This is a gentle little magic story that involves bookstores and magical items.  What’s not to like so far?

Magda is a fairly successful writer but is happiest when she’s visiting her old family friend, cum surrogate father, Frank; who owns a bookstore in London.  And it’s not just because it’s her childhood haunt, but because Frank harbors a wonderful secret in his basement.  There’s a great cabinet in the basement and it’s full of magical objects; collected by the Society for years.  Frank is the leader of this very small group of people dedicated to finding and protecting magical items, aka Unknowable Objects.  In addition to Frank and Magda, there is Will who is a watch repairer and hates magic.  The fourth of their little group is Henrietta who has not appeared for a regular meeting for years.  Before Magda, her mother was a member. The group was formed during WWII by four conscientious men who wanted to make the world safer by safeguarding magical items to keep them out of the hands of those who would misuse them.  Frank has dedicated his life to preserving both the Society and its purpose. 

As secret as their group is, it is a complete shock to them all when Frank receives a message from someone in Hong Kong who claims to have an Unknowable Object.  How could this person have known to contact Frank or know their purpose?  Someone has to go. Frank is too old and sick and Will refuses, leaving Magda as the only choice.  Frank fears greatly that she isn’t ready for this. What Magda doesn’t know is that her mother collected a great many objects in her travels but she died on one of her missions.

Once in Hong Kong, she meets the very attractive James who quickly clears up the mystery. Turns out his father was a very personal friend of Will’s father back in the day.  And when little James was so sick, Will’s father provided a special magical object to James’ father so the little boy could grow up healthy.  And he also provided the story of the Society and how to contact Frank should there be a need. And James is sure he’s found a need; a strange chess piece that just feels strange. Before Magda can claim the prize and return to London, the pair are attacked by what appears to be a very experienced assassin; James is killed and the chess piece stolen.  Magda has no choice but to use her own personal magical object, given to her by her mother, and fly away. Once back in London, Magda has a great many questions for Frank; questions he is awfully reluctant to answer. And due to the social media flurry of videos showing Magda flying, Henrietta shows up to find out what’s been happening. Henrietta has secrets of her own which she shares with Magda only to cause her to further question Frank’s purpose.  And just to make everything fair, Henrietta and Frank both have a secret magical item; despite the idea that all magical items were to be given to the Society and locked away. Everyone but Will seems to have a magical item and nothing is as Magda believed it to be.  Frank is hiding more secrets and the Society might not be all the group has believed it to be for so many years.

The assassin tracks Magda to London and seems intent on stealing all the magical items he can find.  The Society is unable to explain how this person is able to unerringly find them and know where each magical object is.  But they have to figure it out or this insane assassin will become the most powerful person in all of history and no one and nothing will be safe.

This was an entertaining plot and the author threw in some curveballs that I didn’t see coming.  But…the pace was a bit jerky because the story jumped a lot; the transitions between present day and flashbacks were not as smooth as they could have been. Will’s character was pretty much left by the wayside with little to do or say. The author used Magda’s mother to give the reader the whole backstory. Theoretically, that should have worked well; it just felt too expository for me.  It could have been a fuller story had all the figures from that generation been used in flashbacks so that all four Society members were equally involved.

And I knew what the resolution was going to be many pages before we got there. So, no great reveal or surprise.  I’m trying to put my finger on just why I feel a bit dissatisfied and the only word that comes to mind is “contrived.”  I just didn’t feel connected to anyone or anything in the story.  The history of the Society and the origins of the Unknowable Objects was too vague. And while I did see the end coming; it was a sad end as the author didn’t leave any other option on the table. Since the end of the book provided a way forward to the next story; this will be a series, apparently. Perhaps the author can rectify the unfair ending in a later story.  I just don’t think I’ll be reading it. ~~  Catherine Book