Thursday, 19 August 2021

Murder Most Picante - Karina Fabian - DragonEye, PI Book 1

Murder Most Picante
A DragonEye, PI Book 1
Karina Fabian
Laser Cow Press
ISBN 9781733447133
ASIN B089326HXF


This is the twenty-first book or story I have read by Karina Fabian. Many of them in the last year. I really love her style, her sense of humour, and the variety of stories she writes. This is a DragonEye PI story, and is listed as the third novel in the series. But I could not wait for that to happen and will pick them each up and read them as they release. I picked this up and devoured it the day I found out about it. I read it over a mug of coffee, and then listened to it, using adaptive technology. I have encountered Vern previously in anthologies and in other novel to date and have plans to finish what has previously been published. And even with all my previous encounters with Vern this story now holds a special place in my dragon PI loving heart. Such a great story!

For those who are not familiar with the DragonEye PI series, Vern is a Faerie dragon currently stuck on our side of the barrier. He is a Private Investigator he fights crimes both human and Fairy. And he is working off a dept and works for the Faerie Catholic Church. He is nowhere near the dragon he was, in size or power because of a run in with Saint George. The description of this volume is: 

“It ain’t easy being a Magical creature in the Mundane world. Vern, a Faerie dragon whose size, power and knowledge were diminished after battling St. George, has been called to emigrate to the Mundane. Living in the garage of Little Flower Parish and dealing with neighbors who accuse him of eating cats and ruining their gardens, he’s hard pressed to find a reason to be in our world. Then a field comes to life and starts killing farmhands. While Vern can sympathize with vengeful jalapenos, murderous magic must be managed. He and Father Rich team up solve the mystery. It’s a whole new world with geeky fans, paranoid parishioners, bumptious authorities, zoo incarcerations, and a snickering saint who just wants Vern to do the right thing.”

This story takes place shortly after the rift opened. And Vern is new to our world. It is the story of a lot of firsts. It is Verns first introduction to our technology, smart phones and computers. Verns first encounter with silver bullets, tasers, tranq darts ... But not all the firsts are bad, he is introduced to larpers, RPG, pizza, and more. For example:

“That Tuesday turned out to be the highlight of my week. After Owen, Samwise, and Linda left, the rest of the week pretty much settled into a routine of get up, pray, eat, read, do things on the computer, eat, pray, sleep. Oh, and let’s not forget the time I spent hooked up to an outlet charging my “wonderful, state-of-the-art tech jewelry.” I did it while I played on the computer, but it was still a drag, as Natura would say. I looked up dragons, and after weeding out the D& D references and something about “dragons loving tacos,” I came up with the folklore. 

Mundanes don’t understand dragons at all. No wonder I was getting treated this way.”

And later Vern states, more to remind himself:

“Not all Mundanes were bad.”

And he has a point. In this story Vern is trying to figure out why his Archbishop has said he should be on this side of the veil. And what he is suppose to be doing. I do not know how you could read this book and not chuckle or even laugh out loud. Some of Vern’s inner dialogue. And his friendship with Father Rich. Or his interactions with law enforcement, both positive and negative. 

A great story in a super fun series!

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2021 Catholic Reading Plan!


Dex Hollister Series:
The Old Man and the Void
Dex's Way
...

Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator Series :
Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator
I Left My Brains in San Francisco
Shambling in a Winter Wonderland
…

DragonEye PI Series:
DragonEye PI Novels:
9.0 Gapman
10.0 Magic, Mensa and Mayhem (Revised edition forthcoming)
11.0 Live and Let Fly (Revised edition forthcoming)
... 

DragonEye PI Short Stories:

DragonEye PI Original First Editions:
Live and Let Fly
...

Space Traipse Series:
Space Traipse: Hold My Beer, Season 1
Space Traipse: Hold My Beer, Season 2
Space Traipse: Hold My Beer, Season 3
Space Traipse Stories
…

Mind Over Series:
Mind Over Mind
Mind Over Psyche
Mind Over All
Hearts Over Mind
…

Edited by: Karina Fabian:
Infinite Space, Infinite God I
Leaps of Faith
Infinite Space, Infinite God II
...


Contributed to:
Firestorm of Dragons
The Zombie Cookbook
The Book of Tentacles
Twisted Fayrie Tales
FRIGHTLINER: And Other Tales of the Undead
Mother Goose is Dead
Word by Word: Slowing Down with the Hail Mary
Image and Likeness Literary Reflections on the Theology of the Body
Corrupts Absolutely? Dark Metahuman Fiction
Weird Noir
The Complete Guide to Writing Paranormal Novels
Manifesto UF
Avenir Eclectia
Planetary Anthology: Jupiter
Planetary Anthology: Pluto
Planetary Anthology: Luna
Planetary Anthology: Uranus
FlagShip Science Fiction and Fantasy v2i5
My Little Book of Headdesks
To Be Men: Stories Celebrating Masculinity
...







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