Dancing With Werewolves
by Carole Nelson Douglas
Juno, $6.99, 394 pages

This is the first book in a new paranormal series set in a 21^st century Earth that is just a tad off from ours.

Y2K brought the revelation that vampires and all sorts of other things that go bump in the night are actually real. Delilah Street is an investigative reporter in Kansas. In rapid order she loses her job, her dog dies and her house gets flattened by a weather witch. With nothing to hold her in Kansas, Delilah packs up and heads to Las Vegas to investigate why a corpse on CSI Las Vegas, the latest entry in the long running franchise, is her exact double, down to the topaz stud in her nose.

Once in Las Vegas Delilah manages, in short order, to find a body, get hooked up with a mysterious ex-FBI agent, acquire a wolf-hound, move into an enchanted cottage owned by a mysterious movie mogul and, oh yes, she goes on a date to see werewolves dance.

This is an exciting new world filled with a host of fascinating supernatural creatures from the familiar vampires, zombies and werewolves to new, CinSims which are basically characters ripped from old black and white films and brought to “life”. I almost put the book aside when Delilah’s small dog died and, while I am glad I finished the book I find the current habit of so many authors to introduce a pet just to kill it in order to show how alone and sad our protagonist is to be unnecessary and distasteful. While there is enough closure of events in this book to make it a satisfying read, there are also enough loose ends to make for a second and third entry in the series. Recommended - Stephanie L Bannon