stop being a doormat.

"Deadly Night" was a Prime member freebie. The murders are gruesome. The MC detective skills rise to the occasion, along with the side characters. (Let's hope for the secondary characters to be fleshed out! Plus, I hope Niath stops creeping about and we, the readers, get deeper insight regarding his motivations. I'll purchase the next book and hope for character growth and resolutions to a unresolved plot threads.

[Katyana · Rating 4 out of 5]

****3.5 (rounded up)****

As the first book in a fantasy series, this book was a little slow and clunky because it labored under the weight of all the world building and character introductions. It's a lovely, complicated world with a massive cast, though our main character is Thea.

She's haunted by her past and all the secrets she carries, working as a member of the city watch and living with her apothecary mother, both of them living the life of "hiding in plain sight" from the asshole Ageless - basically, angels - that rule the world.

We also meet Naith, a mage with some secrets of his own. He is an interesting character, and I assume is the love interest. He is a powerful mage, but approaches the world in an almost child-like way - it is as if this powerful kid grew up locked in a castle, until he was strong enough to get out and see the world no matter what his captors/parent/overbearing asshole keepers thought of it. There's an innocence to him that's interesting.

In this first book, Thea is on the hunt for a man/monster murdering women. The unfolding of the case is interesting, and Thea seems to have some sort of gift of intuition - I don't mean in a Mary Sue way, but like, she is the child of an Ageless (half-human...it is why she has to hide, the half-Ageless/half-human are treated as slaves by the Ageless) and while the halflings don't have the full power of the Ageless, they have extra strength and health, live longer, and have unusual gifts. She's not had the time to thoroughly explore hers because it had to all be secret - she's terrified of being found out. But we see her getting tugs of intuition - like, this person is safe, that person is dangerous, something about this is important - as she works through the case.

I'm interested to see where it goes from here!

[Dorte Thygesen Schmidt · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bland and terribly borring

There is a lot of tell and no show. Dialog is clunky and unnatural. The worldbuilding is unuanced and confusing. Some aspects appear Victorian, others modern and some again Hollywood Mideval. There are a lot of inconsistency. There is a lack of newness and everything and everyone is and do as expected according to worn fantasy tropes.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice fantasy procedural 🙃 interesting world building.

[Sheia (Hiatus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to read an adventure fantasy with a touch of romance. And well, this is that.

✅️ Different world
✅️ Different Races— Ageless, Ageless-born, Humans, Mages
🆗️ World-Building
❌️ Romance (just hints of it)
✅️ Crimes and Cases

The problem lies in the writing. I almost gave up thrice in the beginning, just because of that. Too many repetitions—of words, and sometimes of whole sentences. There was replications of information, like the reader is incapable of grasping it in one go, or two! Then I remembered how I felt while reading other Nelson's books which had kind-of similar issues and decided to power through. IT DOES GET BETTER AFTER THE FIRST QUARTER.

So here we are now.

I did enjoy the book. It was interesting. The plot set premise for fascinating revelations. While solving a case, we get to delve into the character of Thea, and I quite like her compassion and zeal to help others. Side characters are the core of this book too. They make the scenes more interesting. And the sub-plots are definitely ones to look out for.

Over and all, there is enough in the book to hold reader's interest. But this is no grand experience.

P.s. I actually liked The Hundred series by Vanessa Nelson more. That one is much better.

[Laura Hesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heart wrenching

Brilliant fantasy thriller. I couldn't put it down. Thea is an amazing detective who never stops searching for a serial killer despite the odds stacked against her in a truly bleak kingdom that she always seems to find some beauty in.

[Fred Hewett · Rating 5 out of 5]

An unexpected pleasure

I enjoyed learning about the world the author created for this book. It is not a very pleasant place, but Thea (the MC) deals with it as it is. She keeps a low profile because she has secrets. I think we learn most of them in the course of this book, but she is so practiced at blending in that there might be more to learn. I've seen another reviewer suggest that Thea lacks personality; I think she is just disciplined in the art of hiding her true self from the world.

In this first book, we get the important parts of the world explained, a little at a time. The Ageless are the center of the empire that Thea lives in. They don't think much of short-lived beings like humans. Even their half Ageless, half human children are considered little better, conscripted to fight their wars. We also learn about Thea's part: the Watch. The Watch mostly deals with petty crime, drunks getting into fights and the like. But Thea really wants to make a difference, and she finally gets a chance to bring a killer to justice. She also makes some powerful friends.

I enjoyed this book. I have already purchased the second book and pre-ordered the third.

[Alix · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid start to a series….despite the author’s lack of ability to write in complete sentences. I am gratefully the most egregious writing issues are early in the book - it gets a bit better.

[Kyra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thea is such a pushover…

[Mariah]

DNF @25%

[Emmalynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

nicely written fantasy mystery. It’s a murder mystery with magical undertones written in a Victorian but not Victorian times. The Watchmen (police) remind me of those in London in that they’re not allowed to carry weapons, yet there’s magic Thea is a Ageless born and had to hide that fact in order to avoid being conscripted in service. When ageless born women are being murdered, newly promoted Thea is assigned the task, along with a Mage from the Citadel, Neith, to investigate and solve the murders before Thea becomes the next victim.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this one! Some things could have been explained a bit more but for a first book it was very well written and interesting. I look forward to the next one where hopefully a relationship might blossom (because what can I say, I'm a hopeless romantic lol) and more of the world is described. Fingers crossed the library adds the whole series to the collection because I know I'll blow through them quickly!

[Anna Witt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book club for May! While the writing is nothing special and felt rudimentary, the actual world/characters/magic I found to be interesting and enjoyable!
It was like reading a cop show with ~magical~ beings

[Isabel Mondy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This poor book took me so long to read. But it was a fun mix of thriller and fantasy! Two of my favorite genres.

[2muchtime]

DNF 30%
For someone that is supposed to be solving the mystery, she sure "felt like she was missing something" a lot.

[Witchmetal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the world building but the ending seemed rushed.

[Sorhija · Rating 5 out of 5]

I discovered this author over a week ago and have been hooked ever since. An another great h !!

[Debrac2014 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this story! Interesting characters and story line! I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series!

[Nettie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adored this book. It was intelligently written, with the world building throughout the whole book, instead of in the first few chapters. When you needed to understand the world though, the information was given to you at that time. Without being jarring. The story still flowed and read easily.

I absolutely LOVED how the male character allowed the female to help destroy the enemy, even though I'm sure he could've taken over and saved the day. Instead, he gave her the means and the chance to showcase her own will, strength and power, without being condescending. And still ended up being protective when she needed it. It was a wonderful balance.

My only gripes would be the following. As a Christian, I did not like the water-to-wine poking. I would also have liked to see more interactions between the male and female leads. And lastly, the ending was a bit abrupt. Once the enemy was conquered, the normal flow of events would be to bring in the supporting cast, like the police or doctor. To search a few rooms, then bring the supporting characters in halfway through, was a bit strange. Especially when they then give up on the search while a second before it seemed so important for reasons never explained. Was there a possibility of a missing woman being in one of the rooms? Why the urgency when the female lead is injured, in shock and in need of fresh air? I understand the stash of feathers and clothing needed to be pointed out, but the supporting cast could've wrapped that up. To find those 2 items in the first 2 places being looked at, when there's a whole storage room and other rooms to search, seemed very unlikely.

All-in-all, a worthy read, and I've already started the second one, which is also free on Kindle Unlimited.

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first time reading this author so I didn’t really know what to expect. The writing was good and I found both the world building and mystery to be interesting and well developed. The characters, well, they weren’t so interesting. Our FMC is basically this fantasy worlds version of a detective and she’s also hiding who she really is, that made for a character who is pretty militant and honestly she just comes off as very dry. So many “yes, sirs”. I found the book to be way darker than I was expecting. The FMC is not without feelings but given the complexity of the species dynamics on this world and her place in it she has to keep everything pretty locked up. It was interesting but just not super exciting to read. There was no joy or excitement or flirting or romance. We got a few moments of sarcasm but not enough to bring any amount of lightness to this read. I wanted to love this a lot more than I did because of how well it was written and plotted but It just never got there for me.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the world building. I almost always enjoy stories with strong female characters.
I felt like the ageless needed a bit more background provided, details about them were a bit vague.
I did have some nit picky issues with the plot, like how did no suspicion fall upon Thea when she provides information to the nightkind regarding their people being held at the institute, then next minute they are broken out.
In addition Thea and her friends made it clear to the "Inquirers" that they disapproved of the treatment of the "specimens", which was pretty stupid considering they wanted help from the Inquirers, and also would have pointed the finger at them when the "specimens" were liberated.
Then once Thea and her friends figure out what they are hunting, Thea's superior officer insists the Watch should be left to deal with it, despite it being an seemingly invincible foe and the Watch are not allowed actual weapons. Hmmmm.
Anyhoo, still a good story, with enough to keep me interested and wanting to read the next in the series.

[TP · Rating 3 out of 5]

The downside to this book had been the many repetitions. It really needed a good editor or someone that proof read the book and pointed it out to the author. There were a few themes the author seemed to spit out like a broke record. There was nothing new contributed. There seemed also no development in the thought process of the lead character.

The world is interesting and the cases she solved are fun and intriguing.

But the overall thread is sparse and could be better developed surrounding her life and not only solely focused on the cases she solves, no matter how fun they are.

The author really needs to work on the action scenes. I missed the tension.

Nevertheless it was entertaining.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a terribly written book. What was a pretty interesting premise was just made so bland with repetitive scenes, characters with absolutely no growth and nothing interesting about them, and overall boring sentence structure. I’ll probably start the second one to see if it gets better, but only because of interest in niath

[Steve · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting world, but the book needs editing.
The subplot involving the lodgers adds nothing and should have been deleted.