Why we’re excited
Alice Howe, a loner at a school for mages, has a vision that a classmate, whose parent leads the magical government of the United States, is going to be murdered in seven days. Nobody stops it, and before she dies the victim names her suspects: her ex, her best friend, her new boyfriend and Alice.
Book one of the Mages & Murder series, so there is nothing to catch up on. The pitch is a whodunit in a magic school, with four suspects investigating one another under media scrutiny. It suits teen readers who like boarding school mysteries and unreliable allies.
On our most-anticipated list since 22 October 2026. See all the most anticipated books →
What to know about Gravespell
James Trevino is new to The Bookish Elf: none of their books has a review here yet.
It sits at No. 6 on our April 2027 most-anticipated list, which ranks the month's books by how many readers have saved them. At 368 pages it is about the usual length for a fantasy release this month.
From the publisher
WEDNESDAY ADDAMS meets ONE OF US IS LYING in this magic-filled thriller set at a modern school for wizards.
Alice Howe is an outcast at the elite Deepgrove Academy for Magic, which suits her just fine. But an unwelcome premonition means she’ll have to step out of the shadows. Because now she’s the only one at Deepgrove who knows two terrible things. In seven days her schoolmate Xena Wycomb, daughter of the American President of Magic, will be dead. And, if left unsolved, Xena’s murder will ignite a war.
Despite Alice’s warning, Xena meets her foreseen demise. But before she does, she points a finger at the prime suspects in her own murder, each of whom has a deadly secret to keep.
Christopher: The ex-boyfriend she cheated on and the heir to the biggest magical corporation in the world.
Delvy: The traitorous best friend who is embroiled in a scandal of her own.
Ben: Xena’s new boyfriend, a mage born without magic and the perfect scapegoat.
And of course, Alice herself.
Soon, the four of them are at the center of a huge media scandal, amid a very public murder investigation, which brings their world to the brink of war between those born with magic and those born without. And it all leads back to Xena.
Alice knows she can’t trust devilishly charming Christopher, picture-perfect Delvy, or morose Ben, but they all hold a piece of the puzzle. As suspicion falls on each of them in turn, Alice must find a way to uncover who killed Xena before the whole of magekind meets the same fate.
Description supplied by the publisher.
We haven’t read Gravespell yet. When our review goes up, it will replace this page.
