Bleeding Out
Jes Battis
Ace, May 29 2012, $7.99
ISBN: 9781937007638

In Victoria, Occult Special Investigations squad agent Tess Corday is on medical leave recuperating from on the job injuries (see Infernal Affairs). With time on her hands, Tess follows up to what she learned about her paternal roots to find out more about her origin. On her way to buy cigarettes, Tess notices an anomaly, a stoned vampire.

OSI Detective Selena Ward calls Tess to ask her and Derrick to help her for a few hours investigating the murder of Lord Nightingale the ruler of the necromancers and governor of Ttrinovantum who died at the Simon Fraser University Bennett Library. The pair head to the crime scene. Soon Tess and her “family” (Derrick, Miles, Patrick and Mia) make inquiries into the homicide while she also looks into a drug that leaves vampires dazed and the whereabouts of her father.

The last OSI urban fantasy (see A Flash of Hex and Inhuman Resources) is a great finish to a strong paranormal police procedural. Tess is at her best as she works three cases (one authorized) with each different yet dangerous. Fans will enjoy the heroine’s curtain call and hope for her to return one day soon somewhere else in Canada like Toronto.

Harriet Klausner