Death’s Mistress (Dorina Basarab #2) – It keeps getting better!

“Louis-Cesare. It’s good to finally have you in hand.”

Indeed it is!!!

This time around our favorite ass-kicking dhampir Dorina Basarab now finds herself involved in a murder mystery “whodunit” style.  Someone has started murdering vampire Senate members and that may be too close to home. To make matter worse, her best friend Claire also needs Dorina’s help to locate a fae relic that could be used to harm her infant son, the successor to the fae throne.  With those she holds most near and dear in harm’s way, who can Dorina trust?

In usual Karen Chance style, Death’s Mistress is jam packed with story and there are even a quite few laughs. I feel like her imagination knows no bounds and that has to account for the super fast pace of her books, though Dorina’s pace doesn’t feel as hectic as Cassie’s. It feels just right.There is so much going on that I can’t even put it in one synopsis.

There is moving and shaking among all of the supernaturals: the mages, the  vampires, the dark and light fae, you name it.  About the only species with nothing going on is the dhampire community, and that could be because there are only a handful of them to begin with.  I would like to see Chance introduce us to the few that exist.  Why not? We’re seeing everybody else!

Louis-Cesare tension is back and better than ever.  Their interactions, while extremely amusing and  pretty freakin’ hott, are ultimately dangerous.  Louis-Cesare’s affections are as transparent as it gets and that may be a problem since dhampir/vampire relationships are  about as taboo as it gets.  So a star-crossed appeal has become a component of their relationship.

The secondary character really shine here.  I was entertained to no end by Raymond, a vampire she beheads early as leverage, as well as her uncle Radu.  He is delightfully flamboyant, dramatic., and surprisingly relatable.  Papa Mircea was fabulous here as well with additional back story involving his past with her mother.  Then there’s her unconventional pet Stinky, a chimera, who sticks to her like glue every since she saved him in book 1.

All of these elements really give the series a life of its own outside of the Cassie Palmer series, and I think it’s for the better.  I can effectively say that I prefer the Dorina novels to the Cassie novels. I can’t wait two WEEKS for the next installment let along two years like the poor souls that read these books in real time.  It’s definitely one of my favorite series and I highly recommend this read.  It has everything I’m looking for in a great Urban Fantasy series.