Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs.  This third Mercy novel shifts the focus away from were politics to the fairytale side of the universe. Like most modern retellings, it's a dark roots rebound – Zee, investigating a series of fae murders, is taken into human custody after the death of a human reservation guard. Mercy, of course, feels compelled to investigate, despite his wishes, and soon finds herself in over her head, sometimes literally. Magic walking sticks, blind ravens, and dubious geek-bards make this a faster paced mystery than most of the other books. My one complaint is that the events in the conflict leading up to the ending should cause some deep character breaks in Mercy – and from the way the last scene plays out, they don't seem to. Even so, this is a remarkably good series, and one to watch if you're into paranormals.

Read February 2008