Review: The Society of Paranormals aka Miss Knight

I’ve had the first book of the “Society of Paranormals” series by Vered Ehsani on my Amazon wish list for a while. After my computer croaked, I bought the book to spend some time with until I got my new one and found myself diving deeper and deeper into the series, reading all ten novels and one novella in about four days. Whenever I started one book, I already bought the next one and never regretted it. The stories pulled me along and I wanted more of them. I still wouldn’t say ‘no’ to book number eleven, to be honest.

My first draw was Miss Knight, the main character of the series. A woman who, despite constantly being addressed as ‘Miss’ Knight, was a widow whose dead husband still was around her as a ghost (and quite often a nuisance). A woman who, due to living in Victorian times, had had to return to the family she’d grown up with and play companion to her cousin and aunt. A woman who, at the same time, was a daring member of the society and had adventures — including the one of settling in Nairobi at the time at which it was barely more than a railway builder’s camp.
Yet, she wasn’t the only interesting character. Vered Ehsani wrote a whole host of deep and interesting characters, both human and less so. There’s the locals Miss Knight meets up with. There’s the not-quite-natural ones. There are outright gods of Africa. All characters change over the course of the novels (the novella is a prequel detailing Miss Knight’s first meeting with Koki the Praying Mantis) and show themselves to be more than they might be at first glace. Not only Miss Knight is growing over time, so are many of the others.

As the series progresses, there are many twists and turns. Koki, for instance, is an enemy Miss Knight fears (due to the situation detailed in the prequel novella) for the first three novels. At the end of the third novel, there is a confrontation which leaves them both unsatisfied, but also alive, which is more than Miss Knight expected.
In the fourth book, after having been forbidden to kill Miss Knight, Koki instead bites off Miss Knight’s left hand — yet in later books, the two begin to work together and they develop a friendship, despite all which happened. Besides — once can argue that it was ‘a hand for a leg,’ as Miss Knight cut off one of Koki’s leg (in Koki’s true form as a gigantic praying mantis) during their first meeting. The local mad doctor and engineer makes a new hand for Miss Knight which, most of the  time, is powered by the spirit of the wolf that is left from a werewolf bite she received as a child, so the loss of one hand isn’t hampering her long-term, quite the opposite. Having a hand made from steel can be quite useful in many adventures.
While the external plot for each book is finished by its end, the internal plots, such as character developments and relationships, span the whole series and grow in a natural-feeling way. Nothing is rushed, nothing seems forced. Relationships shift, people learn to do things in better ways, just as one would expect. Even if it might be obvious that Miss Knight will get into a relationship again, her new relationship (with a man who can see her first husband’s ghost, no less) processes slowly and both she and her new husband grow into it together. Her relationship to other characters shifts as their characters change.

Apart from characters and plots, the setting itself also has a lot going for it. Africa is not a common setting in western stories and Vered Ehsani knows the history of Nairobi as well as she knows the mythology of several different African areas and cultures. Her books offer a great window into a place on earth which is not already known to everyone.
For me, the setting was new and interesting. Victorian-era East Africa is not a common place for stories to be set, even if the Victorian era itself is not uncommon. By keeping the aspects of British culture in the late nineteenth century, but contrasting them with an area of the globe where many traditions and routines from Britain make no sense, the setting for the books is fresh and engaging every time. Miss Knight meets many interesting people with different backgrounds and learns a lot about Africa and its cultures as well. So does the reader.
Every book has a list of facts and fictions at the end — about the aspects of the story which are historical truths and those which are pure fiction. Given the setting many are not familiar with — both in space and in time —, this is a marvellous idea. I personally have learned a lot about Nairobi’s early history, including the local MD doing his rounds on a zebra (not fiction, but fact) from these pages.

I love the series and would have liked to dive deeper into the details, but that would take too long, given the series spans ten novels and one novella. The first novel already shows the strengths of the series, so if you want to look into Miss Knight’s life in Nairobi, read this one and then decide whether you want more (like I did) or not. Perhaps don’t read them all at once as I did — although I don’t regret it —, but give them a chance. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed. I can only recommend the series, as it’s full of interesting characters, good twists and turns, and has a great setting.