Murder and Magic — Randall Garrett

The Sidewise Award�"winning series. “If you are looking for something different in the way of mysteries a few hours with Lord Darcy is a fun way to go” (Daily Kos).

This alternate history series starring detective Lord Darcy and his sorcerer sidekick, Sean O Lochlainn, takes us into a reality where Richard the Lionheart's descendants rule the Anglo-French Empire and the laws of magic have developed in place of the laws of physics. Murder and Magic, comprised of the first four stories of the acclaimed Lord Darcy series, finds Lord Darcy solving murders using his wits, a keen eye for observation, and a few choice magic tricks.

In “The Eyes Have It,” Lord Darcy must figure out who killed the taciturn playboy, the Count D'Evreux.

In the political thriller “A Case of Identity,” Lord Darcy picks apart the disappearance of the Marquis of Cherbourg, especially mysterious considering the escalating cold war with Poland.

Lord Darcy and Master Sean investigate a body coated in blue paint already occupying a coffin built for the late Duke of Kent in “The Muddle of the Woad.”

Literary humor is at the heart of “In a Stretch of the Imagination,” where the head of an important publishing house commits suicide under suspicious circumstances.

Praise for the Lord Darcy series

“Some of the finest fantasy ever written . . . Will certainly guarantee him a lasting place in the genre.” -- SF Chronicle

“He has combined the best of the fantasy and detective genres -- and made them work as science fiction.” -- Marion Zimmer Bradley

“I cannot count the number of times I have read ‘Too Many Magicians' -- each time with the same pleasure.” -- Andre Norton