Today's Read: City of Dark Magic by Magnus Flyte

Would you ignore the warning signs if you had a chance to fulfill a lifelong dream? When Sarah Watson is given the opportunity to travel from Boston to Prague to study the papers of her beloved Beethoven, she decides a break-in, rumors of hell portals, and a mysterious suicide aren't going to stop her.

The night before she leaves for Europe, a strange symbol appears on the ceiling of her apartment:

"I think someone broke into the apartment," said Sarah. . . . "But I don't think they took anything."

Alessandro made a quick check of his belongings, and returned to confirm that nothing was missing, not even his stash of pot.

"Why they no take our TV?" he said, insulted. "Is very nice TV."

Sarah showed him the strange symbol, but Alessandro had no idea what it meant either.

"I think what we need is a nice grappa," he suggested. "Tomorrow you sleep on plane."

After a grappa, Sarah still had no idea what the symbol meant, who could have put it there, or why. But after two grappas, she didn't care.

—City of Dark Magic by Magnus Flyte (Penguin USA / Penguin Books, 2012, p. 37)

Quick Facts

• Setting: Prague, plus Boston and Venice
• Circumstances: Sarah travels to Prague to conduct research but is soon caught up in solving a murder that just might involve alchemy and time travel.
• Characters: Sarah, a music graduate student; a handsome time-traveling prince; a 400-year-old dwarf
• Genre: mystery, humor, romance, paranormal, music, and adventure all wrapped up together 
• Miscellaneous: Magnus Flyte is the pen name for the writing duo Christina Lynch and Meg Howrey

Buy City of Dark Magic at an indie or at a bookstore near you. (Link leads to an affiliate program.)
ISBN-13: 9780143122685
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