[Steampunk Magica 01] • Strong Mystery · Murder, Mystery and Magic Books 1-3 (Steampunk Magica)

The year is 1885. The city is the British colony of an alternate Hong Kong. Some of the city’s most powerful men are dead from what appear to be heart attacks. Though no evidence points to foul play, members of the British Crown’s secretive Obsidian Order know something is amiss. Owen Strong is a former member of the secret sect and a Master Sorcerer who no longer has any interest in the Order—or its rules. He’s recruited by the Order to come out of retirement to investigate the mysterious deaths and save his island city.

Jinhao is Owen’s mysterious Chinese companion. She is a woman of many talents, whose razor-sharp intellect and unusual skills are a match for her partner’s unique gifts. When Owen and Jinhao discover that there are radicals in Hong Kong who are planning to assassinate key delegates to disrupt upcoming trade negotiations, it’s not just Hong Kong that they must save: if they do not succeed, a world war will be imminent.

In Strong Magic, Raven Bond has created an inventive and highly mystical world, where the undead are loyal servants, powerful Magians help keep peace (and sometimes cause trouble) in a Steam Era Hong Kong, and a dragon named Lohan watches over them all from his perch above the city. The mystery at the center of the novel gets more unpredictable as the pages turn and the characters must delve into both Hong Kong society and its seedy underworld to secure the fate of the city and the world.