Arcane Solutions (Discord Jones) [Versión Kindle]

(N.B.: I received this book from the author. The "gifty-ness" of it has not affected my review one iota.)

As a professional producer of eBooks, I have a rule that no one at my shop can write reviews of the books we format and convert, so I don't get to write them very often. I received this book as a gift from the author, whom I'd met on the KDP forums, and did not expect to genuinely like it.

The joke, it turns out, is on me. If you liked the EARLY Anita Blakes, and loathed the latter, or at least yearned for some titles similar to LKH's first four AB's, then you should definitely give this book a spin. The protagonist, Discord Jones, works at a supernatural detective agency as a psychic and PI--but her abilities are a bit off the beaten path, and I shan't ruin the book for you by revealing them here. Suffice to say, she's not a necromancer, and, thank heavens, she's not a sex-goddess/-elf/-fae/three- and four- and eight-somes-something, either. This doesn't mean she lives like a nun--but unlike far too many AB's and AB-imitators, there's actual plot in here, and it's a good one. The author does have some romantic plot elements, (romances aren't my personal fave), but she handles them deftly, and I didn't feel at any point that the mystery/supernatural plot elements were sacrificed just to cram in a sex scene.

Discord's story starts out seeking Zoe, a missing 16-year-old girl; has she been abducted, or has she taken off with a vamp? The bereft parents apparently expect Discord (Discordia) to produce the girl out of thin air, but the PI senses something else is amiss. Add to this mystery another client--a yummy elf--with a missing "book," and, just like tapioca, the plot thickens. Her boss, Whitehaven, of curious origins himself, assigns her an unwanted bodyguard, and the tale is off and running.

Very clever plot additions have to do with the familiars for many of the book's denizens (which I hope will become a series); meeting Percival alone is worth the price of the book, and if you like Illusion (yes, that's a name), you'll love Copernicus. There's also a...dog...named Leglin that is great to meet, and a plot twist involving him, as well.

As I said: a welcome addition to the genre; like the early Anita Blakes, with a tip of the hat to Philip Pullman's daemons, and just a tiny, tiny whiff of Janet Evanovich stirred in for good measure. Glad to have read it, and happy to recommend it to urban fantasy fans.

Drummond again masters the art of tightly knitting a Heinlein heroine with Whedonesque dialog in a world where paranormal seems normal. The elves, vampires, shifters and psychics are down-to-earth and presented with flaws, emotional depth and hidden backstories without being, you know, whiny. They're far from the tired cliches you might expect.

The first book in the Discord Jones series is dramatic and saturated with action but lightened up with considerable sarcastic and situational humor-- there's a self-defense scene that made me laugh so loud I woke the baby. (Once I started I was only able to put it down when his naps were over. I didn't even remember to eat!)

Hopefully the next one comes out ASAP because I still have a lot of questions.