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My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Source: Review copy from author
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Some things are best left unseen...
Ivy Granger's second sight is finally giving her life purpose. Ivy and her best friend Jinx may not be raking in the dough, but their psychic detective agency pays the bills--most of the time. Their only worry is the boredom of a slow day and the occasional crazy client--until a demon walks through their door.
Demons are never a good sign...
A demon attorney representing the water fae? Stranger things have happened. And things are about to get very, very strange as a bloodthirsty nightmare hunts the city of Harborsmouth.
There's blood in the water...
Kelpies have a reputation for eating humans. Unfortunately, Kelpies are the clients. When an Unseelie faerie this evil stalks the waterways of your city, you have to make hard choices.
The lesser of two evils...
I already knew E.J Steven's writing from the funny and sweet Spirit Guide series, and this new series has the same wonderful fast paced plotline and fun quirky characters. I really enjoyed this book- packed with magic, secrets, and a dramatic action-packed battle against good and evil, all told with an undercurrent of wry humour.
Ivy is a great tough-as-nails heroine, who has had to cut herself off from people because of her ability to get visions of traumatic experiences just from touching a person or an object- even food wrappers or telephones. She wears a permanent growl on her face to avoid people accidentally knocking into her.
But along with her understanding and friendly best friend and roommate Jinx (the unluckiest girl in the world) she has set up a psychic detective business to help people find lost possessions- and to just pay the rent. The friendship between these two is great and they love each other like sisters, even though they are so different.
Because they struggle most weeks to make ends meet they usually accept any client that walks in the door- but Ivy is especially wary when demon lawyer Forneus strolls in wanting her help. However, as it looks like a deadly band of water creatures is threatening not only the kelpies that Forneus represents but the whole of Harborsmouth Ivy has no choice but to take the job and do what she can to save the town. And can she convince the local vampires to join her side?
There is a whole spectrum of supernatural creatures in this book from faeries and water kelpies to vampires, demons and a unicorn. One of Ivy's best friends is a bridge troll. I liked this sense of never knowing what to expect and being surprised by creatures that you wouldn't expect to be Ivy's ally.
Ivy reaches out to her old friend Kaye, a powerful witch, who runs Madame Kaye's Magic Emporium to help with the research, and also contacts the local priest to help with dealing with the demon. The characters are the best part of the story, as they are each unique, endearing and odd in their own way. You can't help but love them all- for example Kaye's grumpy kitchen brownie Hob- who is obsessed with cleaning but is always concerned about Ivy's health.
This is the first book in what looks to be the start of an interesting and kooky new series- there is definitely more to tell, now that the world of Harborsmouth is established and the lovable band of Ivy, Jinx, Kaye, Hob and co. are brought closer together. I'd be interested to see what adventures they can get themselves into next.
Book 2 is titled Ghost Light and is due 2013
I love great characters! They can make or break a story. I've loved the Spirit Guide series E.J. writes and can't wait for the next in that one. I think this sounds like a great one to read, as well.
ReplyDeleteHeather