Divine Misdemeanors was a great read by my definition...read 100 pages at bedtime before my eyes rebelled and refused to stay open a single second longer. (How rude of them!) Then finished the book just ten minutes before the end of an all day session with my husband at the cancer center. I love that these books pose so many questions. When God gives you a choice how do you know which is "right"? What will be the consequences? For yourself, for the people you love, the world at large? I'm excited to see where Merry and her friends will go next! ( )

Divine Misdemeanors is Laurell K. Hamilton's eighth Meredith Gentry novel. In this most recent installment Hamilton takes Merry and her ever-growing household out of faerie and back to LA, where they are forced to adjust to the everyday, while helping police work through a case involving dead fey.

Most evident in this novel are Hamilton's attempts to superimpose the world of fairy tales onto the everyday, and she seems to struggle with her characters as they are forced to consider things like rent and occupation. However, little seems resolved by the end of the book, and much of the plot comes off as underdeveloped. It seems like Hamilton has too many characters and too many stories to tell, and can't really balance everything she wants to do in 350 pages. As a result characters are lost and story lines come off as shallow. However, I did enjoy some of the tidbits revealed by a few of Merry's men, and can see their stories growing in the future.

Divine Misdemeanors is not nearly as enthralling as Swallowing Darkness, and seems to serve as a transition from one storyline to the next. On its own Divine Misdemeanors is entertaining but nothing special; I have confidence that Hamilton will again find her feet with the next book. ( )