Witches Incorporated

Three and a half stars; rating it upwards due to it coming together in the last half of the book. Feels like a young adult book; it's overall style reminds me a great deal of Patricia Wrede's Dealing With Dragons stories. Overall minimal world-building, with a main focus on how characters interact with each other--lots of jousting dialogue. A common epithet is "Saint Snodgrass," so you quickly get a sense of the silly. I picked this up on a whim, not having read the first book. One of the initial scenes has a main character, Gerald, revisiting decisions made in the past, and as we are introduced to the three other protagonists, they refer to a troubled past as well. I get the sense of it being a moral crisis for Gerald, and occupational show more turning point for Melissande, but it's not anything that hinders enjoyment of the current story. For the most part, the characters are focused on current issues, but part of the issues involve how they are creating and defining themselves, which includes how they are dealing with past decisions.

The women of the group--three of them, if you count the transformed human Reg--have set up a "witches' service" business, and are trying to improve business. They take on a frivolous case and it soon leads to another case that intersects with Gerald's own investigations.

I didn't rate this book higher because I felt characterization lacking. We are supposed to believe that Mel was a princess and had some responsibility in her prior home, she's the one that's most self-doubting, cautious and worrying, and is hen-pecked by the bird into worrying about the size of her bottom, while the wizardly one is impetuous, unselfconscious and manipulative in her 'cuteness.' I actually kept getting the two mixed up at first, thinking that the princess would be the self-centered, manipulative one.

Far too much of their daily dialogue focuses around deeply embedded emotional issues. It seems to me that one doesn't bring up personal grievances every time one gets a chance, especially with friends. We quickly learn that Mel wears men's clothes for comfort and Binnie feels left out that her uncle didn't think she should be left any inheritance because she's a "gel," which seems to be a derogatory slang for a girl, perhaps working girl (no, not that way). So we're given the premise of a sexist society, yet we witness Mel and Bibbie picking at each other, or the hexed-into-bird-shape Reg, or either of their guy friends. I'm all about consciousness raising, but desire to be treated like a grown up doesn't translate into acting like one, and these two need to act like friends, not competitors. The romance, however budding, between Monk and Mel, and perhaps Gerald and Bibbie, is very circumspect, and we know about it mostly because we are told, rather than shown. I don't particularly mind as I don't enjoy a lot of romance in my books, but it fell flat.

I felt the tone was consistently light and enjoyable. As the characters were given more to learn and do, they stopped picking at each other as much. The plot became interesting as the two cases converged, and the resolution satisfactory. I'll catch the next book from the library. show less

In a nutshell, this book is cute. We have a secret agent wizard who's first assignment is to work undercover for a corrupt business, two friends who start a witching agency (one's a princess) and a talking bird.

The plot makes sense, if at times a bit clumsy. The characters are rather stereotypical - absent minded scientist, un-princess like princess, bumbling hero who doesn't so much screw up as seem to attract trouble. Even the secret agency is fairly standard.

Where the book shines is that it manages to take the standard tropes and do something a bit different. Gerald actually makes the correct choice - is honest with his friends and employers. While he doesn't ask for help, he will accept it when it makes sense to.

Its a good lazy day show more book - not much in substance, but it is fun. show less

Review by Crisetta MacLeod:

Here’s a society where magic is part of the everyday economy. Gerald the apprentice wizard, who doesn’t yet realise the extent of his skills, is on his first assignment. The ‘gels’, Melissande, Emmerabiblia and a crow called Reg, are struggling to establish an investigative Witch outfit. They have to prove that cheating is skewing the results of the local pastry-making competition; Gerald is trying to find out why magical gate transporters are malfunctioning.
These two threads will cross and intertwine in a book that has a wonderful light touch, even when things are exploding dangerously. The repartee between all the protagonists is exaggeratedly funny—the crow in particular has a great line in show more snappy comebacks. She contributes to both investigations with her bird’s eye view of events. The ‘gels’ are very conscious of gender inequalities, because whatever their abilities, as females they are considered unimportant; and there is the matter of Great-Uncle Throgmorton’s will, which left nothing at all to his female relatives. Melissande wears tweed trews as a feminist protest—not a protest I would hurry to emulate, they must be very itchy! A very merry, witty story. show less

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.com by express permission of this reviewer   Synopsis Princess Melissande and her friend Bibbie, along with Reg, start their own Witches business and are hired to investigate some petty thieving at a large company. At the same time, Gerald is investigating a series of Portal Accidents and possibly something more sinister.   My Thoughts I was really enjoying this book. One liners were abounding in every chapter. There was a great mix of humor, adventure and magic.   Things show more were going great, this was headed for 4stars easily, then the characters started fighting. About really stupid things.  And it wasn't amusing. It was annoying and ruined it all for me.The girls started acting like real bitches and the guys suddenly lost their spines and whined like 5 year olds.   I almost felt like I was reading the writings of 2 authors.  It was a very schizophrenic experience and almost made me want to stop reading. Thankfully, it all worked out in the end. I just hope the next book doesn't devolve into the kind of whining, moaning, bitch slapping and general childish'ness shown in part here.   But, the idea here, the general plot, is just totally awesome! Which is why I'll read the next book. A self-effacing super-powered magician, working secretly for the government. How does it get better than that!?   Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars   Author: K.E. Mills [also known as Karen Miller] " show less

The second book in the Rogue Agent series is another fun romp. I have a special fondness for books that can make me smile. The last thing I want to do is spend my free time reading a book that is just as dark and depressing as reality and the Rogue Agent books certainly are not. In this tale, Mellisande, princess and former prime minister of a tiny colonial kingdom, is now living in the mother country. There she establishes a kind of witch-powered detective agency with her boyfriend’s sister, who is both gorgeous and magically talented. They have been hired to uncover the identity of the person pilfering biscuits and sugar cubes in an office building. While attempting to unmask this dastardly miscreant, they stumble into the middle of show more a government investigation into a far more complicated and deadly affair involving terrorism and espionage.
I quite enjoyed this book although it could possibly have benefited from another round of editing and minor revision. Some scenes feel drawn out and there are places where the reactions of the characters do not seem to fit the situation. About a hundred pages could, and probably should have been cut in the final version. I did not find these flaws overly distracting though and I still recommend it. show less

Gerald has survived his first adventures and now is in a secret government agency. He's hunting a deadly saboteur, trying his best to appear harmless and he would love to have his friends helping him.
Princess Melissande and Reg the bird from the previous story are working with Monk Markham's sister Bibbie in a witching locum agency. They're not being very successful until they get caught up in a baking competition. They're helped by their social status. When they uncover the truth in the competition they then get asked to investigate more for their employer. This drags them into the same company as Gerald and suddenly they have to investigate things together. Gerald has to combine his job with keeping his friends safe and believing show more that his friends can help him.

It took a while to get into the stride of this story, and it whizzed past as the story came to it's conclusion, I really want to read more in this series. Melissande is a great character and she really comes across as mostly self-reliant but willing to let others help, particularly if she lacks the skills. Gerald has to deal with his conscience a lot and makes hard decisions of the right reasons. show less

I liked this second book in the Rogue agent-series better than the first. Altough sometimes I found the way of writing a bit tiring because of the many quarrels between the main characters. But it is a nice book to read if you want some humour and easy reading. I just love the characters of Reg and Melisande.