The Infernal Detective by Kirsten Weiss [Review]

The Infernal Detective (Riga Hayworth #4) by Kirsten Weiss
Format: ebook
Source: provided for review
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: July 8, 2013

Riga Hayworth
1. The Metaphysical Detective
2. The Alchemical Detective
3. The Shamanic Detective
4. The Infernal Detective - Paperback | Kindle
5. The Elemental Detective

Kirsten Weiss
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Synopsis (Goodreads):

When Riga Hayworth finds a dead body in her bedroom a week before her wedding, it’s par for the course. When the corpse drives off with her fiancée… That’s a problem.

Riga knows dead. More intimately than she’d like. So when a murdered photographer gets up and walks away, she’s believes there’s necromancy afoot. And when she discovers that several of her wedding guests are under the influence of dark magic, she’s certain. But how can she catch a killer and stop a necromancer when even her nearest and dearest are lying to her?

Murder. The undead. Irritating relatives. The Infernal Detective is a fast-paced, paranormal mystery, where nothing is quite as it seems, and magic lies just beyond the veil.

My Thoughts: My disclaimer here is that I'm coming into this series at book 4. So, if I make any absurd statements/questions on things that have been addressed in previous books...ignore me. I'm cool with that.

Here's the thing, although I'm starting at book 4, I had no problem jumping into who the characters were and what was going on. Clearly, there are things in Riga's past that I'm unfamiliar with (she seems to get into deadly trouble often!) but Riga and her gang weren't hard to sort out or follow along with.

That said, not knowing the characters as well as someone who'd been with them from book 1, there were a couple of things that happened that put THE FEAR in me. I'm pleased to say that everything turned out a-okay in the end (in regards to THE FEARS!) but there were several tense moments along the way.

The story itself is fun and nicely dark. Riga herself is a bit of a mystery. Her magic is on the fritz and she doesn't quite know what she's capable of or how to fix it. A dead body, a mobster stalker, and something shadowy that clearly does not have good intentions round out her issues. Oh, plus there's a little, bitty problem of people keeping secrets from her.

And her family. Oh, they made me laugh. The ditzy aunts were a hoot and a half -- even with the secret keeping and seeing how I'm not a huge fan of people keeping life-changing things from others for their own good, I think that's saying a lot. I'm not sure how much I'd trust some of Riga's acquaintances -- especially those in the media -- but she seems to know what she's doing and how much information to give.

All in all, this was a fun, fun ride with a romance that takes a back seat to the danger and intrigue that keeps falling into Riga's lap. Which isn't to say that the relationship between Riga and Donovan wasn't present (because they're getting married in a week. There's definitely a relationship going on!), but it wasn't the main focus.

Bottom line, I liked it!