Long-time readers of my blog might remember me raving about a book called ‘Grave Secrets’ a while back – if you missed it, my enthusiastic ramblings can be found here.
I totally fell in love with the sassy, funny, feisty necromancer Lavington Windsor at the heart of that book – so I was delighted to be gifted a copy of the sequel, ‘Grave Danger’, by the author. Regardless of how the book got into my hands, opinions are entirely my own.
Toni Windsor – estate agent by day, necromancer by night – is back and her life is every bit as muddled as before. Expecting a ‘happy-ever-after’ with a vampire may have been a long shot, especially given Toni’s phobia of blood, but it’s all worked out for the worse. Factor in the murder of a girl who reminds Toni just a little bit too much of herself and there’s a lot for our favourite raiser-of-the-dead to deal with.
Returning to Toni’s story was very much like coming back to an old friend – she’s still a shining beacon of good in a world that is fraught with danger. A world that is both recognisably Staffordshire and also unrecognisably supernatural – there’s vampires, zombies and witches to contend with, something that Toni does with ease (albeit with a bit of squeamishness!) as she negotiates the line between the living and the dead.
Whatever Toni does, she does it with a lot of humour, one of the huge appeals of the book for me; she is funny, relatable and charming, even as she’s chatting to long-dead people in the local graveyards, interviewing gruesome murder victims for her policeman brother or – more prosaically – dealing with the wandering hands of her estate agent boss. This is a young woman who can negotiate with vampires, solve crimes and get herself both into and out of peril with alacrity – even if she does struggle a bit more with affairs of the heart.
This book follows Toni’s investigations into a murder in a school – a plotline that is handled well. However, James also mixes in a lot of other plots and genres – there’s dashes of romance, horror and action as well, all underpinned by the supernatural elements and fabulous humour. Whatever labels you want to give it, I just couldn’t put it down!
One genre I probably wouldn’t put it into is cosy crime – there’s far too much sex, blood and violence for it to comfortably fit there. Just thought I’d throw that in as a warning – however brilliantly James handles the comedy, it never feels tame or cutesy. You’re going to meet some gruesome specimens and some violent vampires along the way – not that this should deter you at all.
Although this is the second book in the series, it could be read as a standalone – there’s a summary of the first book at the beginning so you can get up to speed. But given how good this series is shaping up to be, I’d really suggest you begin at the beginning of Toni’s story with ‘Grave Secrets’.
I honestly could rave about this book all day – it honestly felt like the biggest treat even when this popped into my inbox. Grab yourself a copy and dive into Lavington’s vividly-realised world. You will not regret it.
In the meantime, I’ll be here waiting for Book 3!
If you’re new to Lavington Windsor, you’ll need to start with Book 1: ‘Grave Secrets’ (available now). Book 2 is ‘Grave Danger’ (published on 25th May, 2023). If you are going to buy a copy of either instalment, please do use my affiliate links below – thanks for supporting my blog with any Amazon purchases.
Header photo by Tsvetelin Todorov on Unsplash
I really need to read the first book because this sounds like totally up my alley. I love reading about necromancers especially (and vampires!). This sounds like a really good urban fantasy!