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This is the first in the Death Works series (the second book, Managing Death, comes out soon!) I have talked about this book before where I first mistook the main character for a woman. Silly me – I can’t imagine how I did that now. He is solidly male now in my head now. This is a more proper review. Figured I needed to do one since I mentioned it the last time. Fair warning, there are spoilers below.

So, the things that pulled me into the book. The first thing was probably how it began – with a shooting, a ghost and a chase. Really nice. It slows down some after that, but not much, and the second part is pretty damn fast. It reads at a fairly steady pace. The second thing is that ­­Death Most Definite is written in the present tense. That’s not easy to do. I’ve seen it most often in short stories, but in novels it is rare. In fact, the last present tense novel I read was a translation of The Lover by Marguerite Duras months ago and that was much, much shorter.

Another thing that caught at my heart strings is the dog’s death. She died in the bomb! I didn’t see that coming at all – I thought they would attack him in the house, burst in or something, not blow up his house.

Then there is the love story. He falls in love with a ghost. It is love at first sight, but I am not sure I am buying it yet. I guess I don’t really believe in love at first sight. The MC is sure, but I have to wonder if it is lust and not love. In either case, it is impossible because she is a ghost and he sends ghosts to wherever ghosts go. She seems to know a lot more than he does, too, about the job.

I really liked the end. I guess I saw some of it coming – who else would take over after most of the other pomps were killed? I was never really sure if Morgon was the one the betrayer; it was mentioned, but MC trusted him so much so . . . I was never really sure.

Overall, I think is an excellent start to a new series. I do adore series. I am definitely reading the next one!

Grade: B