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The Alchemist's Illusion (2019)

par Gigi Pandian

MembresCritiquesPopularitéÉvaluation moyenneMentions
606432,991 (3.91)2
Fiction. Mystery. HTML:

Winner of the Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original

Nominated for the G.P. Putnam's Sons Sue Grafton Memorial Award

The latest alchemical adventure from Gigi Pandian, USA Today bestselling author and winner of the Agatha Award

Centuries-old alchemist Zoe Faust is tired of running from her past. She's finally got her life on track in Portland, Oregon, gardening and cooking in her fixer-upper house with her mischievous best friend, Dorian the gargoyle chef. It seems like the perfect life for Zoe, until she discovers that her old mentor Nicolas Flamel, who she thought had abandoned her, has been imprisoned.

A local artist holds the secret that could lead Zoe to her mentor, but the artist is murdered and the painting containing the hidden clue is stolen. To rescue Nicolas, Zoe and Dorian must explore art forgery, a transformative process that has much in common with alchemy and cooking??but one that proves far more dangerous.

Includes delicious vegan recipes!

Praise:

"Surprising plot twists, several cliffhangers, and vivid magical imagery will keep fans of paranormal cozies turning the pages."??Publishers Weekly

"Sparkles most when it stays true to the wonder of its magical subject."??Foreword Reviews

"Pandian paints a lovely picture of relationships throughout the book's mystery of greed and violence."??New York Journal o
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» Voir aussi les 2 mentions

Affichage de 1-5 de 6 (suivant | tout afficher)
I read this book while I read two other supernatural books at the same time, and now my thoughts are all muddled. But for the most part it’s a slightly better than average cozy paranormal mystery.

Zoe’s an alchemist that accidentally stumbled on the philosopher’s stone and the elixir of life centuries ago and has been hiding her true nature ever since. Her best friend is a gargoyle that received the elixir of life from someone practicing backward alchemy a hundred years ago who got by before meeting Zoe by being a French chef to the blind. There’s a lot to like in the premise of this book and series, if you like that sort of thing (and I do).

Zoe apprenticed under Nicholas Flamel and his wife, both of whom disappeared centuries ago and were presumed dead, but Zoe had begun having suspicions when she stumbled across a painting of the two of them – something she knew they never allowed.

What follows would be a great story if not for Zoe’s over-riding angst colouring the whole story. Constant worrying about being found out; her other best friend being railroaded for a crime he didn’t commit because of his race; her gargoyle being discovered; her boyfriend not believing her. The list is sort of exhaustive, and reading about it is exhaustive. Beyond that is a really interesting story about hiding in plain sight, and the corruption of desire in a life lived too long.

This book culminates in a few secrets being revealed, so I can only hope the next book will be a lot less angsty and a lot more pure fun. ( )
  murderbydeath | Jan 17, 2022 |
Alchemist 300 years old learns that her old mentor is imprisoned. But the painting that is a clue disappears and police, trying to solve the owner's murder wonder why Zoe is interested. She is conflicted in relationship with local police detective, wanting to tell him the truth about her life, including the living gargoyle who shares her house. Overall I found the last minute solution of the original murder less interesting than the supernatural mystery. Since one didn't see much of the murder investigation the solution seemed tacked on. This is 4th in a series.
  ritaer | Jan 15, 2021 |
Series Info/Source: This is the fourth (and final) book in The Accidental Alchemist series. I borrowed this book from the library. This series was stopped abruptly when Midnight Ink closed, but this book doesn’t leave things feeling too unfinished.

Story (4/5): Zoe’s life is looking pretty wonderful in Portland, when Zoe discovers her mentor Nicolas Flamel has been imprisoned. She finds a painting at a local art store with clues to Flamel’s imprisonment, but then the artist that runs the art store is murdered and Zoe is being accused of being involved. Zoe must navigate some complex historical alchemy plots if she is going to save Flemel and not get accused of anything herself.

This was another well done mystery with a lot of interesting alchemical history. In this book we jump back and forth between Zoe’s story and that of a historical artist who practices alchemical painting. It’s complex and well done and I enjoyed it.

Characters (4/5): The characters remain a strong point of this series. I love Zoe, Dorian, Brixton, Max and all of our other Portland regulars. Tobias journeys to Portland to join Zoe in her quest and it was fun to learn more about him as well. Additionally, we finally get to learn more about Nicholas and his wife, which opens up a lot more background on Zoe’s past. The characters are generally all kind and supportive with complex historical pasts.

Setting (4/5): I continue to enjoy the Portland setting and it was fun to get a bit more insight into the art scene there. We also get some glimpses back into Italy (I think, and I can’t quite remember the year) and those were well done too.

Writing Style (4/5): Pandian continues to craft amazing mysteries full of interesting alchemical history. She also incorporates characters that are very complex but very likable and easy to engage with. The whole thing is a fun and quick read that I really enjoy. There are also interesting Vegan recipes included at the end if you are into that sort of thing.

This story wraps up fairly well, there is a contained mystery and the overall story makes a lot of progress. I am okay with how things are left here, but was disappointed to hear that Midnight Ink shut down and the series wasn’t picked up by another publisher. I know there is a short story called “A Gargoyle in Paris” that continues the story some. I am hoping Pandian will consider self publishing some more books in this series in the future.

My Summary (4/5): Overall I really enjoyed both this book and the whole series. I think this book was my favorite of the series so far. I love the alchemical painting concept that was introduced here and it was so much fun to finally meet Nicholas Flemel. If you enjoy really well done mysteries and learning about alchemy I would definitely recommend this series! I wish there were going to be more books in it. ( )
  krau0098 | Dec 23, 2020 |
Centuries-old alchemist Zoe Faust is tired of running from her past. She's finally got her life on track in Portland, Oregon, gardening and cooking in her fixer-upper house with her mischievous best friend, Dorian the gargoyle chef. It seems like the perfect life for Zoe, until she discovers her old mentor Nicolas Flamel, who she thought had abandoned her, has been imprisoned.

A local artist holds the secret that could lead Zoe to her mentor, but the artist is murdered, and the painting containing the hidden clue is stolen. To rescue Nicolas, Zoe and Dorian must explore art forgery, a transformative process that has much in common with alchemy and cooking—but one which proves far more dangerous.
--

Series: An Accidental Alchemist Mystery - Book 4
Author: Gigi Pandian
Genre: Cozy/Paranormal Mystery
Publisher: Midnight Ink

Gigi Pandian has a creative mind that has a way of coming up with new and captivating ideas. The Alchemist’s Illusion from Midnight Ink http://www.midnightinkbooks.com stems from that creativeness and intrigues the reader from the beginning. That said, it would be better for readers NOT to start reading this series with the current and latest book. This is a series that must be read from the beginning. Readers who start with the newest edition will have problems following along and may not understand who the characters are, and they may not be willing to find out either.

The character of Zoe Faust is interesting, and a bit complicated. She doesn’t like being in the background all the time but is smart enough to understand that being in the forefront could be bad for her health. The world has changed since Zoe was a young woman, hundreds of years have passed, but some things never change, and people’s fear of magic and alchemy is one of those things that hasn’t changed all that much. Zoe is intelligent and compassionate. Her best friend is a gargoyle and the love of her life a mortal human cop. It makes for a challenging dynamic.

Other characters in this book are fascinating, they, not your average everyday sub characters that you like but don’t worry about unduly. Quite the contrary, readers will worry and get excited every time these characters are in danger or try to help Zoe.

The setting of Portland, Oregon is fitting to a story that is about alchemy. In a city that prides itself on its environment saving philosophies, art and culture, it is rather closed minded when it comes to magic. That mixed with the side story in this book and series will keep the reader turning the page.

Unfortunately, as a reader I take issue with the characters names, having a main character named Nicholas Flamel is too reminiscent of the Harry Potter character with the same name who was also an alchemist. Even Zoe Faust herself is named after a character in another famous book. Also, the mere fact that Zoe has a friend who is a gargoyle is similar to another series by another author. All of these things combined make it difficult to look past.

The premise for The Alchemist’s Illusion is wonderfully original to the cozy mystery genre, and for this reason alone it is hard to completely dislike the book. The writing is good, and the story flows nicely. If the reader isn’t bothered by too many resemblances to other books, characters and story-lines then they will no doubt enjoy this book. Once again, I caution anyone who wishes to read this book to start from the being of the series and not with the fourth installment. ( )
  GinDuperre | Jan 4, 2019 |
urban-fantasy, suspense, alchemy, mystery, law-enforcement

The story was great even though I didn't binge reread the earlier books!
I think that it's a strength of the author that the reader is not disadvantaged by either not having reread prior books or even not ever having read them. But about this one, the publisher's blurb gives some idea of what to expect (other than the unexpected), but it's getting into the whole spirit of the author's imagination that makes it such a wonderful read.
I've seen it mentioned that the books are for younger readers, but that is an inexact judgment. True, there is no graphic violence, erotica, or gratuitous use of the f bomb, but I think that they're great and I am retired from being a jail RN!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Midnight Ink via NetGalley. Thank you! ( )
  jetangen4571 | Nov 20, 2018 |
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Fiction. Mystery. HTML:

Winner of the Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original

Nominated for the G.P. Putnam's Sons Sue Grafton Memorial Award

The latest alchemical adventure from Gigi Pandian, USA Today bestselling author and winner of the Agatha Award

Centuries-old alchemist Zoe Faust is tired of running from her past. She's finally got her life on track in Portland, Oregon, gardening and cooking in her fixer-upper house with her mischievous best friend, Dorian the gargoyle chef. It seems like the perfect life for Zoe, until she discovers that her old mentor Nicolas Flamel, who she thought had abandoned her, has been imprisoned.

A local artist holds the secret that could lead Zoe to her mentor, but the artist is murdered and the painting containing the hidden clue is stolen. To rescue Nicolas, Zoe and Dorian must explore art forgery, a transformative process that has much in common with alchemy and cooking??but one that proves far more dangerous.

Includes delicious vegan recipes!

Praise:

"Surprising plot twists, several cliffhangers, and vivid magical imagery will keep fans of paranormal cozies turning the pages."??Publishers Weekly

"Sparkles most when it stays true to the wonder of its magical subject."??Foreword Reviews

"Pandian paints a lovely picture of relationships throughout the book's mystery of greed and violence."??New York Journal o

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