Killer Karma
Lee Killough
Meisha Merlin, $23.95, 304 pages, IBSN: 1592220061
reviewed by Jim Brock

I can't say I'm too thrilled by this books title, KILLER KARMA. It seems a bit lightweight for a book this good. After all, Detective Cole Dunavan might be incorporeal but his story is not.

Dunavan has just been murdered – shot in the head. Now he finds himself as a ghost – still working on solving a case involving fraud, arson and murder that now include his own murder and the disappearance of a company insider who was working as an informant. In addition to this, it would be nice if he could somehow show his widow the truth of both his death and his relationship with that informant.

Lee Killough has a touch of McBain about her when it comes to police procedure. And she has shown in her excellent Gareth Mikaelian vampire-cop books, her ability to weave in a supernatural element is second to none.

Dunavan is plagued by time constraints and the uncertainty of the capabilities of his ghostly existence. However, he retains the instincts and the experience of the detective and he swiftly sizes up his situation and rushes headlong for a solution to his case. Along the way he learns to cope with the limitations of ghost-hood and also to adapt to and utilize some of the advantages of his new power.

So buy this book, disregard the title, and enjoy the devil out of the great story inside.