Crossing the Lines

This was a really great blending of urban fantasy* and murder mystery with just enough humour to lighten the inevitable darkness of...you know, a murder, not to mention an actual showdown with minions of Death personified.

This would be 4 stars bordering on 5, but I had to reduce it as the ending had a feature that's sort of a pet hate with me, The main character has her memories of the events of the book removed. This always leaves me with a feeling of being cheated as all of that character development is just snuffed out. It feels a bit like a bait and switch. but different things bother different people - the rest of the story was really great and I'm jumping straight into the next book in the series.

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* I've never liked the term “Urban Fantasy” as a term reffering to magic stuff happening in a modern(ish) setting. Half the stories happen in the countryside! I prefer “Paranormal Fantasy” myself, but I use the term most people understand.
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Final gripe: They put “Women's Fiction” in the title. Why try and put off half the population of the planet? If you are male and like mysteries, urban fantasy and a dose of humour - why should you be discouraged from reading this book because of your gender? I understand this is a marketing thing and more females than males may well enjoy this kind of thing, but I'm very much against gendering stuff as a male who played with dolls as a child, loves cooking, can sew and isn't really into sport - how does what I've got in my underwear have anything to do with enjoying a book about magic and murder? Don't judge.