Deadly Curiosities

You know the old “don't judge a book by its cover”? Well, with the Chris McGrath-ish cover I really was expecting going in to have a gritty urban fantasy experience. But while the book offered up a certain amount of urban fantasy grit, it's hard to be seriously hard-bodied about your protagonists when they run an antique shop in the middle of Charleston, SC. There was a lot more mucking about in history and antiques than I would have expected, albeit in a fairly enjoyable sort of way. Despite the mismatch between expectations and reality, I enjoyed the book– it reminded me a bit of the small town amateur detective genre, if those books also involved killer demons and 600 year old vampires. Pleasantly enough, although the main character is a woman, there was not a whiff of a love interest to be found (also her store manager/magic-fighting partner is gay and in a relationship with a very helpful lawyer, so there's that.) It would have been nice if the helpful Vodoun mambo had been more than a magical negro, but oh well, can't win everything.