I adore these books by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer. They're epistolary novels, told in the form of letters between the main characters. Think Regency romance novel, with a bit of alternative history to add magic, and plenty of sly wit. ( )

While not as enjoyable as Sorcery & Cecilia, I felt that The Mislaid Magician was a lot more engaging than The Grand Tour. This novel returns to the epistolary form, recounting the adventures of Cecilia and James, and Kate and Thomas as they become entangled in a mystery that has the power alter the fate of England. Where The Grand Tour dragged, the alternating journal entries becoming somewhat convoluted, The Mislaid Magician resumed the easy, fast pace of the original. ( )

Many people felt this installment in the "Sorcery and Cecilia" series to be the worst one in the series. I suppose that's true, but more because the other two were fantastic and this one is just a bit less so. Personally I would have liked a bit more romance, but then, we do finally get to see letters between Thomas and James, which really adds a lot, in my opinion. The mystery is engaging, the children are entertaining, and Kate turns into a dog. Really, what more could you want?

In The Mislaid Magician, Lady Schofield (Kate) and Mrs. Tarleton (Cecy) have been married for ten years and each have a brood of mischievous children. The cousins have continued their friendship, and when Cecy and James are called to attend Wizard Wellington on a matter of some urgency, the Tarleton children come to stay with their Aunt Kate and Uncle Thomas at the Schofield estate Skeynes. The story is told through letters between Kate and Cecy, and also (new this time) between Thomas and James (you will see why later).

It seems that there is a magical plot involving the new railroads that are starting to be built all across England. There are ley lines, underground "rivers" of magical power, that run throughout England that are causing disturbances to the railroads. The artificial ones created by wizards date back 170 years to Cromwell's time. Very little is known about ley lines, but it is becoming evident that someone is trying to manipulate the ley lines for dastardly purposes. James and Cecy must discover what happened to the wizard who was investigating the phenomenon, and Thomas and Kate must deal with their own magical disturbances at home.

I enjoyed the family anecdotes comcerning the children. I thought they were a tiny bit too mischievous, as if it were obligatory for Kate's and Cecy's children to be born troublemakers. Also, the children being able to scry so effectively was a bit off.

It was quite fun reading the correspondence between Thomas and James — full of offhand insults and good-natured raillery. The only issue I have with this is that Thomas and James are not quite as different as one could wish. Sometimes it was hard to remember who was writing. I think the chief difference is that Thomas is much more conceited than James.

Another little quibble I have is with the title. Wrede and Stevermer make it clear that a magician is an untrained magical practitioner, while a wizard is fully trained. The individual who was "mislaid" is a wizard, not a magician. But I suppose the alliteration was necessary. I also keep wanting to call it "The Magician Mislaid," but that's not right. Ah well.

The humor was great, the writing was good, and I thought the family life was realistic (well, as far as "realistic" goes with families of magical ability). The plot did seem to drag again, like the second book, but the other elements were enough to tide me over until things started really happening. Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to fans of the first two, and to anyone who enjoys fantasy set in a historical period. ( )

This is the third and, so far as I know, final volume in a series of epistolary novels that were intended as homage to Georgette Heyer, among others. The first, Cecelia and Sorcery, achieved its aim and was highly amusing. The second, The Grand Tour, dragged. This installment picked up the pace again. The story line was more robust than in either of the previous two novels but the tone did not quite achieve the same level of playfulness that the first did. I recommend the first enthusiastically; the second is acceptable but not exciting; this one is reasonably well done. Borrow from the library or a friend, do not buy before having read. ( )