Blood & Ash: A Snarky Urban Fantasy Detective Series by Deborah Wilde

★★★★☆

This was my first novel by Deborah Wilde. The description promised a fun supernatural PI with some hot romance and this book totally delivered! I really enjoyed this first in the series and ran out to get the next one so that I wouldn't have to say goodbye to Ash and her friends. There are plenty of reasons to enjoy this book. A fun and interesting heroine, a will-they won't-they romance, a well-woven storyline and fully realized world. The characters were fun and didn't feel like they were a pale rehashing of others I had met before. Another reviewer drew parallels to Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels series, and I agree there are some character and storyline parallels, but this is different enough and I was happy to take this ride. I also really enjoyed the author's use of existing Jewish folklore and the call outs to more modern references like Alice in Wonderland and Scooby-Doo. This was a quick read as well, so you can devour this fun book in an evening - if you start early or stay up all night. 

I also listened to this novel. The narrator did a great job bringing each character to life. I would say there were portions where it was difficult to discern inner monologue for external dialogue which made short spurts of the novel harder to follow. This was a slight ding, but it wasn't anything that really put me off finishing the novel. Run out and pick it up! #BloodAshTheJezebelFiles1 #NetGalley

A few additional notes:

  1. The sexy-hot romance means this book isn't for younger readers
  2. I really enjoyed the author's choice of diverse characters. Of course, everyone is super attractive, because it wouldn't be fun otherwise, but Ash is Jewish, Levi is as well but also Italian, Priya is Indian, Arkady is Korean, etc. etc. I'm not certain if this is a direct reflection of Vancouver, but I appreciated this inclusive tones.

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