Title: Running on Air
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy
Categories/Genres: Cold Case, Mystery, Drama
Length: 74,885
Warnings:

Author/Artist on AO3: Eleventy7

Summary: Draco Malfoy has been missing for three years. Harry is assigned the cold case and finds himself slowly falling in love with the memories he collects.

Review: This is a fic that makes your heart ache and will be with you till the end of time. Nostalgia and Wistfulness packed in a bottle. It hits you right in your chest, so subtly dragging you back to times in your life when you’ve isolated yourself because it’s easier to run away then let other people see your pain.

It honestly makes you pine for a car of your own and to drive forever. It’s a fic about finding yourself and how it’s a journey all of us have to face. It’s a beautiful fic with a happy ending.

Running on Air

Title: The Leonardo Effect
Fandom: Assassin's Creed
Pairing: Leonardo/Ezio, Ezio/OFCs, Leonardo/OMCs
Genres: AU, Romance, Drama, Pining, First-time, Mystery, Prostitution, Historical
Length: Epic (67,378 words)
Warnings: Dub-con, prostitution, period-appropriate homophobia

Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: phoenike @ AO3

Author's Summary:
To Ezio’s best knowledge, Leonardo's idea of debauchery was staying up until morning with a bottle of wine and too many sketching supplies. But why would the gondolier have lied? It was a heavy accusation. In both Firenze and Venezia, mere allegations of unnatural conduct had condemned men to be pilloried or hanged.

Review:
After overhearing gossip about Leonardo having apparently been on trial for sodomy, Ezio is tormented by the revelation and determined to find the truth. It's a familiar plot, and this is a well-written and historically minded version of it. It's well-paced, with their budding romance a very slow burn as Ezio struggles to make sense of what he's feeling while trying to uncover Leonardo's past. His preconceived notions of Leonardo as wholly bookish and naive are challenged, leaving us with a much more three dimensional character that is an awesome read to slowly find out about. This is also a fic about Ezio's own horizons being broadened as he gains some maturity.

This fic is a series, accompanied by some equally well-written flashbacks. They contain spoilers for the main fic though, so are best left till after it.

The Leonardo Effect

Title: Where There Are No More Tomorrows

Fandom: Star Trek: Deep Space 9
Pairing: gen-ish, background Bashir/Ezri
Categories: drama, mystery, adventure, crime, post-canon
Length: long, 27,906 words if you trust ff.net's word counts
Warnings: Medical details and warfare.

Author on LJ: n/a
Author Website: CDS on fanfiction.net

Summary: Post-WYLB Bashir and LaForge try to solve a murder in the Post-War Alpha Quadrant.

Review: This is a solid mystery/adventure story set against the backdrop of the post-Dominion War Federation after DS9 tv canon leaves off.

Most delightfully in this fic, Bashir is... Bashir, and even years down the line from Emissary, there's still some part of him that would rather be a detective/spy/adventurer, and that enthusiasm carries through in the more matured portrayal of his character. I'm less familiar with LaForge and TNG, but he seems likeably written as the frustrated straight man to Bashir's impulsivity, and the banter between them is enjoyable.

I'm not expert enough to vouch for the accuracy of the science, Trek tech and medical information, but it all sounds incredibly convincing to me and there's so much of it, and so many *details* in the background this mystery takes place upon. Observations and anecdotes of the war and post-war, and the supply chain issues confounding Starfleet's military and medical efforts, and most relevantly for Bashir, costing lives.

As the header says, there's some Bashir/Ezri, but it's no more than a footnote and touchstone for Julian on his grim posting apart from her, there isn't a lot of time spent on it: the fic clearly supports the relationship but is for the most part gen. Geordi LaForge is along for some of the ride, but it really is Dr Julian Bashir's show. There are a few typos throughout, but they're not too much distraction from reading.

Where There Are No More Tomorrows

Title: Wish You Were Here

Fandom: Haven/Criminal Minds
Pairing: gen with background Audrey/Nathan
Categories: drama, casefile, crime, crossover, outsider POV
Length: Long, 36,894 words
Warnings: canon level violence

Author on LJ: tassosss
Author Website: Tassos on AO3, Vast Universes

Summary: When the FBI's BAU follow a serial killer to Haven, Maine, they find that murder and mystery are a lot more complicated in the unassuming sea-side town. The local cops don't want them there, the crime scenes don't make sense, and it doesn't take long for them to get in over their heads.

Review: This is a gen/casefile crossover set in season 4 of Haven and season 7 of Criminal Minds. It's basically channelling both shows, and juggling their sizeable casts so everyone gets their moments in the bargain. This collision could happen on screen and I would believe it.

It's told from the perspective of the members of the BAU team as they follow a case to the strange town of Haven and have to deal with prickly, secretive law enforcement and hostile, secretive townsfolk and alarming and occasionally violent town factions as well as their UnSub of the week. The outsider POV on Haven and its troubled detectives is a treat if you're familiar with the show and I should imagine it works if you're only familiar with Criminal Minds as well. Much (enjoyable) build-up is given to the revelation of Haven's town secrets and enabling Prentiss, Morgan, Hotch, and co. to accept and adjust to the somewhat unusual conditions under which murders might occur in this particular little seaside town. The casefile itself and the manner the mystery ties in with the troubles is also interesting.

I have no capacity to be intelligent about this one, only to glee fannishly, because the BAU comes to Haven and everyone is so exactly themselves. It's a perfect in-character intersection of the two shows.

Wish You Were Here
Alternative link to Wish You Were Here on Dreamwidth as AO3 appears to be down tonight

Title: Wish You Were Here

Fandom: Haven/Criminal Minds
Pairing: gen with background Audrey/Nathan
Categories: drama, casefile, crime, crossover, outsider POV
Length: Long, 36,894 words
Warnings: canon level violence

Author on LJ: tassosss
Author Website: Tassos on AO3, Vast Universes

Summary: When the FBI's BAU follow a serial killer to Haven, Maine, they find that murder and mystery are a lot more complicated in the unassuming sea-side town. The local cops don't want them there, the crime scenes don't make sense, and it doesn't take long for them to get in over their heads.

Review: This is a gen/casefile crossover set in season 4 of Haven and season 7 of Criminal Minds. It's basically channelling both shows, and juggling their sizeable casts so everyone gets their moments in the bargain. This collision could happen on screen and I would believe it.

It's told from the perspective of the members of the BAU team as they follow a case to the strange town of Haven and have to deal with prickly, secretive law enforcement and hostile, secretive townsfolk and alarming and occasionally violent town factions as well as their UnSub of the week. The outsider POV on Haven and its troubled detectives is a treat if you're familiar with the show and I should imagine it works if you're only familiar with Criminal Minds as well. Much (enjoyable) build-up is given to the revelation of Haven's town secrets and enabling Prentiss, Morgan, Hotch, and co. to accept and adjust to the somewhat unusual conditions under which murders might occur in this particular little seaside town. The casefile itself and the manner the mystery ties in with the troubles is also interesting.

I have no capacity to be intelligent about this one, only to glee fannishly, because the BAU comes to Haven and everyone is so exactly themselves. It's a perfect in-character intersection of the two shows.

Wish You Were Here

Title: The Dah-Ling Store-It-Yourself
Fandom: Psych
Pairing: Carlton Lassiter/Shawn Spencer
Categories/Genres: Mystery, Case File, Drama, Action/Adventure, Kidnapping, Humor
Length: Epic (43049 words)
Warnings: N/A

Author on LJ: nixa_jane
Author Website: nixajane

Summary:

The bad news is that one of Lassiter's highest profile arrests has just escaped from prison. The worse news is that his best hope of tracking him down is a sleep-deprived Shawn Spencer.

Review:

It's not every day that someone writes a thoroughly plotted out case file fic, and even more rarely does the mystery fit with the tone of the canon so well you're left wondering, 'Why isn't this an actual episode?'

The Dah-Ling Store-It-Yourself is an intricately plotted adventure that unfolds perfectly, with just the right amount of information laid out for the reader to follow along, and enough deeply embedded clues that, when certain conclusions are revealed at the very end, it's obvious to the reader that they weren't drawn from thin air. That isn't to say that there aren't certain improbable things, but nothing that falls beyond the realm of Psych's general outlandishness.

The characters introduced for the mystery are generally quirky and layered with complexity, even the ones the reader never meets face to face. Cyril Riner, Shawn's kidnapper-slash-client, is particularly endearing and quickly earns the reader's trust in spite of most of the cast's determined belief that he's guilty of murder.

Fascinatingly, there's a palpable sense of frustration amongst many of the cast directed squarely at Shawn for his recklessness and obstinate refusal to give lip service to even the idea of working cooperatively with the SBPD. This fic shows Shawn at his finest but also does not flinch from showing him at his most selfish. In fact the only major gripe I have with this fic is that Shawn is so stubbornly focused on getting what he wants that it becomes an almost deliberate blindness to any potential negative consequences. And when the opportunity arises for Shawn to see those very real consequences, the nixajane lets it pass on by. In the end, Shawn gets what he wants and everyone else gets to bow to his whims.

I haven't read the other stories in The Dah-Ling Series yet, but I definitely will. Spoiled boy getting his way aside, I wouldn't miss another of nixajane's Psych case file fics for the world.

The Dah-Ling Store-It-Yourself

Title: Hell House
Fandom: Supernatural
Pairing: Sam/Gabriel
Genres: AU, High School, Mystery, Horror, Romance
Length: Epic (60,000 words)
Warnings: Minor character death, Gore

Author on LJ: narukyu_fic
Author Website: N/A

Author's Summary:
A devotedly unreligious man sends his youngest son to a private religious school. If that wasn't suspicious enough, Sam can't get a hold of John or Dean, people are disappearing right and left, and, in the night, something whispers in the silence of the old chapel. Soon enough, Sam discovers that something terrible lingers behind the doors to the sacristy--something that sheds a light on the secret holy mission of the Soldiers of Christ as well what happened to his family so many years ago.

Review:
Here's my late rec for Horror/Mystery week. Oops.

This is a classic haunted house sort of story, wherein a lone Sam is stuck in an eerie and restrictive school. The author really nails the horror story atmosphere, and what would be a pretty tame plot in the actual show becomes much more engaging and creepy thanks to Sam's isolation and helplessness. He's not the gung ho hunter we see on the show, but a confused teenager, cut off from his family and facing the supernatural alone for the first time.

Gabriel appears as the janitor for the school, and his very IC presence provides some relief for both Sam and the reader. He's someone for Sam to turn to in a place full of sinister secrets and strict, watchful teachers. Their romance is more in the background, with the normalcy Gabriel provides contrasting sharply with the rest of the school. This is a creepy mystery with a gut punch of an ending that you need to read, even if you're not a fan of the pairing.

Hell House

Title: Matters of the Heart
Fandom: DCU
Pairing: Tim Drake/Kon El
Categories: Mystery, adventure, romance
Length: Epic (51,000)
Warnings: Murder scenes, minor fight damage

Author on AO3: dragonmist310

Summary:
With Clark off-world as an ambassador to Earth, Conner has to watch over Metropolis. Though it should be straightforward, there appears to be something amiss with seemingly random crimes happening around the city. Conner has a hunch that they’re connected and calls in his best friend to help. But as the two of them spend time together working the case, Conner realizes that his feelings for Tim might not be what he had thought.

Review:
I've been enjoying watching this story unfurl. There is an ingenious, in-genre mystery to solve, and perhaps Connor calls in Tim a bit early, but it fits with other story elements. The villains aren't stupid, either, and make the World's Finest juniors work for their victory. Most of all, there is a consistent, well voiced viewpoint to watch it through.

The Connor of this story sometimes comes off as a bit young. That's actually OK in my book; he is dealing with multiple murders here unlike the relatively bloodless supercrimes he normally has to stop, and it's understandable that he takes it to heart more than usual. Lois's observations of how similar Connor and Clark are spot on in this regard, and its good to see how Connor matures a little as things progress.

The romantic elements didn't convince me quite as much as the crime drama, but then it is a good crime drama. The romance still works, and everything that is pointed out about the ways the boys have behaved around each other is perfectly valid, it just doesn't sit quite as easily in the narrative as the mystery. That's not an excuse to skip a nicely done story, though.

Go. Read.

Matters of the Heart

Title: Cold Cases
Fandom: xxxHOLIC
Pairing: None
Categories: Outside POV, Gen
Length: Medium (9,416)
Warnings: None

Author on LJ: sparklyfanta
Author Website: Dreamwidth | Tumblr

Author's Summary:
N/A (Roughly: A detective is investigating old cases and his lead turns up Watanuki, who is understandably reticent about what had happened.)

Review:
I love a lot of different things in fics, but one of my absolute favorite things (if a bit self-indulgent at times) is an outside character POV (whether minor character or a new one entirely) as they peer into the world of whatever fandom the fic is part of. This fic takes that premise and expands on it beautifully. The fic's POV character is an original character who's a detective investigating various cold cases--among those cold cases are a couple where Watanuki and Doumeki were involved in.

If you're familiar at all with the manga you'll recognize the cases that they're talking about and the circumstances revolving around the people who've died. But now you're seeing it through a fresh pair of eyes--a pair of eyes that isn't part of Watanuki and Doumeki's supernatural world.

You just start feeling rather gleeful and anticipatory about the fact that you, the reader, know what's going on, while the main character doesn't. What's also appreciated is that the POV character isn't treated like an idiot, but rather someone who is actually pretty good at their job (they did turn up Watanuki, after all) who just doesn't have nearly all of the facts.

Then you have Watanuki being so... him and Doumeki shouldering his way into the situation in his rather stoic way. It's so good and it makes me happy. This is just a great fic to read.

Cold Cases

Title: The Red Men
Fandom: The Mentalist
Pairing: Jane/Cho
Genres: Romance, Suspense/Mystery
Length: Epic (44,875 words)
Warnings: None

Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: x_art @ AO3

Author's Summary:
N/A

Review:
This is the longest Jane/Cho fic I've managed to find (though admittedly I haven't gone on a search for Mentalist fic for a long time), and also the best. Cho and Van Pelt are sent to a conference to keep a protective eye on precious pneumonia research, with the rest of the team staying at the office. Predictably, Jane isn't happy at all about being left out of the loop. His and Cho's burgeoning relationship faces its biggest challenge yet as they're separated and on awkward terms.

This is a slow moving fic, with the two main plot threads gradually coming together to form a story both touching and intriguing. As Cho gets to the bottom of the plot surrounding the conference, Jane is angry and worried by turns back home; unsure of his place in Cho's life, angry that he doesn't know what's going on, and wondering whether or not he's ready for another serious relationship. There isn't just uncertainty though - this is a fic with a lot of sweetness, despite the main pairing being separated for the majority of it. Both of them work out on their own what they want to happen when they see each other again, and their slow realisation of how much they miss each other was a warm and fuzzy read.

The crime-related plot is also interesting, with glimpses from the villains POV both illuminating and chilling. X's take on him and his motivations is an interesting one, and it's his very ordinariness that is possibly the creepiest thing about him. The atmosphere at the fancy, claustrophobic hotel that the conference is taking place is a perfect setting for the suspenseful plot, with the prospect of a villain hiding behind every elaborately over the top plant pot.

The Red Men

Title: Flying Weight
Fandom: Supernatural
Pairing: Sam/Dean, Dean/OMC
Genres: AU, Sam-centric, Angst, Amnesia, Mystery
Length: Epic (48,747 words)
Warnings: Non-con, dub-con, torture, incest

Author on LJ: fleshflutter
Author Website: flesh @ AO3

Author's Summary:
Sam wakes after being soulless for three years to discover that Dean and his relationship with him have undergone some serious changes. Through traveling and hunting with Dean, Sam struggles to put his life back together after events he has only limited memory of. A season six wincest AU.

Review:
I'm usually one that avoids angsty fics, but this one is a beautiful example of angst done right, being the thing that makes the story rather than a gratuitous addon. Sam regains his soul after a much longer period of time than in canon, waking up to a different world and a different Dean. A Dean who won't tell Sam what happened whilst his soul was missing, and in fact doesn't even seem to want to be around him. Sam's bewilderment and hurt are heart-wrenching to read, and I found myself with my heart in my throat throughout the fic, aching for him as he tries to figure out what happened when he was gone and why his and Dean's relationship is so stilted and changed.

Both Sam and Dean are characterised beautifully. Sam is all too easy to empathise with, and Dean is understandably different but still very much recognisable after three years of soulless!Sam. You'll be at the edge of your seat whilst reading this fic - it really takes you on an emotional ride. At the ending of my first read through I felt like I'd been through the wringer - in an awesome way! - as I was so invested in the characterisation and the story. This is one hell of a fic that you should read even if, like me, you're not much of an angst lover.

Flying Weight

Title: Welcome to Cyber Vale
Fandom: Welcome to Night Vale
Pairing: Carlos/Cecil Palmer, Dana/Leann, Kevin/Original Male Character
Categories/Genres: Alternate Universe, Sci Fi, Action/Adventure, Romance, Fluff, Humor, Amnesia, Mystery
Length: Epic (49906 words)
Warnings: Very temporary character death

Author/Artist on LJ: N/A
Author/Artist Website: Hubris_And_Crafts

Summary:

Based on an AU SciFi concept by freedomconvicted on tumblr. Carlos is a scientist who has been called in to assist with C.E.C.I.L, an A.I. that runs the artificial planet known as the Vale Colony. However, none of his superiors bothered to inform him that the A.I. appears to be completely insane. And prone to falling in love.

Review:

When is a Night Vale not a Night Vale? When it's a Night Vale in space!

I've always been a fan of science fiction, a love instilled in me in the early days of reading when at least a dozen of my father's science fiction books were lying around at any given time. So for there to be a full-length sci fi AU of Night Vale? Well, sign me up!

The fictional future of Welcome to Cyber Vale is a subtly realized world, left mostly blank for the reader's imagination to fill in, assisted by the little tidbits of information that are fed to us, mostly by casual mention of the characters. It's minimalist worldbuilding, which seemed a little odd to me as a veteran sci fi reader, until I realized that that very minimalism is precisely characteristic of the canonical Welcome to Night Vale itself.

It's that very sense of in-character atmosphere that makes this fic stand out among the many Alternate Universe fics I've read. So much of the time, writers will take characters out of their original canon to put them in settings and circumstances that bear little to no resemblance to the source setting. There's nothing wrong with that, of course. I can think of few things more thrilling than seeing how a character exists in and reacts to a world they weren't originally created in. But Hubris_And_Crafts's ability to write so many parallels with canon while creating a world new and different took my breath away. I found myself grinning at all the characters and their familiar quirks and laughing with excitement at all the phrases and stories lifted from the canon to be given new homes in this new universe. Reading Cyber Vale, everything was the same even while nothing was the same.

And that's the very charm of Welcome to Night Vale itself, I think. That sometimes things that are so strange can be so comfortingly familiar in spite of their alienness.

Welcome to Cyber Vale

Title: The Wild Hunt
Fandom: Merlin
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin
Categories: Mystery, Suspense, Halloween, Dark Romance, Modern AU
Length: Long (18,300 words)
Warnings: Major Character Death (sort of), Minor Character Death (offscreen) Dark Themes, Violence, Unhappily Ever After

Author on LJ: asya_ana
Author Website: aa_fic

Author's Summary:
Every year on Samhain, the Wild Hunt terrorises the small Welsh town of Camford. A year after his own father is killed by the Hunt, Arthur is asked to lead a party against it. Merlin Emrys, the ailing recluse who alone escaped the Hunt in the past, may hold the key to Arthur's success in defeating it—or he may be the leader of the Wild Hunt himself. Mystery/suspense, supernatural, Samhain/Halloween, dark romance.

Review:
Atmosphere -- this story has it in spades. From the very beginning, the author sets a dark, gothic tone while building the suspense in a slow, almost deliciously torturous way.

Arthur lives a quiet, lonely life as the proprietor of Pendragon and Sons, Guns and Tackle. He has been touched by loss -- the Hunt took his father only one year prior, and this year he goes forth to face the deathly riders with grim resolve. You can see the King in him very clearly, as he takes his responsibilities to the townspeople seriously and is willing to sacrifice himself for their sake. To give much detail on Merlin would be to risk spoiling things, but I can say that the author does an excellent job of portraying him as a sepulchral figure, almost (but not quite) a tragic hero as defined by Aristotle.

The romance between Arthur and Merlin culminates in a love scene so filled with yearning that it made me ache. I wanted so desperately for them to have the happy ending that simply wasn't meant to be in this funereal piece.

While the story is not entirely without levity -- Gwaine-as-Idris is a particular treat -- the mood is most certainly gloomy, making it a perfect read for someone who wants a dark, supernatural fic without the violence and gore of a more contemporary horror feature.

The Wild Hunt

Title: The Rat and the Ruby Slippers
Fandom: Welcome to Night Vale
Pairing: Carlos/Kevin, Carlos/Cecil
Categories: Amnesia, Drama, Established Relationship, Horror, Mystery, Romance
Length: Medium (7119 words)
Warnings: Emotional and mental manipulation by an Eldritch entity

Author on LJ: indigostohelit
Author Website: indigostohelit

Author's Summary:

Carlos is having the strangest dreams, and the strangest headaches, like there's something he's supposed to be remembering. Not to mention the intern's wedding coming up, and that new chemical StrexCorp wants him to develop. It's going to be a busy week.

Review:

In psychology, there's a concept called 'object permanence', which is the brain's capacity to understand that an object exists even when it can't be observed with any of the five senses. Indigostohelit's The Rat and the Ruby Slippers explores that idea within the Welcome to Night Vale universe and how it ties into memory and, more prominently, amnesia.

Truthfully, there's very little I can say without utterly spoiling the fic, except that indigostohelit is thorough when it comes to exploring the different aspects of memory, particularly their mutability and the power they have. Also, their resilience against being forgotten. After all, memories are physically built into our brains, endless collections of endless data written into the very fiber of our being, and though we may lose the way to those memories, we still carry them within us, just as surely as we all carry a little bit of home within ourselves no matter where we go.

The Rat and the Ruby Slippers is a story of how Carlos discovers that, and how he saves all of Night Vale from a fate worse than death.

The Rat and the Ruby Slippers

Title: And I'll Tell You No Lies
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Draco/Harry
Categories: EWE, Post-Canon, Veritaserum, Bonding, Coming out, Romance, Suspense, Aurors, Interrogation, First time
Length: Long (23,600 words)
Warnings: Some verbal expressions of homophobia.

Author on LJ: annafugazzi
Author Websites: On FFn, On FictionAlley, AnnaFugazzi (This story is not on AO3)

Author's Summary: It all started with a stupid interrogation. Or: Don't ask a question if you're not prepared to hear the answer.

Review:
And I'll Tell You No Lies drops you in the middle of an escape swiftly followed by an interrogation in which Harry is, surprisingly enough, trying to protect Draco while being questioned by Ron. (And if you like Veritaserum and the tension it brings half as much as I do, you'll be very happy.)

There's the suspense of revelations and forced confessions; there's the negligent behavior of senior Aurors who fail (twice) to provide the antidote when they should, and the fallout afterward heightens the drama. Plus, the bond spell between Harry and Draco makes everything feel more intense.

I loved the quick and spare pacing of the interrogations, and the way the author tackled homophobia and what it means to be loyal to the Ministry while staying true to what you believe is right. I also loved how this slows toward the end, and the way Draco initially misunderstands Harry in the hut that serves as a locker room. The narrative keeps unfolding into something new all the way through.

And I'll Tell You No Lies On LJ, single page.
On FFn
On FictionAlley

It's Epic/Super!Epic Theme Week!

Title: Invisible to See
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Draco/Harry (Draco/Justin Finch Fletchley, Harry/Cho Chang)
Categories: AU, sixth year, conceived prior to Order of the Phoenix, action/adventure, drama, romance, mystery, angst, some humor, growing up, war with Voldemort
Length: Epic (94,963 words)
Warnings: Minor character death. Narcissa Malfoy

Author on LJ: invisibletosee
Author Website: FayJay
Author's Summary:
Invisible to See is a novel set in JK Rowling's Harry Potter universe, exploring one possible future for some of the key characters. It was begun in November of 2002 and completed in December of 2003; as such the story was conceived without benefit of The Order of the Phoenix, and cleaves only to prior canon. It is a swashbuckling tale of love, friendship, romance, redemption and vengeance, and of the messy business of coming to terms with the differences between who you are and who other people want you to be. Or, in other word, growing up.

Review:
This year marks the tenth anniversary of this HP classic, and I have a definite soft spot for long, imaginative stories written before Deathly Hallows -- in this case, well before. FayJay does a terrific job of following on from Goblet of Fire, keeping everyone in character, while giving Draco a stark and convincing reason to escape his father and the Death Eaters.

Draco's too smart to miss the last chance to save his skin by fleeing to Hogwarts. Harry, Ron and Hermione are naturally suspicious of his sudden reappearance, and Dumbledore and Snape have to take precautions, since Draco may be a spy - even if it's unwillingly. What follows is action and mystery and self discovery, with Draco growing up, and both he and Harry discovering their sexuality while under the shadow of the war with Voldemort and the very real threat Lucius presents.

I loved that Draco remains perfectly Slytherin throughout, while Harry can't shake his habit of acting first and thinking later. The story's thoughtful and suspenseful, plotty and decidedly hot. Draco's point of view is my favorite, for the cracks we get to see in his (often funny) sharp facade, how rattled he is by death and betrayal and by finding himself alone. His new and startling (to him) friendships with Neville and Dobby are well done, and when Justin offers a lifeline of affection, Draco jumps on it, even though he knows it's just physical. The mystery of Hogwarts' spy is well plotted, and eventually the twists bring Draco together with Harry, who, as always, has been following him, arguing with him, attempting to save him, and generally being drawn to Draco throughout.

Invisible to See (AO3)
On LJ: Prologue - Chapter 2, Chapters 3 - 22, Chapters 23 - 40

Title: To Be Back Again in the Rest of the Room
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Categories: Action/adventure, mystery, growing relationship, drama
Length: Long (15,947 words)
Warnings: None

Author on LJ: lamerezouille
Author Website: lamerezouille

Summary: Harry’s just defeated Voldemort, and has had enough trouble for a lifetime. All he wants to do now is to get into his four-poster bed in Gryffindor Tower and sleep. Too bad he soon finds himself unexpectedly stuck in a malfunctioning Room of Requirement... with Malfoy.

Review:
I consider this one of the definitive Room of Requirement fics. In a fandom with so many classics, it's hard to come up with something new that no one else has done before -- and lamerezouille has done it here, in spades.

This is a gorgeous read that remained in my head long after the fest was over. It's funny, engaging, heart-wrenching, and has wonderful characterisations of Harry and Draco. I took a while to warm up to it, because it didn't immediately grab my attention, but it's well-worth sticking with it -- you will never forget it. Go straight into it, without reading the comments, and you will be richly rewarded.

Just a word of caution if you're saving this to read later on a mobile device: I use Pocket, and so do a couple of other reviewers I've noticed. If you save the fic from hd_holidays, be aware that the fic gets cut off slightly towards the end. No need to panic, though, just head on back to the original site to finish reading.

To Be Back Again in the Rest of the Room
On AO3

Title: The Pull of the Tide
Fandom: Teen Wolf
Pairing: Stiles/Derek
Categories: Mystery, drama, case file
Length: Long (27,954)
Warnings: Violence, trauma, past sexual assault

Author on LJ: n/a
Author Website: miss_aphelion

Author's Summary:
Stiles appears alone at the doors of the emergency room the morning after the full moon, covered in blood with a deep slash torn across his left side. He's suffering from hypovolemic shock and barely conscious and he won't tell anyone what happened—not his hospital appointed psychiatrist, not his father. Not even his pack.

The list of suspects is disconcertedly short. There were only seven others in the woods with Stiles that night: Derek, Scott, Boyd, Erica, Isaac, Jackson and Allison. And none of them remember the night in quite the same way.

Review:
Here's a smart mystery where the wheels are already well in motion, and you're dropped into a series of conversations and interrogations to figure out what happened in the woods. Suspense is high, since whoever hurt Stiles is still free, and no one is being up front with the sheriff or the hospital-appointed therapist.

All the characters get their say, and what they're not saying is as important as what they are. Since you know a lot more than the sheriff, you get a broader sense of what everyone means. Allison's in one of her more bristly phases, and I loved her interview. Lydia's was great as well, and Scott's characterization was bang on when he tries to claim they were all at a birthday party for Jackson... six months late. Jackson doesn't even bother trying to corroborate that slip up.

Between those interviews we get Stiles' sessions with the psychiatrist. His voice here is brilliant, because he's sarcastic and funny in places, and underneath it runs a thread of anger and uncertainty. And throughout it all he's talking a lot while trying to give away nothing about what happened. He has his reasons, and he's the key to figuring this whole thing out.

The characters and suspense are great here, and Stiles' relationship with Derek is well done. Miss_aphelion calls this the first in what she plans as a series of Beacon Hills Mysteries, so if you like this one as much as I did, keep an eye out for new stories down the road.

The Pull of the Tide
Podfic by Rhea

Title: The Pull of the Tide
Fandom: Teen Wolf
Pairing: Stiles/Derek
Categories: Mystery, drama, case file
Length: Long (27,954)
Warnings: Violence, trauma, past sexual assault

Author on LJ: n/a
Author Website: miss_aphelion

Author's Summary:
Stiles appears alone at the doors of the emergency room the morning after the full moon, covered in blood with a deep slash torn across his left side. He's suffering from hypovolemic shock and barely conscious and he won't tell anyone what happened—not his hospital appointed psychiatrist, not his father. Not even his pack.

The list of suspects is disconcertedly short. There were only seven others in the woods with Stiles that night: Derek, Scott, Boyd, Erica, Isaac, Jackson and Allison. And none of them remember the night in quite the same way.

Review:
Here's a smart mystery where the wheels are already well in motion, and you're dropped into a series of conversations and interrogations to figure out what happened in the woods. Suspense is high, since whoever hurt Stiles is still free, and no one is being up front with the sheriff or the hospital-appointed therapist.

All the characters get their say, and what they're not saying is as important as what they are. Since you know a lot more than the sheriff, you get a broader sense of what everyone means. Allison's in one of her more bristly phases, and I loved her interview. Lydia's was great as well, and Scott's characterization was bang on when he tries to claim they were all at a birthday party for Jackson... six months late. Jackson doesn't even bother trying to corroborate that slip up.

Between those interviews we get Stiles' sessions with the psychiatrist. His voice here is brilliant, because he's sarcastic and funny in places, and underneath it runs a thread of anger and uncertainty. And throughout it all he's talking a lot while trying to give away nothing about what happened. He has his reasons, and he's the key to figuring this whole thing out.

The characters and suspense are great here, and Stiles' relationship with Derek is well done. Miss_aphelion calls this the first in what she plans as a series of Beacon Hills Mysteries, so if you like this one as much as I did, keep an eye out for new stories down the road.

The Pull of the Tide
Podfic by Rhea

Title: Hell House
Fandom: Supernatural
Pairing: Mostly gen but some Sam/Gabriel and one-sided Sam/Andy
Categories: Horror, mystery, pre-series, AU, pre-canon
Length: Epic (about 60,000 words)
Warnings: Violence, gore, religious themes, character deaths (OC’s and minor characters), open ending

Author on LJ: narukyu_fic
Author Website: Author profile at AO3

Summary:
A devotedly unreligious man sends his youngest son to a private religious school. If that wasn't suspicious enough, Sam can't get a hold of John or Dean, people are disappearing right and left, and, in the night, something whispers in the silence of the old chapel. Soon enough, Sam discovers that something terrible lingers behind the doors to the sacristy--something that sheds a light on the secret holy mission of the Soldiers of Christ as well what happened to his family so many years ago.

Review:
This has long been a favorite Supernatural fic of mine because of the way the author takes canon and spins it around, presenting another way it could have gone. The story is, at heart, a mystery but there’s a wonderfully suspenseful and utterly creepy feel that is woven throughout the entire story that continues up until the final, horrible, conclusion.

The Sam characterization here is strong and compelling. He’s taken from his family at the height of his teenaged rebellion stage, something we never saw in the series, and swings between believable anger that John sent him away and confusion and hurt when Dean misses Christmases and birthdays. The back and forth feelings of hurt and anger mixed with loneliness and sadness as he misses both Dean and John are poignant and spot on for teenaged Sam. One of my favorite parts was in the final confrontation where everything is going to hell and Sam wants, with an almost visceral feeling, for John to be there to make everything better because no matter their complicated relationship, Sam still believed John could help him.

The inclusion of Gabriel, who is both Trickster and archangel is wonderfully done. I particularly loved all of Gabriel and Sam’s interactions and how much the author pulled canon references into them. There is a brief relationship between the two but it’s after Sam is of age, and while an important part of the story, it is not the focus of it.

The ending is open to some extent, yet it feels like a natural conclusion to the story. You’re definitely left with a strong feeling of “What happens next?” but the story itself is complete. The epilogue is a fabulous outsider POV detailing the horrors of what happened at Hell House and the last few paragraphs are like a punch to the gut, but in the very best way.

There are some instances of minor spelling errors and missing words in a few places. They were enough to note and point out, but other than jarring for a moment, the story itself is well paced and plotted, and I don’t feel they ultimately took away from that.

Fic Master Post @ LJ
Link to PDF of fic
First 5 chapters posted at AO3