The Hexologists is the first book in a new steampunk mystery fantasy series written by Josiah Bancroft, also known for his imaginative The Books of Babel series, also published by Orbit Books; it's the kind of zany fantasy story you don't know you need, but that will you love, with an excellent prose and enclosing acute social commentary.

The Hexologists, Iz and Warren Wilby, are used to help people with their mysteries, using Iz's ability with hexes and a bag full of magical artifacts; dealing with the strange is their every day's bread. But when the royal secretary approaches to the Wilby marriage, they are not ready for the conspiracy and intrigue they will become part of; a case that seemed just to be about the king's past will unravel secrets that are threatening the stability of the Royal Family.

With this premise, Bancroft creates a mesmerising story, focused mostly in our pair of main characters, Iz and Warren. And let me tell you, how much I enjoyed reading of a marriage with a healthy relationship, with complicity and that helps each other. They might have some disagreements, but at the end of the day, they trust in the other. While Iz is great at hexes and magic, Warren brings a bit of normality to her craziness.
Outside of our pair, the rest of the cast is quite memorable, starting from the dragon that lives inside Wilby's bag; from the sketchy secretary to the alchemists looking for power and social climbing, all of them leaves you with a great impression.

The worldbuilding is another of the aspects I found more memorable in this story, with its steampunk details in the city; we explore so much of it, learning much about the problems behind the apparent calm. Monarchy is experiencing weak moments, and some revolutionary groups are trying to use this opportunity to abolish it.
The magic system is imaginative, not being too hard, but having certain rules that limit its power when needed; the class system, while not being too original, works well to delimit the scope on certain jobs.

Pacing is quite nice, as the prose flows naturally, and with the occasional funny moment, you find yourself looking to read more and more. If I have a small gripe with this book, is the amount of consecutive fights that happen at some points, which made me feel a bit overwhelmed with so many action scenes.

Said that, The Hexologists is an excellent and fun novel, with steampunk touches that I enjoyed much; a story that shows Bancroft's abilities to create engaging plots. Can't wait for the next adventure of our favourite marriage.