The House Saphir

Mallory Fontaine is a con artist trying to survive in a tough world & supporting herself and her sister Anais. Mallory and Anais come from a long line of witches and her gift is seeing spirits. Both sisters sell bogus spells to gullible buyers and Mallory conducts tours of the infamous mansion where the first of the Saphir murders took place. Mallory is an expert on Count Bastien Saphir who also goes by Monsieur Le Bleu Aka Bluebeard, who murdered three of his wives years ago. Mallory meets Le Bleu’s great-great grandson Armand, he hires Mallory and Anais to stay at the mansion and banish Le Bleu’s spirit back to the afterlife. Mallory takes on the job thinking it’d be a free vacation and they’re getting paid. Never mind the dead wives and the monsters prowling about like a bug infestation. When murder happens again, Mallory wonders if it is indeed the evil spirit of Le Bleu or if his great grandson Armond doesn’t fall far from the tree….

A Retelling Made Original

I finished reading The House Saphir late last night and loved it. I love that the world of The House Saphir is also in the same world as Gilded by some of the words used. Monsieur Le Bleu aka Bluebeard was a menacing frightening villain, and I like the fact his intentions were not the cliched old-fashioned revenge story.  I love both the main characters as well as the side characters. Mallory and Armand had great chemistry and playful banter. Anais was the voice of reason when Mallory needed it. The monster hunters Constantino & Fitcher were hilarious comic relief. Some parts seemed slow but overall, I appreciate Marissa turning a lesser-known fairytale Bluebeard into her own story. Whether you read Bluebeard or you haven’t, I recommend The House Saphir coming out tomorrow on November 4^th wherever books are sold!