When did Dick York join Sea Witch?

So, my cunning plan to switch between trilogies got interrupted by the arrival of Seanan McGuire's Once Broken Faith. Which is fine, because there's always room in my life for the Changeling from Hell. Add into it a novella tacked on the end, centered around the Current Queen of the Kingdom of Mists, Arden Windermere, and you have a happy James.

Anyway, having been present for the discovery of the cure for Elfshot at the end of the previous novel (thus sparing Purebloods from 100 years of sleep and outright killing Changelings), October (Toby for short) is dragged in to a Conclave as High King Sollys arrives in San Francisco to oversee the debate on whether or not the cure should be available or not.

Because this is the Nobility, and because this is Pureblood, everything gets tied up in politics. Which does make life interesting. This being October Daye, though, things go haywire when the King of Angels (a Candela) winds up dead, with his merry dancers broken on the floor of the dining room. Not long after, Dianda, Mermaid Queen of Saltmist, winds up getting elfshot. Given everyone is locked in the know, it becomes almost like Agatha Christie, as Toby tries to figure out who murdered whom.

There's a lot going on in here, and the mystery's solution is almost a deus ex machina. However, the side drama gets really interesting, particularly given The Luidaeg giving Toby some of her blood, allowing a brief glimpse of Maeve. This is also the first book in the series to really mention unseelie vs seelie courts, back when the Divided Courts particularly were divided by seasons. Mind you, Titania's children almost always seem to wind up being villains, while one of Maeve's is by far the most interesting support character in the entire series. We also find out that Quentin (aka Sollys's son) is now dating Dianda's son Dean, adding another layer of fun to the proceedings.

The novella that follows involves Arden waking her long sleeping brother, only to find that the False Queen added a little something to the Elfshot that makes her seek out The Luidaeg. This also gives us a bigger glimpse at the burden the Sea Witch bears courtesy of Titania.

It's a good read, as usual. And McGuire gets props for not following other Urban Fantasyists' paths that wind up either repeating plot lines or descending into supernatural smut. (Not that this is a problem, but one series in particular occasionally gets unreadable since the smut distracts from the narrative.)

So yeah. Looking forward to the next one. As usual.