Death by Sin - A M`Coul and Ghoul Novel by Lyle Blake Smythers

Welcome to Night Vale meets Richard Morgan nd Tarantino in D.C.

 

4 awesome but mostly weird stars

I received a free digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Well, I don't know what I expected but it was certainly not this intriguing writing style nor this fantastical world full of weird things that remind me of Night Vale. Kind of stupid considering the summary 'Finn M’Coul, the hero of Irish mythology, is assigned a new case by his boss Viledark, a monstrous hoglike being and an immortal shapeshifter. Together they run a private detective agency on Capitol Hill in modern-day Washington, D.C.'

I got probably hung on the words 'detective agency' and 'modern-day Washington, D.C.' So I kind of expected more secrecy and the whole acting normal routine you find in so many vampire novels and many books that provide a few supernatural beings.
This book was a pleasant surprise with all it's little details and references concerning old movies or quotes. Although most of them sadly are lost on me...
The case is a whole new kind of weird. Night Vale weird with a whole bucket of gore thrown in for good measure.

A new drug found its way into a few backrooms which gives users the most amazing orgasm of their life and inevitably addicts them to the substance if they come back for another round. Most of them do.

A retired General turns to The M'Coul and Ghoul Agency for help in finding his missing son. One of the many victims that tried the new drug Shootweed.
During the course of his investigation Finn and his flippant mouth find out more than they should and attract the attention of the being behind the new drug. Soon Finn and his boss Viledark find themselfs on a whole new gameboard with much bigger problems than finding the General's son.

If you find normal boring then this is the right mystery crime book for you.

It took some time for me to move away from my expectations and experiences of detective novels and dive into this mix of mystical creatures, violence, grotesque and bizarre weapon-animal-things, unexpected book or movie references and quotes. It was a more than welcome change from your typical crime and mystery novel and Finn was fun and intriguing to have as a first person narrator even though I normally don't like first person POV.