Capital Murder

Arcane Casebook, Book 7

By: Dan Willis

Narrated by: Alex Knox

When the FBI wants to sweep the murder of a US Senator under the rug, Alex Lockerby must navigate the halls of political power and corruption in order to catch a professional killer and uncover dark conspiracy that threatens the very foundations of government.

Hired by the widow of a murdered US Senator, Alex Lockerby is shocked to find out that she’s the only one who seems to want the crime solved. Between the local police and the FBI, everyone wants this case over and done with, even if they have to sweep it under the rug just to make it go away.

Not satisfied with the answers he’s getting, Alex dives into the world of high stakes power politics and the inherent corruption that goes with it. Quickly, he finds himself with more motives and suspects than he can manage, all while being pursued by a professional killer, a murderous thief, and a powerful crime lord from his past.

With time running out to find the true motive for the Senator’s murder, Alex must find the link between a bizarre theft, a missing alchemist, and legislation the murdered Senator was working on. If he succeeds, Alex might just have a chance to uncover a dark conspiracy that threatens the government itself, unless they get him first.

©2021 Dan Willis (P)2022 Dan Willis

Can’t get enough

I love this series. I just can’t get enough. I hope the author lives a very long time and continues writing.

I liked this one for the supporting cast.

Yeah, I'll say it here. Alex becomes a brewmaster. That's it; that right there makes this book worth reading. In a desperate side hustle, Alex becomes a legendary brewmaster famed within law enforcement and criminal circles.

Alex does a great job, and voices certain scenes perfectly.

How not to give away more spoilers than brewmaster alex? I can't so, go listen to the tale of the world's newest runewrite brewmaster.

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Audible's rating is:
1 Star is "not for me"
2 Stars "it is okay"
3 Stars "pretty good"
4 Stars "it's great"
5 Stars "I love it"

A one star book could be a very dry topic, story, crude, or someone preaching down to the reader. I generally don't have 1-star books. I will just return them and go my own way. My last three were from the same series; I had hit a very dry spot in my listening.

A 2-star story, would be something that was phoned in by a writer that typically has done much better work. I have a couple of reviews from authors that just seemed to phone it in, one most recently from an author that decided to mix current politics into his novel. If I wanted that, I would just watch the news.

A 3-star review is where I really start. It means I enjoyed the book. That I did not have a hard time following it (I have lost a lot of my conversational hearing). That the story kept to a plot, the characters were not static, and the world built was plausible.

A 4-star review is something that I really enjoyed. It puts the author on my map to keep an eye out for. I go through 12-15 books a month. (audible is my primary source of entertainment. ) I will search for the author's works regularly and seek out their stories for future purchases.

A 5-star review, These are not as rare as one would think. These are the books where the characters grow, learn, and act according to their nature. Where the world is not only plausible but believable. Where there are economic systems, businesses, and rules of law that make sense. Where the story is woven, progressed, and told with caring and dedication. These are books, series, authors, and narrators that bring it all in a package.

So, when reading my reviews, if anyone does, that is how I judge the books.

Very entertaining

I am on book 7 at this point and have enjoyed every one so far. In series, there is sometimes a diminished story line after a few books. Am not finding that with these books. The single question I have, even given the different culture at the time when these stories are set (1930's) is the over-emphasis on cigarettes and smoking. I know smoking was normalized then, but the story seems to place an unusual emphasis on the issue. Doesn't detract from the mysteries or the magic, is just weird.
Can highly recommend this series.

Gets better and better…

This series has continued to evolve and become more and more entertaining. I highly recommend it.

another good book in the series

definitely an enjoyable read but you really have to read the books in order and order to comprehend what's going on. you have to use his historical figures others to weave some interesting lot on lines in an almost like alternative history type novel with magic included in the steampunk like history. the narration is good and the narrator continues to do a good job differentiating on the characters

A good listen

This was a good story as well as good narration.
I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

Brilliant!!

I loved this book! Great new twists and turns that kept me listening and wanting to know what happens next. Highly recommend! (Read books in order)

Best so far.

I have enjoyed each of the books in this series so far. This book was by far the best in regards to development of the Legion as a “big bad“ for the heroes to challenge. I also enjoyed the character development of the character Sorsha Kincaid.

Enough is Enough

The first several books were fun to read while Alex was a starving young detective working in the gutter. Then he started making more money and working with the rich and famous and dating the worlds most famous sorcerers. Then it just got stupid.

I'm so confused...

After binging all seven books available in the series, I'm still not sure whether I love or hate this series.

There has to be something I love about it, I read seven books after all, but I also can't remember a time being so angry while listening to a story, often finding myself screaming at Lockerby within the safety or my psychotic mind at whatever bone-headed thing Lockerby would do next to invent conflict for himself...

I am just a sucker for detective noir. Especially with a genius (more on this soon...) detective protagonist. Honestly, if Lockerby was just a normal/ non-magical detective in a magical world, I think I'd enjoy this series a lot more... but...

But he's not. He's someone with magic who often finds himself in life or death situations. The amount of times this 'genius' finds himself caught flat-footed, without any means to defend himself (with reasons varying to not being arsed to create new defensive runes, not carrying a side-arm, shrugging off massive, glaringly obvious red-flags, not studying his all-powerful, super-secret rune book etc etc) is staggering. It's at the point where the only reason he's alive is because of plot armour - and I find that incredibly infuriating.

It often reads like the author can't put his protagonist in any kind of satisfying peril, so he has to conjure up maddening nonsense (that only gets more annoying as the series progresses and he doesn't LEARN) just to add some tension.


I can also do without the teen-level relationship melodrama.

I feel like I'm on a knife's edge with this one, teetering on the verge of dropping the series but still willing to give it a chance. We'll see how I feel when the next one comes out.