The Alchemical Detective (Riga Hayworth,... If you have read my review of "The Metaphysical Detective (A Riga Hayworth Paranormal Mystery Novel)  you will understand that I first found Kirsten Weiss through a Freebooksie.com offering of " The Shamanic Detective (A Riga Hayworth Paranormal Mystery Novel). Ms. Weiss, by offering your book for free, you have gained yourself a loyal reader here. Thank you!

I gave "The Metaphysical Detective (A Riga Hayworth Paranormal Mystery Novel)” four stars. Reviews are, of course, subjective. The book was very good, but it didn't really “teach” me anything and it wasn't world moving, if that makes sense. With The Alchemical Detective: Book Two in the Riga Hayworth Series, I have moved that start rating up to five, for several reasons.

Most importantly, the research she put into the book, and proper usage of the materials, is exceptional. In my wide and varied background I have read widely about alchemy and its practitioners, and Kristin's usage of Jungian psychological processes, the science and psychology of alchemy and philosophy, Goetia and necromancy, as well as the works of Gregory of Nyssa and the writings of various alchemical philosophers totally drew in my attention and didn't allow me to put the book down until I came to the end. Her inclusion of the Emerald Tablet, or Tabula Smaragdina, is the first that I have seen of it's type in any other UF out there (if I am wrong, would someone please point me to the book(s)? Would love to read them!) Her use of the Tablet as a conduit for phase transition, and rebuilding of Riga's magics after the events of “Metaphysical” was handled delicately and in a way I didn't expect.

Don't think that because I am so jazzed up about the research put into the book that I found it boring, or that you will either, unless you are more interested in romance and not interested in having your knowledge boosted a bit as an outcome of reading an Urban Fantasy novel. This book is fairly fast, has lots of action, everything ties together very well story wise and Weiss does her usual excellent job of keeping the mystery a mystery to the end. And at the very end, I can hardly wait to finally read the next one.

For geeks like me, the Sir Issac Newton translation of the text of the Emerald Tablet is included at the back of the book. For a Modern English version of the Tablet, another translation can be found in Theatrum Chemicum, Volume IV (1613), in Georg Beatus' Aureliae Occultae Philosophorum. Either way, it is, in my mind, an excellent example of the thought processes of alchemists and magicians through the ages.

Great mystery, alchemy, magic, wiccan, Jungian concepts on manifestations of the unconscious, an ongoing romance for you romance lovers and a great cast of characters