Magic for Liars

Bookseller recommendation

“Private Detective Ivy Gamble is hired to investigate a gruesome death at Osthorne Academy for Young Mages. Ivy has no magic and has more experience investigating insurance fraud cases than she has in solving murders. Now she has the chance to show off her detective skills at the same school her estranged magical twin sister teaches at...but will her relationship with her sister cause problems for the case? What at first seems to be another teenage wizard school drama instantly becomes an intriguing mystery that combines the best of urban fantasy with classic noir elements. I was immediately pulled to the protagonist, Ivy Gamble, and her complicated history she has with the magical world (and her sister). Who is the killer, one of the victim's fellow teachers or one of her hormone-crazed students? Can Ivy solve the case without knowing any magic at all? And how is Ivy supposed to sift through the lies surrounding Osthorne Academy when she can't even be truthful to herself?”

— Shannyn • New Story Community Books

Bookseller recommendation

“Xe Sands gives the performance of a lifetime. Tense. Moody. Perfect. This book HAUNTS me! ”

— Harry • Kepler's Books and Magazines

Bookseller recommendation

“When Ivy was a child, her sister went off to a school for mages, leaving her feeling abandoned in the non-magical world. So when her sister’s boss turns up at Ivy’s detective practice a couple of decades later and asks her to solve a murder, she’s less than enthused. Mixing noir tropes with the classic setting of a school for practitioners of magic, Magic for Liars is by turns intriguing and unsettling. I was on the edge of my seat the whole way as Ivy attempted to comb through the lies and resist her own temptation to get too deeply embroiled in the mystery.”

— Shelby Daniel-Wayman • Fair Isle Books