View source for Witches Incorporated (Rogue Agent) by K E Mills

{{infobox1 
|title= Witches Incorporated (Rogue Agent)
|author= K E Mills
|reviewer= Dawn Powell
|genre=Fantasy 
|summary= A fantasy novel that gets away with a weak plot because of its endearing characters.
|rating=3 
|buy= Maybe
|borrow= Maybe
|pages=496 
|publisher= Orbit
|date= July 2009
|isbn=978-1841497280  
|cover=1841497282
|aznuk=1841497282
|aznus=0316035440
}}

''Witches Incorporated'' is the second book in K.E. Mills' rogue agent series, which are about the exploits of wizard Gerald Dunwoody and his friends. In this book, Gerald has a new job as a secret agent for the Ottosland government.  He's on a deadly mission to hunt down a saboteur, determined to make amends for his past.  Meanwhile, his friends have set up an agency (Witches Incorporated) and are themselves heading for danger when they accidentally cross paths with Gerald's saboteur.

Reading this book was like watching a film half way through – you get the general gist, but feel that you are missing out on some essential plot points.  For example, you never get to the bottom of what Gerald did to become a rogue agent. Presumably, this is explained in the first rogue agent book ''The Accidental Sorcerer'' and I certainly think ''Witches Incorporated'' would have been a lot easier to understand if I had read the former. 

Whether you can criticise Mills for writing a story that requires you to read another book first to understand it depends on where Mills is intending to go with her rogue agent series. If she, like JK Rowling,  intends  it to be a limited series that culminates in a final book that ties up all the loose ends etc., then I think it's OK to expect readers to read all the books in the series. But if she is intending it to be a long running series, such as the Miss Marple books, then each book should stand alone.

Missing background story aside, ''Witches Incorporated'' does not have much of a plot. It seems to take forever for Gerald to go on his mission and for his friends to get involved. In fact, not much happens for the first third of the book and when things do eventually get going, they are resolved pretty quickly. I am not sure if the book is meant to be a mystery, but there is a distinct lack of twists and turns.

A big plus of the book is that all of the characters are likeable and their constant bickering with each other is refreshingly realistic.  After all, even the best of friends will start to get on each other nerves if they are constantly together as this bunch seems to be.  Reg, a female talking bird (obviously...), has the best lines but the others have their fair share of sarcastic one liners. Actually, I liked the characters so much that I might give Mills another go and read ''Wizard Squared'' (the third book in the series).  So while I cannot recommend ''Witches Incorporated'', I am not going to write off the rogue agent series completely. Fingers crossed that ''Wizard Squared'' has a better plot!

K E Mills is a pseudonym for Karen Miller, see what the Bookbag thinks of Miller's [[:Category:Karen Miller|other novels]].

I like to thanks the publishers for sending the Bookbag a copy of Witches Incorporated.

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