Through NetGalley, I received a free copy of DEAD MAN’S DETECTIVE (Book 1 of Elisabeth Hicks, Witch Detective) by Rachel Graves in exchange for an honest review. I was excited to get a chance to read this book because I thought the concept was interesting. Elisabeth Hicks has a medical discharge from the Army. During the war, she was attacked by a vampire and ended up being a multiple amputee. Magical augmentation allowed the replacement of the limbs, but she still suffers phantom pain. Her psychological counseling during her recovery revealed that Elisabeth is a spirit witch. Upon her release from the Army, Elisabeth returned home, moved into her parents’ house, and began to use her GI bill to pursue an education that holds no interest for her. Elisabeth makes some money on the side by assisting her fellow veterans in their investigations and borderline legal activities. When her army buddy takes a case against her advice and ends up dead, Elisabeth ends up embroiled with and working for his clients. Elisabeth, who still has PTSD flashbacks from her vampire attack, now has to spend a significant amount of time with them. I enjoyed the mystery and investigation portion.

I was not thrilled to discover that a large portion of this book was devoted to erotica. There were lustful thoughts, erotic fantasies, erotic shared memories, near sex with strangers, and detailed sexual encounters pervasive through the entire book. I don’t like erotic content. I find writers tend to use it as filler to lengthen the story. A romantic storyline in urban fantasy is expected, but erotic everything is just gross. I would classify this book as erotic paranormal romance. Any mystery, thriller, or urban fantasy aspect was incidental to the erotic content. I recommend this book to fans of erotic romance featuring the supernatural and a peripheral mystery. Though the writing and the mystery portions were good, I’m giving it three stars because I felt like advertising this book as a mystery, thriller, and urban fantasy was a bait & switch tactic.

#DeadMansDetective #NetGalley

I was very pleasantly surprised by this book.

Elisabeth Hicks is a 24 year old War Vet who's struggling to find her place as a civilian. Her world is one where the supernatural are threaded in with the rest of humanity. No hiding what you are from the "humans" because they wont understand ect. Just causally mentioning "oh, my relative is a werewolf". I love diving into a world where the supernatural are the norm, and what that does to society.

This story was so refreshing, nothing was 'typical'. You think you have a handle on the characters, and the mystery and then you realize that just like in real life, not everything is so cookie cutter. First impressions aren't always right. Its crazy how uncommon in writing that is. You all know what I'm talking about. Books with main characters that meet someone and just "have an bad feeling about them" even though outwardly they are doing nothing wrong. "but there's just that look in his eye" and then SUPRISE, it turns out he's the bad guy, and phew aren't we so glad our MC had that totally normal 2nd sense? I'm tired of authors spoon feeding information we shouldn't have without getting to know a character. Well, look no more. Graves does NOT do this.

Elisabeth is a person, she makes decisions based on the information she has, whether its right or wrong, and acts accordingly. She is human (well, she's a witch, but you know what I mean) she makes mistakes, judges/misjudges people, is insecure about her flaws. She just feels real to me. And not only does she feel real, but her relationship feels real. There's no insta love, or weird instant awareness of their body proximity. He's not the perfect guy, he doesn't always say the right thing or react to the MC in the right way. They both blunder at times and I LOVE IT. I love how messed up they both are respectively and I am so excited to see where it goes in further books.

The story is fun, and exciting, with twists and turns I didn't expect. I loved seeing the relationships between all the different characters and Elisabeth develop. I thought the dynamic between her and LaRue was really interesting and different than I've ever read before and I can't wait for the next installment!

I really enjoyed this urban fantasy. The main character was complex, tough and likeable. The plot was engrossing. It is a great start to a series.

I was given a free copy by Netgalley. I am leaving my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the characters especially the main character Elizabeth, she's kick ass. It's a unique story and I was engrossed through out. I'd like to read more #DeadMansDetective #NetGalley