Return to Depression-Era America...and Keep Looking Over Your Shoulder.
The Devil You Know by P.N. Elrod
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Perhaps the most important thing to say about this wonderful short novel by P.N. Elrod is that you do not need to know either of her vampire series (The Vampire Files or the Jonathan Barrett, Gentleman Vampire books) to enjoy this mystery laced with history, fantasy, and humor. Elrod makes you believe that journalist turned undead PI and nightclub owner Jack Fleming really does live in Depression Era Chicago, and really does head to a vampire funeral--where all hell breaks loose. It's up to Fleming and Barrett to solve their own attempted murders, as well as that of an inconvenient corpse found while Barrett was digging out a vampire crypt.
But things never go as you planned, or hoped.
The writing is clean and evocative, character speech rings true for class and era, and the mystery twists beautifully, making the title more appropriate than they could have imagined. Highly recommended.
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