One Grave at a Time Puts An End To The Inquisition and the Inquisitor

One Grave at a Time

Jeaniene Frost

The grave is one wrong step away.

Having narrowly averted an (under)world war, Cat Crawfield wants nothing more than a little downtime with her vampire husband, Bones. Unfortunately, her gift from New Orleans' voodoo queen just keeps on giving--leading to a personal favor that sends them into battle once again, this time against a villainous spirit.


Centuries ago, Heinrich Kramer was a witch hunter. Now, every All Hallows Eve, he takes physical form to torture innocent women before burning them alive. This year, however, a determined Cat and Bones must risk all to send him back to the other side of eternity--forever. But how do you kill a killer who's already long dead? (Frost, on Goodreads)

Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Avon (August 30, 2011)
Kindle Edition: 659 KB 
Publisher: Avon (August 30, 2011) 
Sold by: HarperCollins Publishers

Blogger purchased Kindle editon

I was feeling this book was predictable but on further reflection I can see a whole new theme evolving from Cat and Bones being free from the "agency." Cat is becoming more confident; not just cocky, but sure of herself with people and with vampire society. She is better with people: sympathetic and kind as necessary and friendly toward their new medium Tyler. She and Bones don't seem to walk on eggshells around each other anymore and yet their connection is stronger all the time. It's a loving relationship that many women would and do covet.  Their relationships with their pals seem to also have solidified although my favorite, Vlad Tepesh, never showed up for the party and Mencheres is only around for a short time.

If anything is the stand-out here it has to be the plot. It's new, inventive, and different. Frost did some major research into the history of with hunters and the inquisition.  Isn't There is one subplot in the background that occasionally pushes itself into the fore, messing up plans as it does, and it is left a bit untied. In this Agency sub-plot there's a new player, Madigan, a vampire despising grade 'A' a$$hat, in play. I think we'll be seeing those ends tie-up in the next book. In this book I expected the Agency to stick its nose into the story again.

Cat is still carrying energy from VooDoo Queen, Marie Leveau's, blood. She still picks up abilities from the blood she drinks, but she loses them unpredictably. The Leveau blood is attractive to ghosts.

The story line is that although they are looking forward to a little R&R after their last battle Cat and Bones are approached by their own friendly and loyal ghost, Fabian, with his ghost girlfriend, Elizabeth to help capture and stop the ghost of an evil inquisitor and witch hunter.  Although he was eventually denounced by the Church he did a lot of damage to a class of person he hated: women. To him all women except the Virgin Mary and her mother—and with enough leeway and fear he probably would have denounced them as witches too.  He wrote the Malleus Maleficarum or Hammer Against Witches. Nice guy, huh? Were alive today he would be a religious extremist. Back then everyone was Catholic although there were some rumbles about the power of the Church. Rumbling was pretty dangerous and often fatal.

He was a very nasty man, but his ghost is just as nasty with a few advantages like poofing away when under attack. It is that against which Cat and Bones may not survive. It seemed to me to be the plot in which they were the least likely to survive.

Frost's love scenes are gentle and loving and part of the book rather being how Frost sells the book.

Recommended to people who enjoy a  good Urban Fantasy, with Casper-friendly ghosts and super evil spirits. It is a MUST-Read if you are a follower of Jeaniene Frost.

Enjoy!

You could buy it here and help
support the blog, especially contests: