Customer Reviews

The Vampire of Venice Beach: A Novel (Two Pairs of Private Eyes Are Better Than One)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jennifer Colt's writing is smoother than whipped butter on a hot California afternoon. It's a joy to read and aptly lures the reader into the noticeably odd world of the McAfee twins. Are they expert private detectives or are they simply blessed with more than their fair share of dumb luck spiced with occasional genius? (You be the judge.) What appears, at first bite, to be a simple job of providing protection for a hearse in a "Coming Out of the Coffin Parade," (work to die for, one might say) quickly becomes something else again. Colt is adept at keeping the reader, and the twins, from knowing just exactly what that something else again actually is. People die, or seem to die, or perhaps die and then become undead. In real life, none of this would be funny and anyone caught laughing at it would be rightfully chastised by polite society. But the twins don't live and work in polite society or, more correctly, normal society. So, it's impossible to read "The Vampire of Venice Beach" without laughing, without wondering just what can possibly go wrong next, and who--if anyone--will have any blood still flowing through their veins by the end of the novel. You don't need to be a "social vampire," a goth or a private detective to sink your teeth into this easy reading novel with a well-twisted plot

Twins Kerry and Terry McAfee are at it again! This time they're working for their friend Darby Applewhie, aka Ephemera, Queen of the Undead, to work crowd control at the Venice Goth Parade. But when Ephemera falls out of the coffin dead instead of popping out very much alive, they set out to determine what happened and how she ended up dead.

They find themselves in a dark world with a goth cult led by a thug with a forked tongue and a dentist whose specialty is prosthetic fangs. Will threats scrawled in blood on their Harley stop them? Detective John Boatwright provides his own diversion with his amorous advances.

Can they untangle the myriad of suspects to discover the killer's identity without putting themselves in further danger?

I love these twins. The situations they find themselves in are so entertaining. Plus their many antics make me laugh out loud. I always have trouble putting down a book in this series. I was worried since this one dealt with vampires whether I would like it. The author has done a great job of bringing us into the dark world without making this cozy dark. I thoroughly enjoyed it and can't wait to read the next book in the series. I highly recommend this book and series.

Colt has me hooked on her crazy parade of characters and L.A. locales and her wacky, labyrynthine plots. I got a little lost inside this plot, but it was a fun ride and kept me guessing, as usual. I can't wait for the next installment!

They'd probably turn out like this. "The Vampire of Venice Beach" was my first brush with the McAfee twins, private investigators who are drawn into some truly bizarre cases. Hired to work security for the opening of a goth / vampire art gallery where the main attraction is Ephemera, the former high school homecoming queen turned Queen of the Undead, the twins have their hands full when the Queen of the Undead winds up dead.

Their investigation descends deep into the underbelly of the "social vampire" movement (including fang caps and mutual blood drinking), and gets weirder from there: there's a subplot involving a conspiracy and a famous film starlet, a murderous failed football pro, domestic abuse, dead bodies turning up alive (and previously alive bodies turning up dead)...

Romantic tension comes in the form of Kerry's love triangle with two cops: FBI Agent Franzen, and Detective Boatwright. Oh, and did I mention that her evil twin Terry is a (formerly) coke-snorting lesbian who drives a shockingly pink Harley? Generally, the twins are busy chasing down leads, being assaulted by nocturnal vampires bearing laughing gas canisters, and tracking down suspects.

As a fan of the Canadian series Forever Knight - The Trilogy, Part 1 (1992 - 1993) and Blood Ties, the vampire subplot will appeal to goths and vamps, although the bloodletting may put off more sensitive readers. This was a quirky, zany read that reminded me of Salvador Dali: one minute, you'd think you'd finally figured something out, only to have the next scene dissolve into the surreal.

While not my favorite out in the series, I still laughed out loud and enjoyed this book immensely.

However, {{{{BEGIN SPOILER}}}}
I'm disappointed that there wasn't much interaction with Boatright and none with FBI agent.
{{{{END SPOILER}}}}

Overall, a very solid humorous mystery series. Lots of laughs and perfect escapism reading.

The first two books in the McAfee twins series were fresh and original, quirky and funny. This third (and final?) book in the series is still all of those things, but somehow it all feels just a little played-out. By the third book, I feel like I've seen all the McAfee's tricks before, and while the plot certainly had unexpected twists, and pushed the envelope of weirdness even further, I couldn't help but be a little bored with the book. The characters are beginning to feel a bit like those in a sit-com, with just enough depth to catch your attention, but never growing or evolving. It was good, but not exceptional.
Perhaps I'm being too hard on this book, though; maybe I'm just a little disappointed because i LOVED the first two in the series, and so by comparison, this book is just "average". However, it's still worth reading, and it's still entertaining. Just consider yourself forewarned if you being to feel listless when reading this one.

Grade: B+

I'm a huge fan of the McAfee girls, Terry and Kerry, and these books. Jennifer Colt wrote yet another great mystery without losing any of the witty charm that these two girls carry.
I really hope for another sequel!