Murder of Crows by Anne Bishop

Title: Murder of Crows (A Novel of The Others, 2)
Author: Anne Bishop
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
Publisher: ROC (4th March 2014)
Blurb:

Return to New York Times bestselling author Anne Bishop’s “phenomenal”* world of the Others – where supernatural entities and humans struggle to coexist and one woman has begun to change the rules . . .

After winning the trust of the Others residing in the Lakeside Courtyard, Meg Corbyn has had trouble figuring out what it means to live among them. As a human, Meg should be barely tolerated prey, but her abilities as a cassandra sangue make her something more.

The appearance of two addictive drugs has sparked violence between the humans and the Others, resulting in the murders of both species in nearby cities. So when Meg has a dream about blood and black feathers in the snow, Simon Wolfgard – Lakeside’s shape-shifting leader – wonders whether their blood prophet dreamed of a past attack or of a future threat.

As the urge to speak prophecies strikes Meg more frequently, trouble finds its way inside the Courtyard. Now the Others and the handful of humans residing there must work together to stop the man bent on reclaiming their blood prophet – and stop the danger that threatens to destroy them all.

* Urban Fantasy Investigations

Rating: ***** (5 stars)
Review:

MURDER OF CROWS is the second book in Anne Bishop’s fantastic THE OTHERS series. It continues the story of Meg Corbyn, who we first meet in WRITTEN IN RED (review), a cassandra sangue who wants to live a ‘normal’ life. Meg has survived so far, and slowly adjusted to the world outside but prophecy still calls to her, and as events in the world build the desire to cut and see the future grows.

Having enjoyed WRITTEN IN RED I was really looking forward to getting my hands on this book, but as MURDER OF CROWS is the second book in the series I was a little worried that it would suffer from second book syndrome. I needn’t have worried as MURDER OF CROWS was a really enjoyable and enthralling read. Anne Bishop opens MURDER OF CROWS with a brief history of the world, which I was grateful for as it helped me to sink back into the world – to remember the things that are similar to our world, but also to be reminded of how the world of THE OTHERS is subtly different. From then onwards I fell into the world and story, and completely enjoyed the ride.

In MURDER OF CROWS Meg has settled into her life in the Lakeside Courtyard, however tensions are rising between the human population and the Others. This isn’t helped by the arrival of two drugs which affect humans and Other alike, resulting in the murder of both of them in nearby cities. The rising tension calls to Meg’s prophetic abilities, which her friends find troublesome as each time she looks into the future she takes another step towards insanity. The plot of the book follows these rising tensions and the consequences of them, as well as Meg’s struggle to help her friends without hurting herself. Bishop does a great job in drawing the plot out, and I like the fact that there was the occasional chapter from the bad guys point of view as it allowed me to have a broader view of the situation than would otherwise have been possible.

For me, a big selling point of this series was the characterisation in WRITTEN IN RED. Bishop continues the good storyline with the great characters in MURDER OF CROWS. Meg is a really compelling main character, and I enjoyed watching her journey through the book. Bishop also does a brilliant job with the supporting cast. I particularly liked how she wrote Lieutenant Crispin James Montgomery, or Monty. Although he is very definitely a secondary character, for me Monty was one of the characters that could have made or broken this book. Bishop puts Monty in a very interesting position in this book and it’s interesting to watch events fall-out around him.

If you haven’t picked up this series yet, then what are you waiting for?! Anne Bishop’s THE OTHERS is a great addition to the urban fantasy genre. MURDER OF CROWS is a brilliant second book, and I really enjoyed continuing my journey through this world. I’m really looking forward to the next addition to the series.