Three and a half stars, rounding up to four. I think this is the best of the series I've read so far - which might make it seem as if I don't like Kate, as she's not in this at all, but I don't think that's true. I do like her. But I also tend to gravitate more to characters who use intelligence to solve their problems, like Dali does, more than the ones who tend to go for physical violence, like Kate does. Which is not to say that Kate's stupid, because she isn't, but she is saddled with an extremely irritating love interest who gets in fights quite a lot, and I'm not that interested in their relationship. Jim, on the other hand, is the spymaster of the shapeshifter group, I think? Admittedly, he doesn't do much along that line here. It's mostly him following Dali around as she solves things, and he's certainly the brawn of this particular pairing, but they seem a little more reserved, the two of them, and I enjoy that. Compared to Kate and Curran, it's positively Jane Austen with these two, and again... I find that more appealing.

I also liked Dali's mum, and that the antagonist was actually sympathetic on some level. I'm pretty sure on one of the previous books I said that I enjoyed the completely unsympathetic villain, but sue me. I contain multitudes, and it's possible to like different things on different days.