by Genevieve Cogman

Pan, out now

Irene has a dangerous mission, and needs all of her skill to survive.

The Lost Plot is the latest ‘Librarian’ novel by Genevieve Cogman, and it certainly maintains the standard of Irene’s previous outings.

Librarian Irene is visited by a dragon, searching for a particular book – a task given to each candidate looking to be promoted by the Dragon Queen of the Southern Lands. She’s eager to obtain the tome first and thus gain an advantage, to the extent of trying to involve the famously neutral Library in her machinations. ‘Not for the first time,’ she claims, a statement that sets alarm bells ringing for Irene and her own dragon companion, Kai.

They look into matters, and find that a Librarian is missing on a Prohibition-era world, and thus they’re off on their next adventure – eager not only to find the Librarian and determine whether he’s a traitor to the Library, but also find the book and keep the Library out of Dragon politics at all costs.

The novel starts off at breakneck speed as usual, with Irene escaping a band of vampires eager to recruit her, and it never lets go, with multiple twists and turns that lead her to resolve the matter once and for all, and return home relatively unscathed. As always, the author makes you care deeply about Irene and Kai, creating believable foes for them to engage with and maintaining a relentless pace that builds to an exciting finale.

Verdict: A helter-skelter adventure that will drag you along for the ride. 9/10

Marie O’Regan