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Deep Secret begins with a cryptic message that the following was secretly deposited in the archive at Iforion. I’d pretty much forgotten that by the time reference was made to it late in the book. There’s a number of things from early on that circle back into prominence towards the end.

To a certain extent, it is a standard contemporary fantasy novel: Earth is one of a large number of alternate worlds, which have varying amounts of magic, and there is an organization of high-power mages that keep an eye on the multi-verse. The part that is a delight for someone like me, is that the bulk of the middle of the story takes place at a SF convention. It’s obvious that Jones was thoroughly familiar with them. I don’t know any of the people she describes, but they’d all fit in at any con; I know a lot of people who are very like them.

The hotel with the mirrors at every corner? Been there. (Thankfully, I have yet to encounter more than four right turns in a row, though there are hotels where it feels possible.)

The story itself has a slow start, with the main character switching between two disconnected plotlines. However, this smooths out, and in the end, everything is shown to have a place in the overall structure. It’s not a stellar book, but it is a fun one, and there’s a lot of extra fun to be had if you’re used to the con circuit.