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The Man Who Didn't Exist by Geoffrey Homes
A mystery from 1937. Reporter Robin Bishop finds a coat and typewritten note by the side of the ocean--evidence that one of the country's most popular mystery writers, Zenophen Zwick, has committed suicide.
Or has he? Zwick is an obvious pseudonym, a variant on one used by one of Robin's acquaintances in the past. Even Zwick's own publishers don't know the man's identity, though a critic narrowed it down to three men, one now already dead at the time Robin finds the coat. Is Zwick (whoever he is or was) actually dead? Or is he in hiding?
Robin discovers a postal clerk who could possibly identify Zwick if he sees him, as the clerk administers the postal boxes at the branch where Zwick's box is located. The printing of this news leads to the clerk being shot to death right in his own doorway, and shortly thereafter there is another killing. As the cops are useless, can Robin solve the mystery?
Possibly the most interesting thing about this story is the way the reporters work, doing things that, nowadays, would result in their arrest for tampering with evidence. Robin's own actions would prevent the murderer from being successfully prosecuted, though things might have been different in the 30s. I'm not sure how much is 68 years of progress, and how much is the author not doing his research.
The characters are not very interesting, and the mystery doesn't engage. Not recommended.
Sister of the Dead: a novel of the Noble Dead by Barb and J. C. Hendee
This is the third novel of the adventures of Magiere, a dhampir (half-vampire) vampire hunter and her elf partner, Leesil. Magiere and Leesil operate in a world that to some degree feels a lot like the eastern europe of our world. Our heroes are, in this book, seeking to learn the truth about Magiere's ancestry--why would a vampire create a dhampir, the ultimate vampire hunter? Horrifying secrets await them in Magiere's home town, and points further east, as they confront a powerful necromancer. They are followed, as always, by the secretive vampire Welstiel, who knows many of Magiere's secrets already and who has his own plans for her.
This one's highly recommended, though if you haven't read the first two books in the series, Dhampir and Thief of Lives, you should start with them as the story would make little sense elsewise. Also, you should ignore the blurbs, which reference Anita Blake and Buffy, of course, because they're famous female vampire fighters, even though neither series resembles Magiere in the slightest.
So that makes the total for February 14 books, 25 so far for the year, 3 nonfiction for feb. and 6 for the year. Interestingly, Feb. had more books than Jan, despite being a shorter month.