Magic for Nothing is the sixth book in Seanan McGuire’s InCryptid series. The series follows a family of cryptozoologists; each one follows one specific member of the family. The first two, and the fifth, follow middle child Verity Price, and the third and fourth follow oldest child, and only son, Alex Price. This follows youngest child, Antimony “Annie” Price.

I will admit right here that, so far, Annie is my least favorite of the Price siblings. This may be because, as an eldest child myself, I sympathize more with the older siblings than with Annie. I find her whiny and complaining because her older sister wants to have a live in addition to the cryptozoology. I really like Verity, so Annie’s antipathy grates on me.

After Verity outs herself as a Price, and defies the Covenant of St. George, the Price family’s nemesis, on national television, Annie is asked to go to London, infiltrate the Covenant, and find out what’s going on. Complaining about Verity’s actions the whole way, she does so. I don’t want to spoil the plot, so I won’t go further into it, except to say that undercover and spy tropes abound.

This is my least favorite of the series so far, in large part because Annie annoys me, but it’s a solid entry in the series and well-worth the read.

McGuire, Seanan. Magic for Nothing. New York, New York: DAW Books, 2017. 117,367 words. 4 stars.