Review: Guilty by Association (Judah Black Novels Book 1) by E. A. Copen

Everything’s bigger in Texas…Including the monsters. 

Things look pretty crappy for Judah Black. Being forced to take an assignment in the middle of nowhere or risk losing her badge is hardly what she would call a perk of the job. But when a young werewolf is murdered on the Paint Rock Supernatural Reservation, her day goes from bad to worse. 

Labeled as a drug deal gone wrong, local law enforcement passes the case off as solved. Judah knows better. An occult expert, she knows the look... the feel of magick. Despite the insistence of the authorities that the case is solved, Judah presses into the investigation but she wasn’t prepared to uncover a cunning, ancient enemy… one that proves irritated with her interference. 

Using only her wits, knowledge and limited magickal abilities can Judah untangle the web of cover-ups and lies before the killer finds his next victim? Or has he already chosen one? Her son… 

Guilty by Association is the bone-chilling first chapter of E.A. Copen’s Judah Black Series. Rife with paranormal mystery, this top-notch urban fantasy will have you turning pages! If you are a fan of Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series, you won’t want to miss Judah Black! 

My thoughts:

I'm a huge fan of urban fantasy novels, especially those with strong female leads. Lately I've had a hard time finding really good books, that don't start with a strong woman as main character that suddenly turns into a whimpering helpless girl as soon as the hero arrives.

Judah Black was far from helpless as you can get. However she also isn't one of those cold, “Oh I'm so tough and nothing can hurt me” characters you often get, no Judah is a well rounded character with strengths and weaknesses that make her feel real.

Judah is a BSI agent and newly assigned to Paint Rock, a reservation for everything supernatural. Of course, most locals regard the new arrival with dislike and suspicion, which means she has a hard time starting to work.

Apart from being an agent, she is also a mother, which is refreshing in this genre. I can't remember the last time when I read an urban fantasy with a mother as main character.

Hunter, her son is well written, E.A. Copen put a lot of thought into portraying him correctly. Many times kids in novels are written horribly, but here it wasn't the case.

There are so many supporting characters in this novel, I have no idea where to start.

There is Gideon Reed, who is a priest with a secret. Saloso Silvermoon (werewolf), Chanter Silvermoon (also werewolf, the alpha), Ed (computer geek and werewolf and my favorite character), Andre DeLuc (a mysterious guy with a secret), Robbie Fellows (one of the most fascinating characters I've read so far), Zoe, who is Saloso's ex-girlfriend... Gah, I really don't know where to start, they are all well written and I was constantly on the edge of my seat wondering who the bad guy is.

In the end the villain was scary. I don't think I ever read a book with a villain quite like him. Villains hardly ever scare me, but he was a true monster.

The world building was superb. The trope “supernaturals coming out in the open” was done before and the book had a bit of a True Blood feeling, but more of a “What if the vampires and other Supernaturals in True Blood had a harder time being accepted and forced to live in camps”-feeling.

I had a hard time putting the down and can hardly wait for book 2 (which I see is due soon!).

Review: Restless Natives: An Ellie Gooden Mystery by Nan Sampson

The weekend before her coffee shop’s Grand Opening in the small Wisconsin town of Horizon, former Chicago marketing exec and hereditary Wiccan, Ellie Gooden, opens the back door to her new business... and finds murder. The former owner is dead in the middle of her kitchen, tied to a chair, covered in syrup and feathers, with a butcher knife sticking out of his chest. A stranger in a new town, Ellie climbs immediately to the top of a suspect list of one. To make matters worse, someone is vandalizing both her new shop and her new home, and the shade of the murdered man keeps urging her to solve the crime. As she struggles to launch her new business and salvage her reputation, she digs into the dead man’s past, unearthing long-buried, small town secrets – secrets that have driven someone to kill. And by exposing the past, Ellie could be next.

My thoughts:

Cozy mysteries are not my usual go-to genre, but when a trusted friend showed me the book, I just had to read it. After all, I'm a huge fan of crime shows (NCIS, the Mentalist, Murder She Wrote, Person of Interest, Castle) and I love everything supernatural (Ellie is a Wiccan).

Growing up with shows like Buffy and Charmed, the supernatural aspect piqued my interest, too, so I gave it a go.

The story starts with Ellie driving to the town of Horizon to get everything ready for her grand opening in seven days, just to find the former owner dead in his shop, covered in feathers and syrup.

The author brilliantly laid out false trails throughout the book and then proceeded to kill my murder suspect near the end.

The characters are well rounded, Ellie was a bit passive in this first book, but I reckon she will take charge more in later books, when she learns to trust her instincts better. There were quite a few characters so it was at times a bit hard to remember who was who, but that's no fault of the author, I tend to read too fast and miss details. I especially liked Charlie and Kate and wished they would appear more frequently. Maybe in book 2? I feel like Ellie might end up with Charlie, which would be great, because he's cute.

The author has updated the cover and the book since my purchase, so I'll buy myself the new edition soon. I'm rather fond of matching covers on my shelf.

Can't wait to see what happens in book 2!