Charles’ own thoughts on moral relativism. “Will Darling was outnumbered by books… He became increasingly aware of them looming around him, full of knowledge and secrets and lies… When it got dark and the shelves loomed over him, he got the feeling that they owned him.” Shall Will be owned by his secrets as well?

After all, don’t we all hope we can retain a purity of soul in situations which test our values? My heart beat in my throat, thrumming for Will’s remaining innocence as plot twists mounted at an ever-increasing rate with each deception. We wonder why Kim was conveniently passing by the shop and grow more suspicious after Will lunches with him and we learn, “Will hadn’t come away knowing any more about his companion.” It’s clear everyone has different motivations than they imply. It takes great artistry to make readers more world-wise than our hero, who would bed an engaged man and who has killed for a living. Will is uncertain how to proceed, “when one knew the other fellow’s name.” And thus, in the dusty bookstacks, they pursue a descending ethical slope.

When the criminals return to harm him, Will is helped by a “passing stranger,” the charming Kim, who turns out to be Lord Arthur, a man with a fiancé, and a complementary taste for men. Slippery Creatures opens shortly after, as Will is threatened by both thugs and the War Office, for information his Uncle supposedly received. Almost on his deathbed, this uncle both welcomed him and left his disorganized bookstore to Will.

This is Will’s story, a decorated war Veteran whose nation showed their appreciation by leaving him on the streets and unemployed, until he contacted a long-lost uncle. It is set when morals were about as slippery as they are today, between the roaring 20s, an era after the Spanish flu, before the Great Depression, and between World Wars. KJ Charles grabs readers by the soul in Slippery Creatures, her fast-moving first installment in The Will Darling Adventures series.

Kj charles slippery creatures