disappointment is all the more poignant when it is wholly unexpected. On the heels of the success of The Sword-edged Blonde, my high hopes for this second novel in the sword-and-sorcery/noir-detective crossover series from Mr. Bledsoe were shattered. The individual novels within detective series often stand alone, with only a handful of subtle callbacks to prior novels, but the fantasy setting here made me expect more of a connection to its excellent progenitor. Instead, I received a somewhat muddled tale of damsels and dragons which was too goofy to earn the proper gravitas.
Good deeds never go unpunished. Eddie Lacrosse, a swordsman who is what passes for a private investigator in his kingdom, is riding home one night when his offer to help a damsel in obvious distress draws him into a violent confrontation with a gang of thugs who nearly take his life. Lacrosse, who escapes the hangman's noose, has only two clues, the voice of a torturer and the polished boots of the ringleader. From here, he starts an investigation which will not end until royal secrets and mystic powers have had their say, culminating in the return to the kingdom of fearsome creatures thought long gone.
The mystery here doesn't hold a candle to that which both animated and memorably darkened The Sword-edged Blonde. Withithout that, and with the roster of characters largely constricted to Lacrosse, some damsels, and a handful of villains, there's not a lot here to embrace. We know from the first novel that Mr. Bledsoe has the skill to draw from the strengths of different genres to create an exciting, literary amalgam, but Burn Me Deadly simply does not ignite as its predecessor did. It's sword-and-sorcery themes are barely above the level of Dungeons and Dragons and its detection component is hardly noticeable. I will probably read the next entry, but my enthusiasm has been all but snuffed out. (2/5 Stars),/B>
disappointment is all the more poignant when it is wholly unexpected. On the heels of the success of The Sword-edged Blonde, my high hopes for this second novel in the sword-and-sorcery/noir-detective crossover series from Mr. Bledsoe were shattered. The individual novels within detective series often stand alone, with only a handful of subtle callbacks to prior novels, but the fantasy setting here made me expect more of a connection to its excellent progenitor. Instead, I received a somewhat muddled tale of damsels and dragons which was too goofy to earn the proper gravitas.
Good deeds never go unpunished. Eddie Lacrosse, a swordsman who is what passes for a private investigator in his kingdom, is riding home one night when his offer to help a damsel in obvious distress draws him into a violent confrontation with a gang of thugs who nearly take his life. Lacrosse, who escapes the hangman's noose, has only two clues, the voice of a torturer and the polished boots of the ringleader. From here, he starts an investigation which will not end until royal secrets and mystic powers have had their say, culminating in the return to the kingdom of fearsome creatures thought long gone.
The mystery here doesn't hold a candle to that which both animated and memorably darkened The Sword-edged Blonde. Withithout that, and with the roster of characters largely constricted to Lacrosse, some damsels, and a handful of villains, there's not a lot here to embrace. We know from the first novel that Mr. Bledsoe has the skill to draw from the strengths of different genres to create an exciting, literary amalgam, but Burn Me Deadly simply does not ignite as its predecessor did. It's sword-and-sorcery themes are barely above the level of Dungeons and Dragons and its detection component is hardly noticeable. I will probably read the next entry, but my enthusiasm has been all but snuffed out. (2/5 Stars)
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