What happens to ghosts once you exorcise them? Felix Castor, a professional "exorcist," has never spent much time pondering this question - he's simply whistled a tune (his preferred form of exocism), then collected his paycheck. Or, rather he *used* to - he's now semi-retired, and performing magic at birthday parties.

When he's asked to exorcise a ghost in a museum, he's intrigued (a little bullied) enough to look into it, but the ghost is not as easy to find as he first expected...

This is creepy and dark, with a charming, sarcastic, a bit tortured, and definitely reluctant hero. I *really* enjoyed it! ( )

I enjoyed [The Devil You Know] by Mike Carey

It was very good, if a little long and wordy. He starts out having the POV do the same thing over and over (traveling around). He uses it as a way to pass information about the world set up on to the reader, and to paint in the background. Its not bad, but its a newbie thing, and could have been tighter. The author also not only assumes that you are from the UK, but that you are a native of London. I was fine with most of it, but could put others off.

The main character an exorcist, Felix Castor, is down and out. He mistakenly welded a demon into the body/soul of his best friend while trying to exorcise the demon. Because of that he has given up exorcism, and is using his magic to entertain - at kids parties.

For various reasons he gets sucked into a job of exorcising a ghost from the Bonnington Archive. It houses old documents, not important enough to be on display in museums. The case is more than it seems. He ends up trying to track down who the ghost is, and how she came to be dead, rather than just exorcising her. The trail leads him into the sites of a porn-monger/pimp and East End crime boss.

Someone calls up a Succubus to drain him to death and when she is prevented in their first encounter she stalks him, and pops up at interesting moments.

The writing was good, if a bit wordy and occasionally too colloquial. The main character was likable and believable. The minor characters were interesting and not too flat. There were several that should be recurring and they were quirky. The story was interesting.

All in all a very good first book. I will read the next one in the Felix Castor series. ( )

I thought this book showed great promise when I first started reading it. I was expecting some imagination since it was a ghost story. I was more than a little disturbed to find I had once again purchased a book about the kidnapping, bondage, rape and murder of females. I wish someone had told me so I am telling you in case you are as sickened by this theme as I am. ( )

A rabbit and a cat? Can they get along? They're inseparable. Does that answer your question?

This was a fun read. The Devil You Know is a detective story set in a London where the dead tend to rise - as ghosts, zombies & were. Oh, and there's demons too. Felix "Fix" Castor is a freelance exorcist who uses music (via tin whistle) to capture ghosts. Fix is wonderfully and darkly humorous. Although the book had me snorting with laughter here and there, the story itself is not at all comedic. It's a good and dark detective story, filled with interesting characters - living and dead. I'd recommend it, as well as the next book Vicious Circle, to anyone who enjoys their urban fantasy or paranormal mysteries a bit on the darker side. ( )