No Guts, No Fury

Federal Bureau of Magic Cozy Mystery, Book 3

By: Annabel Chase

Narrated by: Elizabeth Saydah

Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Welcome to Chipping Cheddar, where supernaturals are hidden in plain sight

I'm less than thrilled when the Federal Bureau of Magic sends a training instructor to make sure my skills are up to snuff. Agent Quinn Redmond is an uptight fae with a rigid approach to rules and regulations that even a do-gooder like me finds stifling. When an eerie fog settles over the town, residents begin acting out in response, resulting in overtime hours for Chief Fox and local law enforcement. Things take a deadly turn when one of the residents ends up dead and I worry his death is only the beginning.

Will I manage to shine a light on the situation or is the whole town destined to remain in a fog?

No Guts, No Fury (Federal Bureau of Magic Cozy Mystery, Book 3) is a full-length humorous paranormal cozy mystery.

©2019 Red Palm Press LLC (P)2019 Red Palm Press LLC

Best

Series Ms Chase has ever written. It’s funny and cleaver and the events have just the right flow

Such a fun listen! This narrator is so versatile and entertaining.

This story was intriguing. Their are unexpected laughs throughout. The romance is still charming. The narrator is really impressive.

Lost in a Fog and Losing Luster

The first chapter quickly orients us to our main character Eden Fury, a Federal Bureau of Magic agent returned to her small home town of Chipping Cheddar with her dysfunctional magical family. These stories are easy to jump into without feeling like you need much back story to know what’s happening. The pacing and story move along, the dialogue is as sarcastic as ever and an FBM trainer called Quinn Redmond as a fun addition to the cast. A mysterious fog covers the town and the people quickly begin behaving in all sorts of interesting ways and some deadly.

The third installment in this series, I am a little tired at the lack development and the story felt a little stilted. Aspects of this new mystery seem far too obvious for the audience yet painfully slow for Eden to pick up on despite her being a gifted investigative agent for FBM. Magic continues to feel like more of an accessory and is often talked about afterward rather than shown. Although I was willing to see this as an aspect of Eden avoiding magic in the first two volumes I was disappointed that this does not seem to be something developing with any depth as the story continues. The scenes where there is active magic happening is limited to one scene and feels rushed and underdeveloped. Even the cause of the mystery in town feels rather hand waved in the conclusion of the story. There are even moments where Eden is being trained and just as she is about to engage in her “Fury skills” the story cuts away and is not shown what this actually entails or looks like. It felt odd that there are constant discussions that Fury powers are highly dangerous yet there is an FBM trainer encouraging Eden to develop her skills further. And the idea that Eden is being forced to develop her powers against her will by her employer which is supposed to be an agency that tries to regulate and limit magic makes less and less sense with each story. And the fury powers that Eden possesses seem to have zero harmful effects to anyone.

The more detail Eden gives about the family she grew up in as well as watching the way her family utilizes their magic (again you hear/see the results of this magic not the casting, process, or explanation of how magic works in this universe) is feeling far more traumatic than comedic. The narrator does a good job as usual. The story is easy to get through there are little hints of romance for Eden but this is still very periphery to the story. I will continue with the series as I enjoy the concepts and the world but this volume was not quite as good but I hope the next will develop more than maintain the same.