Murder by Death

I was unsure about this one when I bought it.  I have a hit-or-miss track record with Midnight Ink, but Gigi Pandian also writes for Henery Press and I've enjoyed her Jaya Jones series.  From the first page, I liked this book even better.  This is paranormal cozy, but there's a maturity to the writing that is often absent in the sub-genre.

Zoe has just arrived at her new handyman-special house in Portland, Oregon after years of living in a trailer while criss-crossing the country.  As she begins unpacking her moving crates she finds a stow-away: a living stone chimera (a gargoyle that isn't a water-spout) named Dorian.  He needs her to interpret a rare alchemical book and he's willing to cook for her while she does it.  The next day, Zoe finds her contractor dead on her porch, murdered and the book, along with other alchemical artefacts, stolen.

For anyone that's read Juliet Blackwell, there are some similarities here, but after the first couple of chapters, the book took on its own voice.  I won't call this a "fun" read but it was enjoyable; the story doesn't rely on humour and occasionally gets slowed down by Zoe's angst about her past, but it's never heavy reading by any stretch.  I like Zoe and Dorian and Brixton (mostly).  I loved the Portland setting and reading more about the tunnels that run underneath the city.  The inclusion of historical figures in the book's backstory gave it an anchor to reality and the author's note at the back details any artistic license Ms. Pandian took with these figures lives.

The mystery plotting was...so-so.  It felt pretty obvious to me about half-way that it could really only be a couple of people, but then Ms. Pandian keeps things moving enough that I was just not quite sure which one it was.  I wasn't left with "wow" but I wasn't disappointed either.

I could nit-pick more, maybe justify 4 stars instead of 4.5, but when I closed the book last night, my first thought was "I really enjoyed that book".  I won't hesitate to look for the next book in the series.