By Charlaine Harris

Piatkus, out now

Lizbeth Rose – a hired gun in what used to be the Southern States of the US who’s been employed to escort two magicians… What could possibly go wrong?

This new series from Charlaine Harris is an interesting Western with a difference. It’s set in a world where FDR never came to power, so there was no New Deal; where the Tsar managed to escape from Russia to the West Coast; and where magicians (known as grigori for reasons that become clear) can kill someone by removing the blood from their body. In one go. It’s a world that feels slightly askew from our own – not quite as removed as Stephen King’s Gunslinger’s territory, but very much heading that way.

Harris is skilled at revealing the parts of her characters’ lives as the reader requires the knowledge, and it’s definitely one of those books that you’ll reread with a very different perspective once you have all the details. Lizbeth – or Gunnie, as she’s known – is a credible character: she’s smart and tough when she needs to be, but that takes a toll on her physically and mentally, and she’s not written as some sort of superheroine. She’s living in a tough world, but one where the best surprise she can possibly get is an ensuite bathroom in the hotel she’s at with her charges…

It feels a little as if things were wrapped up in this book before a second was commissioned, but there’s still plenty to learn about Gunnie’s life and the world in which she lives. I look forward to the sequel early next year.

Verdict: A new narrative voice from Harris is always something to look forward to, and Gunnie has the requisite independence and spirit to make her mark. 8/10

Paul Simpson