What is seen and unseen

I picked up Julia Vanishes by Catherine Egan, based off a recommendation from The Book Smugglers.

It sat on my shelf for a while before I picked it up to read it and so, forgot what it was about.  For some reason I expected a contemporary mystery. It is nothing of the sort. It is set in an alternative Europe that feels a bit late 19th century. And it is full of magic. Once my head wrapped around this idea I found myself firmly engaged in the story.

Publisher’s Summary:Julia has the unusual ability to be . . . unseen. Not invisible, exactly. Just beyond most people’s senses.

It’s a dangerous trait in a city that has banned all forms of magic and drowns witches in public Cleansings. But it’s a useful trait for a thief and a spy. And Julia has learned—crime pays.
She’s being paid very well indeed to infiltrate the grand house of Mrs. Och and report back on the odd characters who live there and the suspicious dealings that take place behind locked doors.

But what Julia discovers shakes her to the core. She certainly never imagined that the traitor in the house would turn out to be . . . her.

Murder, thievery, witchcraft, betrayal–Catherine Egan builds a dangerous world where her fierce and flawed heroine finds that even a girl who can vanish can’t walk away from her own worst deeds.

This is the first in a series,  a trilogy called The Witch’s Child.  The second book comes out next yea rand the third in 2018. I look forward to finding  out what happens to Julia.