Sheridan Bell and the Vanishing Beast

The easiest way to get me to read something new these days is to tell me how much you were influenced by Sherlock Holmes. (This should not surprise my readers.)

I found Sheridan Bell and the Vanishing Beast at the recent “Nerd Made: Madison“, put on by Madison Makers Market. It was kind of an arts and crafts fair for geeks.

The author, Em Rowene, had a table and explained to me how the main character here, Sheridan Bell, was influenced by Holmes, putting that type of character into a magical world. Em describes the series as a “queer fantasy romance”. In this novella, there isn’t much romance yet, although I could see hints of what’s intended.

In spite of magic being real in this world, Detective Sheridan solves his cases by plain human deduction. Here, a woman has appeared at his rooms, announcing she is about to be arrested for murder. She performed a cleansing ritual at a home where the owner was later found mauled by a magical beast. The investigation requires Sheridan to travel to the sidhe realm of Tamerley, where he encounters the powerful leader of a family of deal makers.

I enjoyed the story, and I hope there’s much more to come, as so much of this is an introduction to these worlds. You can read the story for yourself online.