C. E. Murphy

Ireland. Whiskey. Murder driver

I remember the first time I accidentally sounded Irish
Well, I didn’t know it was going to get fraught, did I!
If someone’s poisoning people with kiwi and other small flightless birds
I’m going to feel slightly guilty if they end up dead
Megan Malone’s Moaning Misery at your service
Tonight you’re just eye candy, not a detective.
I’ll never let the truth get in the way of a good story

With lines like those you know it’s a great book! One of my favorite series, this installment took it to the next level in character development of both the leading lady and several of the supporting cast. An absolute delight!… (more)

Loved this conclusion to the trilogy and wish the author would write more in this world, she has left space to do so. Most of the loose ends were tidied away, if only sometimes as a paragraph in the epilogue.

The old races are fighting among themselves, something that never sued to happen, but now the Selkie and Djinn have numbers to bring, if not spare. The prize is currently the underground empire of the Dragon Jaxx, who only narrowly avoided being rousted by the human police. The fighting is attracting attention, and that is dangerous to everyone, so Magrit, unofficial but recognised Negotiator is asked to broker a deal. Even the unchanging Gargoyles realise that something new is upon them, and they welcome Alban back into their memories. But old scores have yet to be settled - two of the Old Races died, and that was a line no-one wanted to cross without retribution being brought - so now old secrets are also revealed to the light.

I think the concerns over human interaction are somewhat forgotten about in this one - although there are references to them, the actions of the dragon in particular are more noteworthy than can just be shrugged away. It' fast paced, and great fun throughout, the characters shine a few reveal their true selves, and a few hidden depths. Shame this is the last.… (more)

Fun but not quite fully fleshed out. The plot moves along at pace, but it leaves too many holes behind that are never quite explained.

Joanne Walker is just returning from a protracted visit to Ireland for her estranged mother's funeral when just as the aeroplane is landing, she spots a woman being chased a (many references are made to the unlikelihood of this, but then never followed up). She rushed through to investigate with the help of a patient cabby, and finds the woman hiding in a church crypt. They're subsequently both attached by a man ona horse with a sword, and Joanne receives a stab wound through her chest. A spirit Guide, helps her choose to heal, and she realises nothing she's ever known will be quite the same as her heritage which she's ignored all her life has come to claim her. She is one of the few Shaman, there to heal the world, starting with the Wild Hunt in Seattle. Most of the character drama comes from her interactions with her employers the city police.

I wasn't utterly sure that casting her as a mechanic with a coyote animal was innovative, because it's very similar to the popular Mercedes in Patricia Brigg's werewolf novels, but the two stories takes sufficiently divergent tracks to be memorably different.… (more)