Michele Lee

“Ten years ago she looked like a dead gothic beauty queen, at least; now she just looked dead—like a ghoul. Thanks very much, Jackal, may you rot in hell.”

The Blackburn and Scarletti Mysteries will be familiar to urban fantasy fans. There are certainly some aspects that can be found elsewhere; vampires, mysteries to be solved, a sexy but forbidden male, and a strong female lead character who has to save the day.

Fans of the early Anita Blake books among others might recognize some of these elements. But Koehler’s books aren’t heavy on the erotic, or the political manipulation. Her lead, January Blackburn, is strong, but not a stubborn, uncompromising tough-gal. Koehler’s vampires aren’t wet dreams come to life, always out to manipulate poor humans out of either their blood or other bodily fluids. The undead here are inhuman creatures, alien and bizarre who are occasionally sexy.

There’s a definite tinge of the X-Files chemistry of Scully and Mulder to the tales, as well as an aloof involvement of the Catholic church reminiscent of John Carpenter’s Vampires or the more recent film version of Constantine. The Judeo-Christian mythology isn’t overwhelming, and not defining, but the concept of a family of vampires and their ghouls protected by and working for the Catholic hierarchy is an intriguing aspect of the tale.

There are two novellas in volume two.

The first, “Legion”, is part Christian mythology, part voodoo. Blackburn and Scarletti are called in by their employers, the FBI and the Catholic church respectively, to investigate the brutal killing of Fairy Boudreau. If the cruelty of her death wasn’t enough there’s also the matter of what she was last seen doing, floating and babbling into the night. Her hysteria seems to have been contagious, passing from Fairy to those who came in contact with her just before and just after her death. But the thing that’s actually being shared from human to human is far worse than either investigator suspects.

The second story in this volume, “The Phantom of the Soap Opera”, focuses more on Scarletti. A year after the first novella this one gets into the very heart of the mix blooded priest as he and Blackburn sign on to help a “Dark Shadows” like soap that seems to be dealing with a badly haunted set. Witchery of the truest kind is afoot and by stepping onto the set to help Blackburn and Scarletti not only have to deal with a killer witch on the loose, but the bitter backbiting of Hollywood as well.

Koehler’s style exposes her characters both absolutely and with a tenderness that coaxes the reader to like these people, without piling on overbearing super drama. There’s a truer feel to this book than one might find in other urban fantasies, which in a way makes it strange because the paranormal aspect is less “normal” and more traditional. This leads to an interesting blend of prose that, at times, is nearly impossible to put down.