Book 43, 2022
Banshee Blues by Bilinda Sheehan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Last night I completed the ebook Banshee Blues by Bilinda Sheehan. It's the first part of the "Bones and Bounties" urban fantasy series, featuring Darcey Thorne, one of the few remaining banshees.
After running afoul of the Faerie Court, Darcey is beholden to them in exchange for being allowed to live. She acts as a bounty hunter for the Fae, but she also takes on jobs for humans as a private investigator. It's her mundane jobs that pay the bills. When two jobs land on her doorstep at nearly the same time, Darcey finds herself hunting down MacNa, a frenemy of sorts, searching for a wayward husband, tangling with witch traffickers, shot with iron bullets, and framed for murder. Worst of all, an adorable kitten has barged into her apartment and her life, and she can't seem to get rid of it. Hunted and betrayed, Darcey must rely on her wits and ingenuity if she is going to get out of this alive.
Hm. First of all, I felt like I'd begun watching a TV series somewhere in the middle of season three. I don't know if this book is a spin-off from another series, but a lot of Darcey's past was simply glossed over, which I found frustrating. Second, the plot was mainly comprised of Darcey going here to investigate and getting in a battle, or Darcey going there to speak to someone and getting into a battle. The narrative was choppy, for lack of a better word. Nevertheless, it was gripping and exciting and certainly kept me invested. The ending lacked resolution, which I also found disappointing.
Favorite lines:
♦ She had used enough hairspray to trap a small child on her head if one wandered too close.
♦ The thought of giving up what I was for a man just felt wrong.
This deserves a score of 3.5, but since I can't award half stars, I'm bumping it down to a 3 for the lack of backstory/world building and the unsatisfactory ending.