Abracadaver by Laura Resnick
Synopsis:
Struggling actress Esther Diamond, whose year got off to a rough start (what with incarceration, unemployment, and mystical death curses), finally catches a break when she lands an acting job.
She’s hired to reprise her guest role as prostitute Jilly C-Note on The Dirty Thirty, a TV crime drama about depravity and corruption in the New York Police Department. Esther’s ex-sometime boyfriend, NYPD’s Detective Connor Lopez, hates that show with undying passion — especially after Esther convinces her narcissistic co-star to shadow Lopez on the job, in order to add verisimilitude to his performance as a morally bankrupt cop.
But Esther’s fellow thespian is her best bet for keeping an eye on Lopez 24/7—and, more to the point, on Lopez’s new partner, Detective Quinn. Esther and her friend Max, a 350-year-old mage whose day job is protecting the city from Evil, suspect Quinn of being involved in the latest mystical mayhem to menace Manhattan…
Corpses suddenly aren’t staying quite as dead as they should.
Review:
Picking up right after The Misfortune Cookie left off, the adventure begins right away as Esther and her friends investigate a recently deceased who briefly got up and walked. Quinn is their main suspect because of the strange reaction Nelli (Max’s canine familiar) had to him. And when strange things continue around him, they know something’s going on.
Abracadaver is the seventh installment in the Esther Diamond urban fantasy series. Though most of the previous novels are fairly standalone, this more of a direct sequel. Esther’s on again/off again relationship with Lopez is usually just in the “off again” stage. Though another man makes things a bit more confusing for Esther. The strength of this series is the characters. They are endearing, witty and fun. And the ridiculous situations Esther gets herself into are always a wild ride.
I look forward to these Esther Diamond releases every year. And I devour them in a day. I only wish they were longer. As the front cover says, this is one of my top favorite series – and are always a must-read. Each story is wholly unique and unforgettable. With loads of humor, magic, and mystery – this latest zombified installment is another winner.