The Mapmaker's Apprentice by C.J. Archer

The Mapmaker's Apprentice begins when a mapmaking apprentice (shocker!) goes missing. Commissioner Munroe has a close personal connection to the case, and orders Matt to investigate and find the young boy, Daniel. The investigation delves deeper into the world of magic, and gives India a chance to ask some of her many questions. Unfortunately, it also raises more.

While Matt and India are investigating, Matt's Aunt Letty is looking for a bride for Matt. I found Aunt Letty to be unintentionally cruel in this novel towards India. It's one thing to ignore what someone tells you (and she ignore Matt a lot!) but to be so blunt to India. She can clearly see what the readers see and yet she makes comments about Matt's social status. Clearly Matt doesn't care, and no one is going to enjoy his choice of friends, nor family. It seems like a giant waste of time.

I liked India so much better in this novel. She was more decisive, and opinionated. She didn't back down from Matthew, but she wasn't overly foolish either. There were a couple of times she mentioned her own magic, and I was like "ohhh, Matt's gonna be mad", but I didn't see this as a bad thing. I thought it made me more in tune with the characters.

The novel was again very well written. It was fact paced, and the slow magical burn was perfect. The tempo of the magical education Archer provides is still my favorite of this story. Some of my questions were answered, and I developed some new theories to India and her family. I can't wait to find out if they are right or not. Overall I rate this novel 5 out of 5, and have already started the 3rd novel in this series.