If I had to pitch this to a classic kid lit lover, I would say that this series is All of a Kind Family with magic. It just keeps getting better. I love how developed all the characters are. And I kind of want Inspector Wolf to have his own series, except that I love the MG aspect of it too. Basically, this is just all kinds of awesome.

Alternate New York in the early 20th century, with magic! Sacha Kessler is a young Jewish boy who gets apprenticed to a New York Police Inquisitor. Fun period details, illustrations that reminded me strongly of the first All of a Kind Family book, and nice characters. I did wish at a certain point that Sacha would just get over his nerves and tell the Inquisitor his secret, because I didn’t quite buy the reason for his not having done so. But that’s the only quibble I had, and it’s a minor one.