I’ve read a couple of books by the author before – see my review of The Man With the Golden Torc – and know that I enjoy his writing, so when I saw this offering on Netgalley, I couldn’t resist.
The Organisation has despatched Ishmael and his partner Penny to Coronach House on the shores of Loch Ness where the secretive but highly influential Baphamet Group are holding their annual meeting. The Organisation believes an imposter has infiltrated the Group and they have instructed Ishmael to root him or her out. It s not Ishmael s only mission. The first agent sent by the Organisation has been found dead in her room, murdered in a horribly gruesome manner. Ishmael must also discover who killed his fellow agent, Jennifer Rifkin and why. Dismissive of rumours that the legendary Coronach Creature is behind Jennifer s death, Ishmael sets out to expose the human killer in their midst. But he must act fast before any more Very Important People are killed.
I’ve done my usual trick of dropping into the middle of a series, but while I was aware there was something of a backstory that I didn’t know, most of the action and focus was on the current situation so it wasn’t an issue. Ishamael is certainly an intriguing figure. Endowed with superhuman powers, he is used to dealing with the nasties coming from other dimensions. Neither is he wholly on the side of the angels – he’s been involved in plenty of dirty operations in the past, although he’s doing his best to clean up his act, these days. So he isn’t an operative who would usually be in evidence for this kind of assignment, where he is dealing with VIPs who require some finesse when dealing with them. But a colleague has been brutally murdered, so he has been sent, along with his pretty young colleague Penny, to sort it out.
This story is the equivalent of the locked room puzzle, except it is a locked house tucked away on the shores of Loch Ness, with a shadowy creature roaming around in the grounds – and a savage killer in their midst. Ishmael stomps around thoroughly upsetting everyone, while Penny smooths them over. Meanwhile, the bodycount is rising and so are the stakes… This is an enjoyable, fast-paced whodunit with plenty of plot twists and turns. No, I didn’t guess who the villain was as I just tucked in and went along for the ride. If you enjoy your whodunits with a paranormal twist, then have a go at this one – it’s fun.
While I obtained the arc of Very Important Corpses from the publisher via NetGalley, this has in no way influenced my unbiased review.
8/10
Brainfluff 
Sounds lovely and creepy, it also kind of reminds me a little bit of And then There Were None.
Lynn 😀
Yes! It really has that slightly old fashioned feel about it, despite the very contemporary setting and paranormal aspects, which I liked.
Ooh, this is something I’d like, Sarah. And don’t feel alone. I also jump into a series anywhere. LOL
Thank you for that, Laura! I’m rather torn – I’m aware the author devised their books to be read in a certain order, but Life also happens and I regularly encounter books within a series that I pick up and want to read and I feel I should be able to do so without feeling too adrift. Green has certainly ticked that box.
It seems that whenever you decide to plunge into the middle of the series, you always fall on your feet. 🙂
Hmm, I think the expression is “land on your feet”. Oh well, bad Melfka and her bad English, sorry! 😉
lol… You’re right ‘land on your feet’ is spot on – but I take issue with you regarding your English – I think it’s excellent. It is a NIGHTMARE language as for every rule we have a hatful of exceptions and there are all sorts of quirky sayings from a variety of sources which makes it very rich – but it regularly trips up English-born speakers, too! As for crashing midway into series – I’d agree. I very rarely find it a major problem:).
Thank you for your compliment, but sadly, when I see how much editing needs to be done on my stories, I start doubting myself. Though I am getting better with prepositions (one of the biggest problems for non-native speakers since prepositions differ between language), articles, and… commas (though I still tend to put them where they’re supposed to be in Polish, not in English 😀 ).