Reader's Review: "Death Rites" by E. A. Copen

Synopsis from Amazon:

Accused of murder. Hunted by gods. Low on ramen.

After getting out of prison, necromancer and curio shop owner Lazarus Kerrigan has done his best to stay out of trouble. Unfortunately for him, fate has other plans.

When a woman is found dead on his doorstep, Laz’s checkered past makes him the prime suspect, especially since he was the last person to see her alive.

Lazarus will have to find the real killer if he wants to clear his name. That means delving into the magical world of vengeful gods, conniving fae, and powerful witches, a world that once shunned him.

But more than monsters go bump in the night in New Orleans, and what Laz awakens in his quest for answers might just be more than he bargained for. Baron Samedi is back in town, asking for Lazarus by name. And when the Baron of Death calls, answering is a dangerous game.

NOLA may never be the same.

>>>>>>>

My Review:

What a romp! It's been a while since I read a "paranormal investigator" book, and definitely a while since I read a new one from E. A. Copen!

The investigator himself, Lazarus Kerrigan, is as sarcastic, down-on-his-luck, and messed-up as they come, but Copen weaves into her main character qualities and traits that grant him merit and make him relatable as well. I've read my share of these books, and the featured characters seem to be hit-or-miss; I can think of at least one example I read recently of an "urban wizard" who really got on my nerves, the way the author wrote him, and others that I definitely enjoyed and wanted to root for--the latter category of course occupied almost exclusively by one Judah Black, another character expertly crafted by Copen!
As for the setting: I've seen grungy Manhattan streets, quiet hills and stately lanes of Washington D.C., the wide Texas plains, and the seedy alleys of Chicago... But New Orleans was a new one, and may I say, a bold choice. No other setting has quite the legendary connection to old folklore revolving around magic, and so a necromancer plying his trade isn't quite as out of place as, say, a wizard trying to keep the existence of magic out of the public eye in the midst of a bustling city--and Copen absolutely does it justice, drawing on the traditions and cultural history in truly marvelous ways!

As for the plot--it's twisty and compelling from the first squashed body to the ultimate mansion showdown, with a graveyard encounter thrown in the midst for good measure! Somebody's literally dropping bodies at Laz's door, his girlfriend is missing after leaving him a cryptic voicemail, and the more he tries to find answers, the more he seems to slip further from the truth! Once I got over my initial squeamishness (all for the sake of finding out what happens!) I had loads of fun guessing what might happen next--and I didn't even mind being wrong so many times, because each plot twist caught me unawares and I kept turning pages wondering, "How are they going to get out of this one??"

My favorite part is something that Copen routinely has done very well in all of her books: the relationships between the characters. So many times in this genre, the wizard character is "forced" to try and keep his connection to the magical world a secret; he is thrust into the position of trying to explain away the weird and mystical things that happen, in a way that satisfies the law enforcement who really have no clue what's going on, and the more lies he heaps on, the higher risk he runs of part or everything coming back later to bite him; either that or the clueless law enforcement runs into some peril that forces the wizard character out in the open, and there's the old "Why didn't you tell me" trope in a touching scene, after too much has happened to be able to retract...

But Copen unites the characters on the basis of truth-telling. I don't want to spoil it too much, but I found it refreshing that Laz actually gets build a relationship based on the honesty right from the start, rather than slogging through so many lies, half-truths, or cover stories. He gets to connect to those who have no idea of this whole other existence in a way that other magic-users often take whole chapters--maybe even several books--to achieve.

Based on the highly-enjoyable experience of reading Death Rites, and the quality of the writing itself, I'm giving it *****5 STARS*****. If you like Dresden Files, American Gods, or any of those similar "urban paranormal fantasy" type books, and you don't mind some graphic/occult/adult content (of which there is quite a bit, so, fair warning!) then the Lazarus Codex series is definitely worth picking up!

Further Reading: (Also By This Author/Paranormal Investigator/Urban Wizards and Witches)

Judah Black Series--E. A. Copen
       -Fortunate Son (prequel novella) Rating: *****
       -Guilty By Association Rating: *****
       -Blood Debt Rating: *****

-Beasts of Babylon--E. A. Copen

-Broken Empire: Aftermath--E. A. Copen

The Grave Reports--R. R. Virdi
        -Grave Beginnings 
        -Grave Measures 
        -Grave Tidings (novella) 
        -Grave Dealings

Stories of Togas, Daggers And Magic--Assaph Mehr
       -Murder in Absentia 
       -In Numina 

Alexi Sokolsky: Hound of Eden--James Osiris Baldwin
        -Burn Artist 
        -Blood Hound 

The LouisiAngel Series--C. L. Coffey
        -Angel in Training 
        -Angel Eclipsed 
        -Angel Tormented 

The Runespells Series--Sarah Buhrman
       -Too Wyrd

-Notna--J. D. Cunegan 

The Books of Winter--R. R. Virdi
       -Dangerous Ways

-The Purple Door District--Erin Casey

-Red Hot Steele--Alex P. Berg

-Obsidian Son--Shayne Silvers