Novel Review: Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher

Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It’s one thing to enjoy and recommend a series repeatedly, and another thing entirely to watch it metamorph in the best possible way into something bigger and better than it’s yet been. Suddenly, many years and installments into the series, previous threads of plot and subplot come together into a rich tapestry. This is not to say that the tapestry has been revealed–it hasn’t. Merely its existence.

Chicago’s wizard detective, Harry Dresden, has been elevated into the highest regional position for the wizarding counsel. He’s also been handed a rough command: root out the recent dark magic that’s reared in Chicagoland. His case gets complicated quickly when trusted friends are caught in the path of the summoned fear-demons.

This novel establishes new definitions for the concept of “family” for Harry. Parents and children, mentors and students. Everything is personal, and not because he’s threatened and in danger, but because those he loves are. Harry realizes the existence of the dark tapestry threatening to smother his beloved city and those he cares about within it.

This series is highly recommended. I’ve previously read:
     Storm Front (The Dresden Files, #1)–4 stars
     Fool Moon (The Dresden Files, #2)–4 stars
     Grave Peril (The Dresden Files, #3)–4 stars
     Summer Knight (The Dresden Files, #4)–4 stars
     Death Masks (The Dresden Files, #5)–4 stars
     Blood Rites (The Dresden Files, #6)–4 stars
     Dead Beat (The Dresden Files, #7)–4 stars    
     “Last Call” (The Dresden Files, #10.6)–5 stars
     “Love Hurts” (The Dresden Files, #11.5)–5 stars
 
 
 
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Novel Review: Dead Beat by Jim Butcher

Dead Beat by Jim Butcher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Dresden Files may be one of many urban fantasy detective series in the literary market, but it leads and inspires as such. The world of Harry Dresden, the modern day wizarding detective based in Chicago, continues to expand its worldview and internal history. But most impressively, a reader will sense a turning point in this installment, an escalation, in which the disparate elements of Dresden’s world are starting to lock into place in relation to each other. There has been offshoots into the worlds or politics of vampires, fae, werewolves, wizarding counsels and police forces, and circles of black magic users in previous novels in the series. Additionally, Harry’s own parentage and quizzical family history including a literal fairy godmother and a incubus half-brother has been held in hint-and-tease mode. Here, each offshoot and sub-story line formulates as a puzzle piece in a very large and curious puzzle. While the overall image may remain elusive, a sense of place and relation between the pieces becomes apparent.

Harry’s partner in crime[fighting], Karrin Murphy of the Chicago PD is on vacation while necromancers descend on Chicago in the days before Halloween. Werewolves, vampires and wizards all react to this development while the necromancers stir up the ghosts and create zombie minions. Harry’s increasing strength and taint by a demonic fallen angel guide him as he leads the revolt against the coalescing forces of darkness. His ongoing unease with the wizarding police known as the wardens takes an interesting turn when Harry is essentially drafted into service.

This series is highly recommended. I’ve previously read:
     Storm Front (The Dresden Files, #1)–4 stars
     Fool Moon (The Dresden Files, #2)–4 stars
     Grave Peril (The Dresden Files, #3)–4 stars
     Summer Knight (The Dresden Files, #4)–4 stars
     Death Masks (The Dresden Files, #5)–4 stars
     Blood Rites (The Dresden Files, #6)–4 stars
     “Last Call” (The Dresden Files, #10.6)–5 stars
     “Love Hurts” (The Dresden Files, #11.5)–5 stars
 
 
 
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Novella Review: The Back Doors of Fancy Places by Anderson Ryle

The Back Doors of Fancy Places by Anderson Ryle
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This curious, short tale has the detective noir voice, scenery and pacing headlined by possibly the world’s worst detective. He manages to solve and resolve practically nothing and cannot tell when a clue or coincidence could be pertinent.

“My mother always used to say I would never make it as a detective, said I trust people too quickly . . . “

. . . She leaned in closer than she needed to as he fumbled with his lighter. She smiled from beneath her dark hat and took a long drag. “Go on, Stranger,” she said.

The wannabe detective trustingly relates details of three curious cases or situations to a sexy woman he doesn’t recognize in a dark alley behind a club. The 3 scenarios involve 1) the strangest thing he’s noticed while wandering the streets [dodgy thugs possibly disposing a body], 2) a case looking for a runaway, and 3) a missing person’s case. He solved none of these cases and seems genuinely not curious about coincidences and details in all three cases.

He’s also not curious about the attention he’s getting from the strange woman in the dark alley.

Even as it becomes clear that the situations might be interconnected, the “detective” does nothing with that information and the entire evening remains unresolved. Somehow, this tale seems like the first part of a two-part sitcom detective show–and then the second part never airing.

The overarching plot holds much potential to be truly interesting and deliciously nefarious, however, that potential isn’t quite reached in this stand alone tale.

I received my copy of this novella directly from the author through bookreviewdirectory.wordpress.com.
 
 
 
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Novel Review: Blood Rites [The Dresden Files, #6] by Jim Butcher

Blood Rites by Jim Butcher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The modern day Chicago wizarding detective, Harry Dresden, throws himself headlong, as he is wont to do, into yet another deadly situation making himself the target for multiple supernatural nasties. The brilliance of this series doesn’t reside in the details of the individual cases but in the continual development and enrichment of both the urban fantasy world and in the abilities, mindset, and personal connections of protagonist Harry Dresden.

When the series started, Harry was a loner running half-afoul of the law and the ruling wizarding counsels. He quickly added Karren Murphy of the Chicago PD to his friends list as they investigated supernatural crimes that found their way into non-supernatural awareness. Other cases, but still including the increasingly less skeptical Murphy, took place entirely in the realm of the Fae or the war between the wizards and the vampires.

This installment manages many things for the series. It opens the closed book on orphaned Harry’s family. His mother’s history comes to tantalizing light. A half-sibling emerges from the ether. And seriously concerning enlightenment is cast upon Harry’s foster-parentage. This is very welcome development.

Also, the world of the vampires along with the cultures and politics gets blown open in unexpected ways. While previously established that the 3 “courts” of vampires are very culturally different, here it’s seen that they are unrelated species barely tolerating each other. This case revolves around the lust-feeding, emotion-devouring foppish White Court vamps. They may not touch blood, and they don’t, but they are no less toxic. Making them major players in the world of porn production is just plain fun–no need to stalk prey if they’ll come willingly to you . . .

I’ve previously read the following Dresden books and stories:
     Storm Front (The Dresden Files, #1)–4 stars
     Fool Moon (The Dresden Files, #2)–4 stars
     Grave Peril (The Dresden Files, #3)–4 stars
     Summer Knight (The Dresden Files, #4)–4 stars
     Death Masks (The Dresden Files, #5)–4 stars
     “Last Call” (The Dresden Files, #10.6)–5 stars
     “Love Hurts” (The Dresden Files, #11.5)–5 stars

 

 

 

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Short Story Review: “Moonlight One” by Stephen Lawson

4 of 5 stars.

A beautiful background and strong hook open this sci-fi short story when a woman comfortably awakens in her bed only to see Earth looming overhead through the skydome in her bedroom compartment. Her husband, the only other resident of the lunar biodome [and of the moon, period] isn’t in the bed with her. The casual mystery of his absence turns serious when she finds him in the rainforest dome beneath the chittering bush babies. Dead. Of a stab wound.

NASA confirms that the cameras system winked out hours earlier in an apparent glitch. Suicide? Sleepwalking murder? Or something more nefarious? Gwen keeps her head long enough to reach out the her ex she wronged years earlier. He’s the detective and mystery writer. He’s the ex-fiancee she left for his roommate–her now dead husband on a satellite with a current living human population of 1.

Gwen and Jonas have 5 days to solve the mystery before less caring governmental and business forces come up to clean up and cover up the mess . . .

The tale unspools on multiple timelines after the opening. There’s the baggage-laden history of Jonas and Gwen filtering the lens of the current time murder mystery. Jonas doesn’t sit comfortable in his equal mistrust of Gwen and of government and business interests. Nor has he forgiven his ex-roommate. The pace, tone, and voice make this a winner.

This tale was a quarterly contest winner appearing in Writers of the Future: Volume 33 edited by David Farland.
 
 
 
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Anthology Review: Weird Detectives: Recent Investigations edited by Paula Guran

Weird Detectives: Recent Investigations by Paula Guran
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Where urban fantasy and detective noir come together lies a fertile field to explore the human [and non-human] condition. The detectives themselves are often the fantastical variant. This collection brings together tales of a zombie, 2 vampire, 3 werewolf and 7+ wizarding detectives, among others, providing an external view of the modern human life. Also included are a couple supernatural Sherlock Holmes tales and a handful of ghost tales with a couple stretching all the way back to the Elizabethan era. The crimes are mostly murders which by nature shatter the accepted human social ethics.

This diversity of tales despite a common sub-genre is reflected in my top 3 each meriting 5-stars and in my “honorable mention” 3 earning 4-stars. I’ve reviewed and rated each of the 23 tales included.

–Jim Butcher’s “Love Hurts” [5 stars] depicts an intimate look at his Chicago-based wizarding detective, Harry Dresden, as he tries to stop a series of curse-induced love-suicides.
–Neil Gaiman’s “The Case of Death and Honey” [5 stars] tells a heart-felt Sherlock Holmes from a vantage beyond both Watson and Holmes.
–Charlaine Harris’ “Death by Dahlia” [5 stars] circumstantially places an ancient vampire in the role of detective when a political vampire coronation of sorts is disrupted by a murder.
–Patricia Briggs’ “Star of David” [4 stars] tells a familial tale when a werewolf mercenary is called upon by his 40-years estranged daughter.
Faith Hunter’s “Signatures of the Dead” [4 stars] pairs an elemental witch and her coven-family with a shapeshifter to solve an Appalachian vampire problem.
Jonathan Maberry’s “Like Part of the Family” [4 stars] depicts the canine-like loyalties and ethics of a werewolf evening the playing field in defense of domestic and sexual abuse survivors.

Also included are:
Bear, Elizabeth–“Cryptic Coloration”–3 stars
Bick, Ilsa J.–“The Key”–3 stars
Bowes, Richard–“Mortal Bait”–3 stars
Denton, Bradley–The Adakian Eagle–3 stars
Elrod, P. N.–“Hecate’s Golden Eye”–3 stars
Green, Simon R.–“The Nightside, Needless to Say”–3 stars
Huff, Tanya–“See Me”–3 stars
Kiernan, Caitlin R.–“The Maltese Unicorn”–3 stars
Monette, Sarah–“Impostors”–3 stars
Parks, Richard–“Fox Tails”–3 stars
Vaughn, Carrie–“Defining Shadows” [Kitty Norville]–3 stars
Cameron, Dana–“Swing Shift”–2 stars
Carl, Lillian Stewart–“The Necromancer’s Apprentice”–2 stars
Clark, Simon–“Sherlock Holmes and the Diving Bell”–2 stars
Gustainis, Justin–“Deal Breaker”–2 stars
Lansdale, Joe R.–“The Case of the Stalking Shadow”–2 stars
Meikle, William–“The Beast of Glamis”–2 stars

 
 
 
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Short Story Review: “See Me” by Tanya Huff

3 of 5 stars.

This is a different sort of detective tale in that the one doing the detecting, Tony Foster, is not a detective by trade, but rather by circumstance. He is, however, a wizard. This allows him to delve more deeply into the mystery of dead elderly men without IDs being found near his work and near his home in Vancouver.

Tony works on the crew of a popular vampire/detective television show. His boyfriend, an actor, plays the detective on the show. Things get “complicated” when the hooker who’d been serving the first of the dead men takes an interest in Tony’s boyfriend. The police are too busy hunting recent missing persons to investigate old men dying of natural causes . . .

The unusual and complex relationship between Tony, Lee [the boyfriend], and Valerie [the prostitute] grows steadily throughout the story making it work.

This tale appears in Weird Detectives: Recent Investigations edited by Paula Guran.
 
 
 
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Short Story Review: “Sherlock Holmes and the Diving Bell” by Simon Clark

2 of 5 stars.

Sherlock Holmes and his faithful counterpart in Dr. Watson come with certain expectations. Watson often tells the tale, as he does here, being the Everyman to Holmes’ mad genius. There’s also a certain expectation on the unriddling of the conundrum at the basis of every Holmes’ tale. Watson, as an educated man, will note many things that the reader may or may not recognize. And, then Holmes will sweep in to solve a case that confounds Scotland Yard and Watson . . . and the reader.

This Holmes tale misses the mark. While the relationship between the Holmes and Watson plays right, and the dialogue sounds particularly Victorian and appropriately antiquated, the “mystery” is short on clues, reasoning and resolution. That the mystery seems to imply a supernatural, ghostly answer is expected. That the answer truly is supernatural breaks the point of Sherlock Holmes making apparent that which is unapparent.

The case: A man descends into the ocean depths in a diving bell to recover treasure. The cables break dooming the diver to a watery grave. Five years later, in a recovery of the recovery equipment, ghostly sounds and voices emanate from the long submerged diving bell. A second diving bell is sent down with two on board. It returns to the surface with both occupants dead of fright . . .

This tale appears in Weird Detectives: Recent Investigations edited by Paula Guran.
 
 
 
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Short Story Review: “Death by Dahlia” by Charlaine Harris

5 of 5 stars.

One of the most wonderful settings for a murder mystery is the dinner party spoiled by a body. This classic setup appeared in the movies Clue and Godford Park and in countless television shows including the launch of Remington Steele and before that in scores of novels. The gathering of people, each with a potential hidden agenda, lines up the suspects before the clues have even been revealed. Distrust and tension immediately follow. And hopefully, some clever detective work.

This well paced and plotted tale ironically takes place at the vampire mansion where protocol and diplomacy ranks above blood lust. The gathering is to celebrate the ascension of a new vampire family sheriff. The dethroned former boss is still around, and the new guy hasn’t been living in the mansion with the rest. Also in attendance are a smattering of werewolves, demons and half-demons, and non-fairy fae. There’s also the dozen humans blood donors the agency sent over, one of whom fails to walk back out of the mansion again . . .

The politics between races of supernaturals is thick with tension. But it pales in comparison to the ranks and rankles of the vampires, where age and status mean everything. Aside from the new and old bosses, there the friend with benefits to the new boss, the human shepherd with a human lover on the side, and another vamp married to a werewolf. Dahlia, a petite old vampire with centuries on most everybody at the party, is called upon to determine why there’s a human sprawled in the kitchen with a missing throat.

And who called the police . . . ? . . .

This tale is highly recommended. It appears in Weird Detectives: Recent Investigations edited by Paula Guran.
 
 
 
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Short Story Review: “Fox Tails” by Richard Parks

3 of 5 stars.

Pre-Modern Japan anchors this tale of animal spirits, ghosts, and the rigid class structure of the nobility. A low-ranked noble is hired to find a lord’s wife and son that disappeared after it was revealed that the wife was actually a true trickster fox spirit.

The role spirits and ghosts play in the culture is made clear. As are the strict rules and dangers for interacting with said spirits and ghosts. However, not all fox spirits should be judged by their bushy tails [plural] as the 2-tailed Lady truly loved her husband, showing a loyalty not usual granted the fox spirits.

This tale appears in Weird Detectives: Recent Investigations edited by Paula Guran. I’ve previously read this author’s “The Manor of Lost Time.
 
 
 
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