A Study in Sorcery

This is a good crime story, a nice exercise in alternative history, and it's good fun to read.

When I first read Kurland's two Lord Darcy novels, I thought they were quite good but not as good as Randall Garrett's originals (Garrett having been the creator of Lord Darcy and his world). However, after repeated rereading I've decided that Kurland's Lord Darcy is about as good overall as Garrett's. Perhaps Garrett is slightly better at scenario and plot, while Kurland is slightly better at characterization and writing style.

The particular advantages of this book are the touches of humour and the novelty of the North American setting: all other Lord Darcy stories are set in Europe.

The young Lady Irene is rather charming, and it's a pity that we meet her only in this book.

Although it's only a minor criticism, I'm puzzled that Lady Irene and other young ladies of her acquaintance, in their twenties, seem to regard Lord Darcy and Master Sean as interesting eligible bachelors. In this book, we can deduce that both of them are in their mid-fifties, and Master Sean is a rather stout beer drinker. I'm no expert on young ladies, but I wouldn't expect them to take such an interest in men easily old enough to be their fathers; particularly when there's no great discrepancy in wealth or status (Lady Irene is both titled and well paid).

Lord Darcy's age is somewhat disputable. This book and the Garrett story “The muddle of the woad” both imply indirectly that he was born in about 1931, and this book is set in 1985, so he should be about 54. However, Garrett's last story, ‘The spell of war', is an anomaly, implying that he was ten years older: born in about 1921.