Date published: Otober 2008
ISBN: 978-0-55380664-9
Paranormal Suspense
Hardcover
Reviewed by Gina
On assignment in Los Angeles Public Relations guru Robyn Peltier is just starting to put her pieces together after losing her husband, Damon, in a tragic misunderstanding. What she finds in L.A. is a bit more than she bargained for. Following the murder of her client, celebutant, Portia Kane, her eyes are opened in a way she never could have imagined. Before she can report Portia’s murder she finds herself being accused for a second and possibly a third. Determined to turn herself in, she makes contact, sort of, with Detective John Findlay, who gladly answers to Finn.
Finn found himself drawn to the L.A. Police Department mainly because sitting in his patrol car in a small town he wasn’t able to use his skills as much as he would hope to and it’s not just handling a gun. Finn’s real talent lies in being able to see and talk to ghosts, specifically murdered ghosts. It’s not long after he begins his pursuit of Robyn, much like the ghosts of Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion, he picks up a ghostly hitchhiker named Trent. While Trent convinces him he’d make a good, well silent, partner, there’s something about Trent that holds the key to Portia’s murder.
Joining the mix of a Cabal link, a new breed of paranormal and humans are Hope and her werewolf lover, Karl Marsten. Dodging them at every turn yet evading their efforts to catch the killer, is Adele, a young woman who is on the run for her life for more reasons than one.
LIVING WITH THE DEAD is book 9 of Kelley Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series and her first written in the third person and it is fantastic! In her author’s notes Ms. Armstrong speaks about her hesitation in making the switch from her signature first person and let me be among the crowd to say it was definitely a good move. There is much more depth to the characters, showing each character, and especially Hope’s, internal conflicts more fully than imaginable. I came away from PERSONAL DEMON not caring very much for any of the characters. LIVING WITH THE DEAD more than makes up for any fault I found with PERSONAL DEMON. In LIVING WITH THE DEAD I saw the talent and depth Ms. Armstrong exhibited in BITTEN and EXIT STRATEGY. It has left me more eager than before to see what she does with her new SUMMONING series.
The story takes readers into the plastic side of L.A. life through the foibles of Portia Kane and her ilk and offers a testament of true friendship when readers see the relationship between Robyn and Hope.
I wasn’t too thrilled with the ending because I found I really wanted to see a happy one between Hope and Karl. It’s not that it’s not happy—but Ms. Armstrong better be working on the next book in this series or I’m going on my own hunt for Karl!
Almost all of the books in the Women of the Otherworld series can be read as stand alones, however with LIVING WITH THE DEAD, reading PERSONAL DEMON is pretty much a must do. While I didn't like PERSONAL DEMON all that much, after reading LIVING WITH THE DEAD I plan to re-read PERSONAL DEMON and take a closer look at the Hope character because of what a great job of transformation Ms. Armstrong does with her in LIVING WITH THE DEAD.
Definitely a do not miss read.
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