Title: Booked for Murder
Author: R.J. Blain
Series: Vigilante Magical Librarians #1
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Magic, Paranormal romance, Urban fantasy
Pace: Fast
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2020

Let’s face it, any book that is called Booked for Murder and is the first in a series titled Vigilante Magical Librarians is going to draw me in. I’m a total book dragon, kind of half convinced that a library might be a good place for me to exist (but then I’d never actually help anyone, because books) and then there’s the whole, vigilante spin. There is literally nothing about this that isn’t going to draw me in and have me hooked from pretty much the very beginning. That, and then you have the whole spin that Janette is an ex-bodyguard who is kind of hiding out from her previous, and very sexy, employer. The perfect storm of absolute joy and an impossible to put down book.

Even after finishing this story, I couldn’t get the idea of an exsanguinator out of my head. Particularly the many different medical applications that Janette used her talent for. I mean, yeah, the obvious shooting blood out of orifices and killing people works. But I love how it’s also used to stop traumatic bleed outs, for blood transfusions, to remove impurities from the blood… there were so many aspects to the human body that were delved into within this. Although most of this story was focused on the murders and the more violent aspects of exsanguination, it was all of the medical and life saving parts that I really honed in on. I love the idea of a skill that is both offensive and protective.

Alongside the magic and the mayhem, there is the hint of romance in the air. A bit like in The Fox Witch, Janette finds herself in a betrothal to protect her from others… it’s disturbing how this is common and no even remotely surprising. But, I do have the idea that, although her ex-boss might not have instigated this engagement, he’s fully supportive of it. In fact, as the story unfolded, it was pretty obvious that the Hamptons thought of Janette as more family than employee, they just didn’t know how to show their emotions. I’m looking forward to finding out more about how these social and emotional entanglements unfold in Booked for Kidnapping.

The other thing I’m really looking forward to in Booked for Kidnapping is finding out just who is behind all of the murder and mayhem throughout this story. It’s obvious that it’s a pretty big conspiracy that is being machinated behind the scenes. But, as to which shadowy conspiracy it is, remains a mystery. Plus, it’s fun to figure out the how and the why. There’s also a whole lot of social commentary that Blain has managed to sneak into this story. But, mostly I will focus on the shadow conspiracies and whodunnit I think.

One of the most cheerful and enjoyable parts of social commentary throughout Booked for Murder though is the importance of libraries and librarians. And, how underfunded the public sector is. I mean, I might live in Australia and not the USA, but its definitely a universal issue. Amongst the murder and mayhem, there is the constant drive for the characters to find the funding for their library. And the many ways in which they are able to use research and public resources to better a multitude of peoples’ lives. Libraries are important. Even if they are based in a paranormal world with lots of murder…

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Booked for Kidnapping ->

Image source: Amazon