Previously published; newly refreshed by the author I like my women like I like my whiskey: more than is good for me. Name’s Kane, Kate Kane. I’m a paranormal private investigator, which is like a normal private investigator except–and stop me if you’re having trouble following this–more paranormal. This business comes with a few basic rules: don’t start drinking before noon, don’t get your … noon, don’t get your partner killed, don’t sleep with the woman who killed him.
Last year I broke all of them.
The only rule I didn’t break was the one that said don’t work for vampires. But then a dead werewolf showed up outside the Soho shag palace of Julian Saint-Germain–a bloodsucking flibbertigibbet who’s spent the last eight centuries presiding over an ever-growing empire of booze, sex and hemoglobin.
I shouldn’t have taken the job. The last thing I needed was to get caught in a supernatural smackdown between a werewolf pack and a vampire prince. Even if the vampire prince was dangerously my type. But what can I say? I was broke, I’m a sucker for a pretty face and I gave up on making good decisions a long time ago.
This book is approximately 77,500 words
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I am having a big Alexis Hall glom, which can only be a good thing. This is the first in his urban fantasy series about a half-faery PI getting into trouble. Lots of fun, pacey, and very well written. About to read the next one!
This is my first foray into the series, which is being re-released through Carina Press, with the second and third books being released in December and February, respectively.
Kate Kane is a heavy drinking, hygiene shy, part fairy (fae) paranormal investigator who’s recently been left by her ex-girlfriend for a startup and still grieves for the death of her partner, who was killed by her ex-girlfirend (Did you get all that?). She’s hired by a super-sexy vampire to solve a mystery which grows ever more complex as her investigation continues. Any number of supernatural creatures with a million and one motives could be behind the crime (and a subsequent attack), which only makes her job that much more difficult. Most of the novel is taken up with her following leads that end nowhere, while she stumbles into one adventure after another.
I will be honest. As a huge fan of the author’s writing, I went into this book with a certain set of expectations about the writing. Having devoured the Spires series, the Arden St. Ives series and then The Affair of the Mysterious Letter, I had another kind of prose in mind and found myself having to restart this book a few times before I could really settle into it. The book itself is excellent – well written, funny and subtly drawn characters, an array of interesting secondary characters, and the plot that, as far as mysteries go, was rather good. There are also a ton of references to other books and films, which makes me think the author is poking fun or paying homage to some of these things.
The style simply wasn’t what I was expecting.
Upon reflection, of course, this makes sense. Kate’s not exactly a metaphorical thinker. She is intelligent and observant but she’s very rooted in facts, like any good investigator is. Even when she is flooded with her own supernatural power (she is the daughter of a powerful Faery Queen), she is direct in the expression of her thoughts. In this, the writing does exactly what it should do. Kate is a consistent character and the writing reflects her personality and in this task, the writing is successful. The moments where the author’s natural exuberance and delight for language do burst through actually jar, not because the words aren’t beautiful in themselves, but because it is in contrast to a character who is not given to waxing poetic on anything, not even her incredibly powerful and sexually alluring girlfriend. Where such descriptions would be the nuggets I would search for in another book, they are out of place here.
So, if you go in expecting Glitterland, you’re not going to get it. Kate isn’t Ash – she’s her own character. If you like strong, complex characters who kicks ass and prefers to meet the world directly, without any filters or obfuscation, then Kate Kane is the investigator for you.
I received this ARC from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
I tried, I really did. I wanted to like this book. I did like the premise, but the reality of it was thoroughly disappointing. Part of that can be chalked up to world-building by way of info dumps. Then, there’s the unlikable main character. I can and often do appreciate snark and wit, but Kate just wasn’t likable, which could also be the reason I couldn’t get on board with the romance. Either that, or there really was no chemistry. All of that aside, I think the biggest annoyance was all the borrowed elements. I sat this book aside a number of times and kept coming back to try again, but it finally reached a point that I was merely tallying up things I’d seen in other urban fantasy/paranormal stories. In the end, it felt like a mish-mash of so many other stories. If you’re completely new to the genre and been living off the grid for some time, maybe you’ll like this one better than I did. For me, I think it’s safe to say that I won’t be recommending this one, nor will I be continuing with the series.
Kate Kane (not Batwoman) is a London PI with a complex backstory. Her partner was killed and it seems she was responsible, one of her exes is a vampire, another is a Witch Queen, she swears she’ll never get involved with another vampire but never say never, eh? So when a werewolf is murdered and Kate is asked by a Vampire Prince (who would be a princess if she wasn’t a vampire, I guess) to investigate, she agrees and tries hard (not really) to resist her employer’s charms.
I know it’s unfair but I’m always a little biased against lesfic books written by men. It’s not that they’re men per se, it’s more that I worry about the male gaze, whether it’s in books, movies or TV series. Plus there are so many good books written by women (most of whom are wlw), they’re usually my priority. So many books, so little time, you know?
With this one, I was misled by the author’s name but it was a perfectly fun read anyway. I enjoyed the tone and the tongue-in-cheek humor. I liked the whole film noir and femme fatale feel of it. It was a bit like a Raymond Chandler novel but with vampires, witches and werewolves. And lesbians. It’s funny and sexy and action-packed. In the end, that’s all I care about. I am therefore totally looking forward to book 2.
I received a copy from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving a review.