A step up from [b:Mairelon the Magician|245727|Mairelon the Magician (Mairelon, #1)|Patricia C. Wrede|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173099876s/245727.jpg|1047576]. Since we already knew most of the main characters, we were able to jump right into the story. The mystery was more mysterious and interesting, and there was a lot more of being in Society, and some of the dialogue was pretty interesting. Sprinkle in some romantic tension, a threat to a major character, and considerably less of Hunch ("you shouldn't have oughta had done that" gets old fast), and we have a pretty good book, that I actually made time to return to, rather than just reading at the end of the day.