I suppose it goes without saying that if you loved Cassandra Clare's "The Mortal Instruments" series that you'll love "Lady Midnight." Even if youre not, this is a engaging and well-written book. Even though there are 9 previous novels divided between 2 series, and 2 supplemental collections of novellas, it is possible to read this story without having read them first (though, obviously, it helps if you have.) There are references to the characters readers have gotten to know from her previous work, but she provides enough background information to allow you to keep up without going into backstory overload or boring those who are already familiar with the Shadowhunter world.

One thing I really liked is that the book tells a complete story - a solid whodunit mystery - that is resolved by the end, so you get that nice feeling of satisfaction when you've just finish a well-told tale, and yet it manages to leave enough threads dangling to give you something to look forward to in the next volume.

One of the strengths of Clare's writing is that she does a great job of creating multidimensional characters who are distinct enough from each other that it's not hard to keep who's who in her relatively large cast straight. And while some of the story points follow the general tropes of the urban romance genre - in particular those associated with forbidden love - "Lady Midnight" doesn't feel like a retread of her two previous Shadowhunters series.