The Case of the Virtuous Vampire
Monette Michaels
Ltd Books, Dec 2004, 264 pages, ISBN: 1553161335
reviewed by Harriet Klausner

The only preternatural lawyer in Austin, Texas is Abigail Merriweather Gooden and she has been taking mere-mortal cases since a witch beat her up and tried to rape her. Although her magic was stronger than his being the daughter of a wizard father and a powerful witch of a mother, the incident left scars so she is very leery when the vampire Jurnik Galub and the shape-shifter wizard Lucan Knight enter her office.

They want to hire her because a stripper was killed in Jurnik’s club Exotica and her parents are suing him for having her work in an unsafe environment. Lucan is a private investigator who intends to find the killer. Complicating matters are Jurnik’s tie was the murder weapon and he once had a heated affair with the victim. Abbie takes the case and horns in on Lucan’s investigation because her mother is involved with Jurnik. When somebody breaks into Abbie’s apartment and tries to burn the place down the case becomes more personal and with Lucan as her partner, in and out of bed, she intends to solve it or die trying.

Fans of Laurell K. Hamilton, Kim Harrison and Tonya Huff will love this urban romantic fantasy in which a wary witch finds her soulmate in a shape-shifting wizard. Lucan and Abbie are both extremely likeable characters and will grab and maintain reader interest. The suspense is so tight it feels like a rubber band about to snap and the tension is resolved by the quirky dialogue between the protagonists and their allies. The audience will be happy to know that there will be further adventures starring Abbie and Lucan.