Grave Secrets

July 27, 2020
British author James’s fun, fast debut introduces Lavington “Toni” Windsor, “estate agent by day, necromancer by night.” Toni has lived all her life in the sleepy county of Staffordshire, where “most sudden end-of-life incidents... tended to involve tractors. Or cows. Sometimes both.” On occasion, she raises the dead in order to help her police officer brother, William, solve a rare local murder. A case that has haunted both William and Toni for months is that of an unidentified young woman who was dismembered. Despite her prodigious talent, Toni has been unable to get into contact with this Jane Doe, but once she finally does, her subsequent inquiries wind up involving liaisons, often romantic, with elegantly attired zombies and vampires. Since the undead supply all the clues, conventional investigative techniques are nonexistent. Fans of Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse will want to check out Toni. Agent: Simon Kavanagh, Mic Cheetham Assoc. (U.K.).

September 1, 2020

DEBUT Lavington Windsor, or Toni, as she prefers to be called, is a real estate agent by day and necromancer by night. When her agency is tasked with finding a home for Oscar Wolsey, Toni is more than up to the job--especially since Oscar happens to be a drop-dead gorgeous vampire. But between navigating vampire politics, helping her new friends defend against a Chicago vampire Mafia group that's moved into the area, and the truth that necromancers are the sworn enemy of vampires, Toni has her hands full. Not to mention that she's determined to help her police officer brother solve the murder of headless Jane Doe, who's been languishing in the morgue for months. Can Toni resolve all her problems and still keep her neck unbitten? With the help of a few zombie allies, she just might. VERDICT James's debut is a sometimes silly, often funny twist on the vampire romance genre. The delightfully written Toni is about the unlikeliest heroine one expects to encounter. Throw in a few zombies for good measure, and readers are left with a novel perfect for fans of Charlaine Harris and Gail Carriger.--Elisabeth Clark, West Florida P.L., Pensacola

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.