Joyce Lavene (1954–2015)

A new cozy series by two of my favorite authors. I had to read this book. And I love the title for the series, Purple Door Detective Agency. I have a page on Pinterest that’s all about doors and have many pictures of purple ones.

I also was excited this was a paranormal cozy. I like the themes of cozies. Pets, sewing, books, and food. And now Paranormal!

I’m entering the door now.

One thing I know I’ll get when I read a cozy by Jim and Joyce Lavene is colorful characters. Not only are show more they colorful, they aren’t all humans.

Meet Sunshine Merryweather. A private investigator. She handles all of the paranormal cases while trying to keep it from the public eye.

The authors description of Sunshine reminded me of Penelope (baby girl) from Criminal Minds. She never leaves the house without make-up on, hair perfectly poofed, and some kind of spangled outfit. Her favorite color is purple, hence the agencies name, and she wears it, works in it, and lives with purple.

Sunshine is young for a witch, only 75 years old. She’s got some serious powers though. While a good, witch, you don’t want to get on her bad side. Watch her hair. When you’ve annoyed her, her golden locks start to look more like a strawberry blond. You never want it to go red.

Once through the purple door, you’re greeted by Jane, the receptionist. The agency is looking for a new associate, and the waiting room is filled with werewolves, hags, vampires, and other scary characters. I didn’t blame Jane for hiding in the closet. Especially after I learned more about her.

Jane is the victim of a spell gone wrong. One cast by none other than Sunshine. She’s still trying to fix it. Jane is a mouse, literally. She can shift to human form. I had such fun with her. She is timid like a mouse, always hungry like one, and likes to nibble on things.

Some scenes that had me laughing:

Sunshine talking to Jane:

“Stay out of the cereal.”

“Take messages and try not to nibble on them.”

A new client walks through the purple door.

Meet Aine, a beane sidhe, or banshee. She needs help and her scream insures she gets it. Aine is looking for the last surviving member of the O’Neill line. She must find him, be there to warn him of his impending death, and lead him to the other side. Woken from a two hundred year sleep, she finds a whole new world. The technology bewilders her but she quickly starts catching on. She’s not there for the job opening, but she gets the job.

There’s a job opening because Sunshine’s lover, a werewolf, was torn to pieces several days ago. She not only needs to fill the vacancy. She needs help tracking down his killer. She wants vengeance, in blood.

There’s one door at the agency that stays closed. It’s the office of Mr. Bad. That’s what Sunshine calls him. He just showed up one day. Her associate, John, says he’s staying and don’t ask questions. Just who and what is Mr. Bad? And why is he there? She’s never seen his face as he keeps his office blacked out. Very mysterious.

And I don’t want to forget Detective Sean O’Neill. He has no clue about his ancestral bloodline or the beane sidhe. Things get interesting when he meets Aine and Sunshine. They keep bumping into each other as bodies continue to pile up. First, he views them as suspects, then as crazy ladies. A visitation from Aine in his bedroom only makes things crazier.

What do a witch, a banshee, a mouse, and a detective have in common? They’re all smack dab in the middle of a paranormal investigation and they’re foe is not of this world.

The opening of this story was such fun. I snuggled in with a cuppa tea and some snacks, knowing I wouldn’t be able to stop until I finished this book.

And once again, these authors kept me hostage as their characters came to life on the pages. Their writing is fast and fun, seems almost effortless how easily it flows. They are prolific writers and have numerous books and series. It may take years, but I’ll read every single one. show less

This is one of those series: I can't say it's at all well-written, but I can't stop reading it either. I read Sweet Pepper Hero with the intent of figuring out what it is that keeps me coming back even though the writing drives me just short of crazy.

The writing is choppy, with short sentences and color commentary added in awkwardly; in many ways, it reads more like a middle school or maybe early ESL level of writing. This is probably my biggest complaint. I've always chalked it up to J.J. show more Cook being a pseudonym for a husband/wife writing team, Joyce and Jim Lavene; I figured something got lost in the team effort. Sadly, Joyce Lavene passed away a few months ago; if the series continues at all it will be just Jim Lavene's voice and it will be interesting to see if that changes the narrative.

The story starts off oddly: I get the impression that this book was meant to have a different plot when they wrote the cliffhanger into the last book, so the first few chapters of Sweet Pepper Hero were spent rapidly "solving" that mystery. It was anti-climatic and again...awkward.

There's also some woeful editing/copyediting, including missing words and sentences that just don't make sense.

It should by all rights go in the big black box, but no, it's staying. In spite of the awkward writing, the Lavene's can create a great story and some solid mystery plotting, although Stella pulls such an insanely off-the-charts TSTL stunt at the end she honestly deserved to get pushed off the side of a mountain. That move was contrary to the intelligent, stubborn and responsible persona the authors had, up until that moment, built for Stella. Then there's Eric. He's a ghost, but if a ghost has to haunt your house, this is the one you want doing the haunting. He cooks, he cleans, he makes sure the light is on and the door open when you come home at night and he's a strapping 6'5" tall blonde. Yes please.

The mystery plotting was really well done and some very nice slight of hand was done that lead me off in a different direction entirely. The ending was quite dramatic for a cozy too, but it's the characters and the setting that are going to keep these books on the shelf and me buying the fifth book, if a fifth book is coming. But mostly, it's going to be Eric. ;) show less

Dae O'Donnell, the mayor of Duck, North Carolina, has a gift for finding objects. When finding a watch for an older resident, she discovers the body of her sister. Did a purse snatcher commit the crime? Did the sister of the deceased do it? In the meantime, new resident and former FBI agent Kevin Brickman gets Dae's help finding a missing key in the Blue Goose that he's renovating. She finds the key and another body. Now the police chief and his sidekick who proposes to Dae every chance he show more gets have two murders to investigate with the help of the SBI. This cozy has a lot going for it. I love the location in the Outer Banks. I like most of the characters that are certain to be recurring and can tolerate the ones I don't like quite as much. There's a bit of romance brewing that will probably pick up in future installments. There were enough red herrings to make the plot interesting. I was a bit surprised that the authors used a real town as their setting instead of making a name up for a town that resembled one of the real towns. The only thing I didn't really enjoy was some of the Occultic elements such as the Ouija Board and a seance. I'm looking forward to another visit to Duck, North Carolina with Dae and Kevin. show less

Westerns aren’t big on my hit list, but anything by the Lavenes and you can count me in. Those Who Walk in Darkness by Jim and Joyce Lavene is a step back in time, to the Wild West days of the Pinkertons. Beware, you’ll need a quick draw to survive.

Jacks is Julia. After her fiance died at her feet, she went to Allan Pinkerton. He said he would help her find the killer and hired her on the spot. Only two people know she is female, Allan Pinkerton, her boss, and Lil. Lil is a madame who show more recognized her femininity and felt a need to “mother” her. I can only imagine how hard it would be to change ALL your mannerisms. Cutting the hair and binding the breasts would be simple, but learning to walk, talk and act like a man would be much more difficult. She would have to be ever vigilant.

Jacks can take care of herself. She’s a cigar smoking, whiskey drinking, quick draw and is doing just fine, until Hume Boyd and Running Wolf. She preferred to work alone, but that would not be the case this time.

Now…what can I say about Hume. I can picture him, looking so young you wonder if he can even pick up a gun, naive, sweet and innocent and too eager for his own good.

I have a bad feeling about Boyd, but a good one about Running Wolf. With a name like that, I think we have some paranormal and mystical machinations coming up and I am looking forward to them. Jacks keeps denying the appearance of the raven, but we shall see.

The mystery unfolds and I am delighted to be teased…it can’t be him…too obvious, but he’s not a nice guy and that’s putting it mildly. So, what’s his beef? Okay, then how about…it could be him, and I waver back and forth. The big question is “Why?”

The characters are well developed and the mystery prolonged. I know something is coming…very soon. Even though I am expecting it, it’s still a shock when it happens. I jerk and gasp, laughing at myself for being caught off guard.

I have a love/hate feeling for the ending. The Lavene’s wrap this novel up in a neat package, but Jacks story lives on. There is no happy ever after and I will be more than glad to go on the next adventure to find out…who is the real Jacks.

This was a surprising 5 stars for me. When I began reading I was rating it a bit low, but it kept getting better and better. Fantastic writing and I would highly recommend Those Who Walk in Darkness by the Lavene’s for a great combination of multiple genres.

I received a copy of Those Who Walk in Darkness by Joyce and Jim Lavene in return for an honest review.

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