It’s getting serious in Mercy Thompson #4: Kayla is missing, and Jesse is a suspect. Most of her friends have essentially abandoned her and leaving Jill to stand by Jesse’s side. At this point, even Jesse is done with Jill. After getting advice from Mercy, she ends her friendship with Jill, saying that Jill makes her uncomfortable. Mercy calls this her instinct; Jill calls this reason to kill. Probably. We’re not there yet, but we can guess where it’s heading.

Meanwhile, Mercy and Adam continue to work the case, trying to make sense of the bones of dead children. Jesse and her troubles at school and with Jill are the main focus of this issue, but Mercy, Adam, and the pack find themselves potential suspects in the case. The issue ends with a warrant. Hopefully in the next issue, more fingers point to Jill. Likely something will have to happen to Jesse before we get to that point, but knock on wood that Jesse doesn’t die! Jesse provides an outsider’s perspective on the happenings of the pack without being completely impartial. She’s the one who gets the brunt of the backlash toward the pack, and it brings us back to reality amidst all the fae and werewolf talk.

Mercy Thompson continues to be a fun story of magic and werewolves and murder. We’re still building, we’re coming to conclusions and piecing together the bits of information we’ve been given, and I’m sure it’ll get worse before it gets better. Us readers are a few steps ahead of Mercy and co., but we still don’t quite know what will happen next. So far, Mercy Thompson has been rather predictable, and so I can guess what the next issue will bring. Predictability isn’t a bad thing here. The readers are getting exactly what they pay for. It’s an interesting read with a fun plot, but it won’t keep you awake at night. You get magic, ritualistic murder, werewolves, and teenage angst all wrapped up in a mystery. It’s fun, if you like that kind of thing.

Score: 4/5

Writers: Patricia Briggs, Rik Hoskin Artist: Tom Garcia Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment Price: $3.99 Release Date: 1/14/15 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital