Tangled Bookmarks

Aussie author alert! *grin* Being aussie myself, it’s always a joy to find an aussie author writing the types of books I love, and becoming a new favourite find for me. :D

South of Salem is Janni Nell‘s second book in her Allegra Fairweather mysteries. Having not read the first one, I was a bit concerned I was going to get lost, scratching my head over who everyone was, and trying to work out the cryptic mentions of previous happenings. Joyfully, that wasn’t the case. It was quite easy to pick up what was happening, and that’s always a good thing.

Allegra Fairweather is a paranormal investigator (don’t call her a ghostbuster!) who is called upon by her mother to find out what’s going on with Allegra’s stepfather. Allegra’s mother believes him to be possessed, and it isn’t long before Allegra is agreeing with her. Something is happening to his family, something terrible.

South of Salem is a fun read – like all good kick-ass heroines, Allegra is witty, sarcastic and strong. Janni Nell has thrown in something a bit different tho – Allegra has a Guardian Angel who she calls Casper. :D Casper’s job is to save Allegra, but while he can’t outright tell her what’s happening with any of her cases, he does tend to break the rules a tiny bit and gives her a hand now and then. But during South of Salem, he has other things on his mind – The Angel Awards, which takes him from Allegra’s side, and could quite possibly be the thing that takes him from her forever.

There were a few things in the book that had me curious and wanting to know more – Allegra’s father left the family when she was only young, and I kept wondering if he was going to pop up in a later book. I kept getting the feeling that his disappearance and not being seen again, has something to do with Allegra’s chosen field of work. Allegra’s relationship with her sister Lily is something I’d like to explore more too – they do not get on at all. Lily seems to be their mother’s favourite – the daughter who did everything right. At times, the relationship between them seemed to thaw a little, so I’d be interested to see what the author does with that. More of Casper too please! :D

If you’re a fan of urban fantasy, witty heroines and hunky angels, you’re going to enjoy this one!


Note: South of Salem is released May 30th 2011. I received a free ecopy of this book from the publisher Carina Press. This is no way influences my review as I write honest reviews and give my honest thoughts.