Ink & Sigil (Ink & Sigil, #1)

"Al MacBharrais is both blessed and cursed. He is blessed with an extraordinary white mustache, an appreciation for craft cocktails--and a most unique magical talent. He can cast spells with magically enchanted ink and he uses his gifts to protect our world from rogue minions of various pantheons, especially the Fae. But he is also cursed. Anyone who hears his voice will begin to feel an inexplicable hatred for him, so he can communicate only through the written word or speech apps. And his apprentices keep dying in freak accidents. As his personal life crumbles around him, he devotes his life to his work, all while trying to crack the secret of his curse. But when his latest apprentice, Gordie, turns up dead in his Glasgow flat, Al discovers evidence that Gordie was living a secret life of crime. Now Al is forced to play detective--while avoiding actual detectives who are wondering why death always seems to follow him. Investigating his apprentice's death will take Al through Scotland's magical underworld, and he'll need the help of a mischievous hobgoblin if he's to survive"--