Review: Banshee Charmer by Tiffany Allee

Title: Banshee Charmer (From the Files of the Otherworlder Enforcement Agency #1)
Author: Tiffany Allee
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Heat Index: 3 out of 5
Release Date: January 24th, 2012
Word/Page Count: 159 pages
Format: NetGalley

When she’s sent to a crime scene and finds her second dead woman in as many weeks, half-banshee detective Kiera “Mac” McLoughlin is convinced a serial killer is on the loose. Incubi are extinct, her boss insists. But what else can kill a woman in the throes of pleasure? When her partner is murdered after using witchcraft to locate the killer and Mac is thrown off the case, her frustration turns to desperation.

Certain the killer is an incubus, Mac works behind her department’s back to chase down slim, sometimes perilous leads. While the killer eludes her, she does discover handsome Aidan Byrne, an investigative counterpart from the enigmatic Otherworlder Enforcement Agency. Mac typically runs her investigations fast and hard, but with Aidan at her side, she’s running this one “hot” as well. But Aidan knows more than he’s letting on—something that could shatter their blazing romance and add Mac to the killer’s growing body count…

Hard-boiled detective story with a female lead and supernatural shenanigans.

Kiera is a tough detective searching for a serial killer. When her partner is killed and she is thrown off the case, her only help comes from a hotter than Hades Otherworld Enforcement Agency investigator, Aiden, who is keeping secrets of his own.

This is a very creative world and I really enjoyed the dynamics of 'freaks' working in the police department solving crimes. In a lot of ways, Banshee Charmer reminded me of the early (and good) Anita Blake stories.

Some of the problems I encountered with this story are my own dislikes for the genre and not likely to bother other readers. For instance, I don't like 1st POV and hate it when sex scenes are written that way. It just gives me the creeps. (See? My issue, not the story's.) But I think this story would have felt 'fuller' if it had been told third person. Seeing things only from Kiera's eyes made the story feel shallow and choppy.

The problem also arises that Kiera felt like a rookie detective, instead of a 5yr-veteran. Some of her decisions left me baffled and because I questioned her abilities, I just couldn't connect with her. The 'secrets' of the hero was also painfully obvious and it made me feel that Kiera wasn't seeing the forest for the "hot" tree in front of her.

Another part of the problem was the length of the story. There is just too many little details that are left out there floating in the wind and never explained. This made me wonder why they were introduced in the first place.

Don't get me wrong, there is a lot of potential here if given more depth to the universe and especially the main character (though I hope for a different female lead). Banshee Charmer was an enjoyable, if somewhat shallow, entertaining read.