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.
Continue reading Book Review: ‘Grave Danger’ by Alice JamesRegular visitors to the blog will know that I’m pretty obsessed with historical and crime fiction.
This is neither.
However, I found myself absolutely caught up in this funny, charming and surprisingly gory book! This was one of my surprise five star reads of the year so far and has the misfortune to be published on the busiest day of the year for publishing when it will be up against some big names.
So I’m here to champion this one.
This book was an absolute breath of fresh air! I’ve seen it compared to ‘True Blood’ which I can understand in terms of the subject matter and the feisty heroine, but I think this is something different again.
The fact that the main character, Lavington Windsor, has powers of her own as a necromancer and the (rather British) humour in the book make this an engaging and unusual read even compared to the Sookie Stackhouse series.
The novel follows necromancer Lavington as she leads a dual life: estate agent by day, raising the occupants of the local cemeteries by night. Even before she gets involved with vampires, or more specifically the gorgeous Oscar, her life is pretty odd. Once she gets caught up in finding vampire real estate and a romance with Oscar, her life takes a dangerous turn.
What makes this book unusual is that it looks like a cosy read but is actually far from; the sex and violence is actually quite explicit and surprising, although it fits perfectly in the book. The humour is also a nice surprise and I found myself being pleasantly pulled along by Lavington’s narrative voice.
In addition, the plot is pacey and there is a lot going on – a second book is definitely needed to iron out some of the plot strands! However, if it is anything like this book, a second book will be eagerly awaited.
I should reiterate that this really is not my usual genre of choice so it has really won me over! Highly recommended.
I received a free copy of the book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
If you want your own copy of Lavington’s adventures, the link is below. The Quick and The Read may earn commission on purchases at no extra cost to you.
Header photo with thanks to Ganapathy Kumar for sharing their work on Unsplash.
