Dean James (1) (1959–)

Simon and Giles (still not a couple) attend a literary conference where an imposter turns up claiming to be the person behind one of Simon's pen names. When the imposter is murdered, Simon and Giles investigate.

Fun, but I'm continuing mainly because I want to know when Simon and Giles will get together and when Simon will tell Giles the truth about himself.

When a group of re-enactors turns up for a week-long festival one of the candidates for their leader is murdered by eating a poisoned fig pastry. Meanwhile Simon has his own problems with the arrival of his academic and vampiric mentor, who may be a suspect.

Nice final novel wrapping up various plot lines, though some threads are still left hanging. But I gather there are some short stories out there so maybe we do get some answers. Oh, and I'm pleased to say I got the who right even if i show more didn't get the why. show less

A very unpleasant TV home makeover star comes to Blitherington Hall and is not surprisingly murdered. Unfortunately the only person without an alibi is Lady Prunella.

It had its amusing moments but the ending was a bit too Agatha Christie-ish, with a denouement as the suspects gather in the drawing room to hear the detective solve the case. Why read a pale imitation when you can read the original?

This is a fun cozy mystery. Well, if you call an expatriate-murder-solving-homosexual-vampire a cozy mystery!

This tale was fun from beginning to end. In the vein (haha) of Sookie Stackhouse, it is light-hearted, enjoyable and ties up all loose ends by the last page. The writing was fresh, energetic, and intelligent. I love the use of words such as "harridan", "loquacious" and "fishwife". I will read more by this author!