Wednesday 27 March 2024

Dead Serious Case #5: Madam Vivienne by Vawn Cassidy

TITLE: ⟫ Dead Serious Case 5: Madam Vivienne

AUTHOR: ⟫ Vawn Cassidy

SERIES: ⟫ Crawshanks Guide to the Recently Departed #5

RATING: ⟫ 4.5/5

BLURB: ⟫ For one brief shining moment, the utter insanity that is Tristan Everett’s world makes sense.

He’s marrying the man he loves, has a dead drag queen for a bestie and is surrounded by an amazing found family. Okay, so his life isn’t exactly what you’d call normal. By day, he’s a quiet, mild-mannered forensic pathologist, but the rest of the time, he guides lost souls into the light. He’s also averted an apocalypse, stopped Chaos from coming through a magic door, and drunk tequila with Death.

It’s all a bit bonkers, but it’s his life… and he loves it.

He’s flying high but, like Icarus, it’s only a matter of time before he’s brought crashing down to earth with singed wings. The strange reality of his life intrudes once again when his friend, Madame Vivienne, is murdered, and it’s clear from the beginning that this is no ordinary killing.

Someone is using dark magic.

Viv’s soul has been bound, leaving her trapped and unable to communicate. Tristan, Danny, and their friends must uncover the truth and find the killer. But the deeper they delve into the old bookshop in Whitechapel, which has been in the Crawshanks family for generations, the darker and the more dangerous the secrets that begin to unravel.

And what they discover may just change their lives forever…

REVIEW: ⟫ Sick as a dog and in need of comfort, I picked up Case #5 Madame Vivienne and what a ride it was! Danny and Tristan are as in love as ever, and good job too because the time we have all been dreading has arrived – Tristan’s father has been ill from the time we met him and we knew it was coming. Vawn Cassidy even warns us at the beginning of the book, but nothing could have prepared me for how absolutely devastated I was when the time came. I was right by Tristan’s side as he raged against what had happened and what he wasn’t allowed – it was so incredibly cruel!

The Crawshanks history gets deeper and deeper as we are pulled into the past, decisions made to protect people and the bookshop which seems to be the centre of everything. It doesn’t even matter if you manage to guess some of the things that are happening – it in no way lessens the impact. There are so many revelations in this story that my mind is slightly blown, but I cannot wait for the next instalment of Dead Serious. Vawn Cassidy has really and truly blown me away with this instalment and I salute her. So much history, so much interweaved so carefully – it was masterful. Sorry, in case it isn’t obvious, I really loved this instalment and have already downloaded a freebie mentioned in the back pages.

Read it – you won’t regret it. But I warn you – make sure you have tissues.

I received an ARC from the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.

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