Breaking and Entering 101 (Case Files of Henri Davenforth #4)
Published March 20th 2020 by Raconteur House, Kindle Edition 223 pages
Since Jamie and Henri agreed to be Kingsmen consultants, they’d not had much call to actually consult. Which is a fortuitous thing, as Henri is up to his neck in labwork and interviews for a new Magical Examiner due to Sanderson’s departing. He is hardly in any position to add more tasks onto his shoulders.
Which, naturally, means two disasters strike at once.
In a brilliant coup, a group of thieves have struck the railroad and stolen a breathtaking three hundred thousand crowns in gold. No one has any idea how, who, or where the ingots have gotten to. The Kingsmen on the case are baffled, as this is hardly their normal purview. They naturally reach out to their Kingsmen consultants, which mean Jamie and Henri are now on the week-old case.
To spice things up further, someone is routinely sneaking through the palace wards and lurking about the grounds, and no one has any idea how the breach is occurring. Seaton’s beside himself trying to figure it out and Henri has been drawn in to assist him.
As Jamie would say: When it rains, it pours.
User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
Another delightful story. Jamie, Henri, Sherard and Clint are working with the Kingsmen this time. Sherard and Henri on 1 issue and Gibson, Jamie, Clint and Henri on a 2nd. Some wonderful new characters that we'll see again. Can't wait to start re-reading.
Rating: really liked it
I love the characters and their relationships! I giggled at the Girls Night with the Queen!
Rating: really liked it
4.5. Ooooh I’m so happy book 4 came out. I need more. The first 15% or so was slow but once I took the time to get into the plot I was very satisfied. I absolutely love Jamie and Henri and Seaton. The romance between Jamie and Henri is just barely there, and yet perfect... I’m really looking forward to seeing how it will progress. Old characters are progressing in the world, new characters are so much fun. What a good series!
Magic, crime, cool technology, street smart and smart smart characters, real problems addressed, women-really cool women characters-who interact with each other!, adapting to new cultures, fun with language (and slang), and cats... sometimes books are just made for you, you know?
And the book covers are stunning!❤️
Rating: really liked it
I am enjoying this warm-hearted and imaginative series. It's full of relatable characters that I enjoy visiting and a great escape read, a mixture of sci-fi, mystery, fantasy, mystery, and romance.
Keep them coming, please!
Rating: really liked it
Love these characters and series.
Rating: really liked it
3.5 Similar flow to the last novel, but with a humorous last few pages ^_^
Rating: really liked it
Jamie was a magically kidnapped FBI agent, ending up in a different dimension. She joined the local police in a quasi-Victorian society, and with her partner Henri has been asked to consult for the Kingsmen. In this magical, historical police procedural Jamie and Henri are faced with two different mysteries. One a train robbery and the other, someone who is trespassing at the Queen's palace.
Why I started this book: I finally finished a book that had lingered on my currently reading list for far too long... so I rewarded myself with a book that I knew I would finish immediately.
Why I finished it: Fun, and lighthearted, this series is the perfect antidote to the stress of the moment. And while this wasn't my favorite in the series, I looking forward to the next book.
Rating: really liked it
OkThe crime narrative was reasonable, a train heist with magic. My problem so the lack of character development. Henri, Jamie and Clint are wonderful but there was absolutely no growth or change in their characters or relationships. Adding new characters to the plot doesn’t make things interesting if nothing happens for the exisiting ones. I like this world but need more than a crime novel. Describing magic and supernatural beings is not the same as them being characters.
Rating: really liked it
Loved reading this book again, it was a really fun mystery, both the entering the wards and the gold heist!
*First Read March 29th, 2020*
Another great addition to the series, it was a great mystery, and I loved spending more time with these characters! Such a great read!
Rating: really liked it
Need more stars...I love these books!
From the very beginning, I have been in love with Jamie. Her struggle to find a way to fit into her new home; Henri's courtesy to her, and his advocacy on her behalf? These are what lift this book above the average crime novel.
And I WANT a talking cat.
Now for a few comments on word usage.
The word Honor used was PRECEDENCE. The word she needed was PROVENANCE. Precedence is the order of ranking for people. Who goes first? Who has precedence? Provenance is a list of former owners of a valuable object. These lists are a valuable tool in deciding whether or not an object is real, or a forgery. Provenance is also sometimes given virtually, to track the evolution of a project or an idea.
The word Honor used was AMIABLE. The word she needed was AMENABLE. Amiable means a person is friendly and easy-going. A person who is amiable is someone who seldom argues, who usually goes along with whatever someone else is planning. Amenable means agreement with a suggested course of action. For instance...'Let's finish the filing, then go for lunch. I'm buying!' 'I'm amenable to that suggestion.' In this particular usage, the difference is mostly one of degree -- an amiable person might agree even if her coworker said 'you're buying'; just for agreement's sake. Amenable means "I agree with your priorities! Work first, then food! And bonus, you're gonna pay for my lunch...SCORE!"
Rating: really liked it
Honor does it again. This is the fourth book in her "The Case Files of Henri Davenforth" series and it just keeps getting better.
I find myself capitivated by Henri, the Magical Examiner in Kingston, Draiocht (the alternate world that Jamie Edwards, an FBI agent from Earth who found herself in Draiocht after being teleported by Belladonna, an evil witch), Jamie and all the natives (weres) who populate that world.
The character and world building in these books make me feel that if I could visit Kingston, I'd already feel at home.
In this book Jamie, Henri and friends have to solve a "locked room" train robbery and somehow bar the palace to a teenage book lover.
I love locked door mysteries, and watching all of Jamie's friendships deepen is frosting on the cake.
And Clint... He's a Felix, rather like a cat on earth who was gifted early on to Jamie to help with her homesickness. He also speaks and is highly intelligent, and figures mightily in the robbery solution. But he's tailless and purple....
This book could be read as a standalone and I think you'd be fine, But it makes much more sense if you read the first 3. And since all of them are wonderful, that would be the approach I'd recommend!
Rating: really liked it
This has fast become an auto buy series for me with the author going high up my favourites list. Henri, Jamie and Sheldon, along with he wonderful cast of characters in this world are what make this series wonderful. For me, characters are everything and these are very real, leaping of the page with their warmth and vitality.
This book had a slightly slower, more relaxed pace than the last, which felt more dangerous. However that is not to detract from how wonderful it is and how brilliant a team Jamie and Henri are together. The word building continues to delight and Clint grows into a more entertaining side kick with every chapter.
This book would appeal to those who read so many genres, fantasy, historical, paranormal, crime, and just those who like a character driven story. Set on a different world from ours, with a likeness to the industrial revolution, it is nonetheless different and is somewhere that Jamie, once an FBI agent on our world, finds herself very at home. A great story and I can't wait for more.
Rating: really liked it
Loosing it's charm and unnecessarily violentSo I like these books but I am not dying for the next. The characters are unfortunately pretty static and there is no romance between anyone which feels really odd. I would love to have seen persobal growth or realization from Jamie and Henri but they started out as great people and have stayed there. This means a lack of character development and for me it makes the book boring.
The other major issue I have is Jamie laughing off child abuse. She is kind and tough and all about the law, even helping women from being victims or violence and sexual assault, and then is okay with a teenage boy being hit in front of her and beaten as long as he isn't murdered. I just was not okay with that whole segment, and the writing didn't make it clear if Jamie was supposed to be more joking or serious, but it basically condoned child abuse (and over what Jamie admits isn't actually a crime). Gross.
Anyway, I am now done with this author.
Rating: really liked it
This is such a fun series. The characters are likable, and the world works the way we all wish it would: People are respectful, criminals are caught, and problems are solved with logic and reason as well as empathy. Oh, and magic. Who doesn't want magic?
In this case, the main issue is a heist. Seems there's a gold shipment that's gone missing from a secure train car while in transit between 2 cities. It's an "impossible" crime, but, of course Henri, Jaime, and the rest of the gang get to the bottom of it with a combination of forensic magic and modern detective work.
In a separate conundrum, there's a young man who keeps walking into the palace to read the books in the library. He has no ill intent, but he knows he's not supposed to be there -- the bigger issue is the potential security hole. He's not supposed to be able to get through the wards -- sort of magical force shields. So (1) How's he doing it and (2) what do they do about the kid!
Rating: really liked it
Fun, fantastical UF mystery and sorta police procedural
I read this, the fourth book in the “Case Files of Henri Davenfort” series, as a standalone. However, I suggest that a new reader start at Book #1 to immerse themselves into the marvelous backstories and the intricate world building.
The bifurcated storyline features 1) the mysterious heist of 300,000 Crowns in gold from a robbery-proof rail system, and 2) a teenager driving the Royal Mages mad, because he can defeat powerful magic wards to sneak unnoticed into the Royal Palace.
I enjoyed following the easily likable characters of this magic-infused, science-fantasy world called Draiocht, a planet similar to earth but located in an alternate universe. One of my favorite characters is a purple cat—a magician’s familiar named Clint—not to mention the cast of were-animal characters.
