The Dwellings Debacle - David Lee Stone

The Dwellings Debacle is the fourth of the Illmoor Chronicles by David Lee Stone, and it's in this book that he really hits his stride. The storytelling moves up a gear, and this book is darker and nastier than the previous three. It's also (slightly annoyingly because the third one's not out until January) the first book in a trilogy.

This book sees the return of Jimmy Quickstint, thief and occasional gravedigger, and Jareth Obegarde, the loftwing (ie. part-vampire) detective. We're back in Dullitch in this book and a dark enemy is about to make its presence felt there, something that is even more twisted and evil than Dullitch's citizens. Fortunately Enoch Dwellings, famed investigator, is on hand and he sees the kidnapping of Dullitch ruler, Viscount Curfew, as a golden opportunity to shine. Unfortunately, Jareth Obegarde, who lives next door, has the same idea, and he isn't above using under-hand means to gain an advantage on his rival. Dwellings is aided and abetted by a miscellaneous collection of people (stretching that term so far, it'll probably snap !): his human assistant Doctor Edward Wheredad; a tracker named Parsnip Daily, who has a severe memory problem; a matchstick man, ie. a man who's been transformed into a matchstick; Jareth Obegarde himself, his newly-discovered daughter (to whom Dwellings is very attracted), and Jimmy Quickstint.

I'm not going to tell you any more about the plot, because I don't want to give anything away, but this is a book I can recommend as it's definitely the best of the Illmoor Chronicles so far, and since the previous three are all stand-alone books, you won't lose out by starting with this one (a recommendation the author himself has made).