Divine Misdemeanors

December 7, 2009
Hamilton hits the ground running in her latest Meredith Gentry novel, this one set in Los Angeles, where a pregnant Meredith has been safely united with her fellow exiles from the faerie courts. The faerie princess/private eye's happiness is short-lived, however, when she catches wind of a serial killer who gets his kicks crafting hideous tableaux of butchered demi-fey. While Meredith hunts for the killer, her stable of guards struggle to protect her from herself. Just as full of steamy sex and wild magic as the previous seven volumes, this episode finds Meredith's powers, as well as her collection of gorgeous guards, expanding, with crowd-pleasing results. The friction among Meredith's men makes for good drama, and Hamilton doesn't shy away from difficult real-world issues like post-traumatic stress disorder and sexual abuse. Though newcomers will be lost, and mystery fans may feel the sex scenes crowd out the plot, veterans of the series will no doubt enjoy their return to Hamilton's meticulously constructed world.

December 15, 2009
L.A. PI Merry Gentry, aka Princess Meredith NicEssus, finally achieves her goal: to become pregnant with heirs to the UnSeelie Court in order to gain the crown. Except that along the way, she realizes that love and motherhood are higher callings. She refuses the crown and leads those willing to follow into exile in the human world. There UnSeelie politics still impede, but her loved ones and followers can make a new start for themselves, while Merry can get back to work. But the smallest among them, the demi-fey, are being murdered, and finding the killer proves more of a challenge as Merrys growing celebrity hampers the investigation. The mystery aspect in the latest installment in Hamiltons popular series starts out with great page-turner potential, then struggles to overcome some heavy personal drama, only to fizzle out in a too simply resolved conclusion. However, the novel as a whole rebounds as new conflicts emerge within Merrys clan as their faerie powers grow. Hamilton provides a tension-filled ending and offers her diehard fans more of the sexually entwined politics, mesmerizing imagery, and wry humor that have kept them loyal and always eager for the next title.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)