"Laurell K. Hamilton scores another bestseller heading for the New York Times bestseller list."
The attempted assassination of Princess Meredith of the
faerie Unseelie Court failed and the coup to unseat the
Queen of Air and Darkness, Andais was thwarted. The
princess gives a press conference in the sithen (faerie
mound) because a human policeman under the spell of a
sidhe (faerie) had attempted to kill her and that has to
be explained. After the conference is over, Merry and her
harem of sexy and beautiful guards found a dead
photographer and a sidhe, both the victims of murder by
one of more of the sidhe. Merry convinces her Aunt to let the police into the sithen
because the reporters know one of their own is missing.
Anais agrees but intends to conduct her own
investigation. Merry and her guards are the focus of
another assassination attempt and while they struggle to
stay alive, Merry's presence in the sithen brings it to
life recreating features that have withered away centuries
ago. Merry also gives back the powers the sidhe lost when
they were allowed entry to this country by President
Jefferson. This makes the queen jealous because Merry can
do what she can no longer perform and when a predator is
angered, anything can happen. The latest entry in the Princess Meredith series is a
fantastic and enthralling adult fairy tale complete with a
beautiful princess, a host of archetype princes " who act
as Merry's guards and the wicked witch (in this case the
evil faerie queen). There is a lot of exotic sex and
action IN A STOKE OF MIDNIGHT and very visual descriptions
of the reawakening of the sithen. Laurell K. Hamilton
scores another bestseller heading for the New York Times
bestseller list. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted May 18, 2005
SummarySolving a double homicide, avoiding assassins and coping
with growing, sometimes uncontrollable, power keep faerie
private detective Princess Meredith NicEssus (aka Meredith
Gentry) busy in the fourth and strongest entry in
Hamilton's adult fairy tale series (after 2004's Seduced
by Moonlight). When someone murders a fey and a reporter
during a press conference inside the Unseelie's
headquarters, Merry calls in the cops to assist (and
inadvertently involves the FBI as well). But once on
magical turf, human police face challenges and dangers of
which the princess was unaware. Meanwhile, Merry lives up
to the five fertility deities in her lineage and lustily
fulfills her royal duty of mating with sidhe males and
making sex beyond mere human comprehension. As Merry
matures, the meaning of all the sex and magic comes into
more effective focus, as does Hamilton's underlying mythos
of the restoration of the faerie race's true power. The
absence of complicated politics results in a more
palatable plot than in previous volumes. By the end, the
Unseelie court seems to be tiring of Merry's super-
sadistic Aunt Andais, the Queen of Air and Darkness (as
are, most likely, many readers). The queen's son and
Merry's rival for the throne, Prince Cel, looms as an even
greater, more corrupt menace to her future. Faeries,
fornication and forensics fuse for yet another darkly
fantastic frolic for Hamilton fans.
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